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School is starting in West Virginia, and if there's one thing that needs to be on the agenda throughout the Mountain State, it's this: We need to do better in preparing our students for the future. When you look at the latest assessment test scores released Wednesday, it's clear, as a state, that we're failing.
According to the data, the only grade level statewide to score above 50% in mathematics proficiency is the third grade (53% proficiency). The lowest proficiency level in math came from last year's 11th grade class, at 18%.
Let's narrow down to just the high schools, as those are the youngsters getting ready to graduate next year and either head to college or into the workforce. Here are the results from our local high schools when it comes to mathematics proficiency:
• Wheeling Park, 28% proficiency;
• Weir High, 26%;
• Oak Glen, 26%;
• Magnolia, 21%;
• Tyler Consolidated, 17%;
• John Marshall, 16%;
• Paden City, 7%;
• Brooke High, 6%.
And remember: the test being taken now by 11th graders is the SAT. That's one of two tests that can be used for college admissions. So it does have a direct impact on students' future.
Something's not working when it comes to mathematics in our schools. Even before COVID-19 hit, proficiency in math in the state's high schools was declining. The pandemic obviously didn't help, and numbers have been slowly rising, but not fast enough.
The trend seen at several West Virginia high schools -- including some of the state's top-scoring schools in recent years -- is troubling. Math proficiency at these schools fell significantly when compared to 2022-23. Brooke High had 12% proficiency in 2022-23; that dropped to 6% last year. John Marshall dropped from 21% to 16% proficient; Tyler Consolidated, from 27% to 17%. Morgantown High -- for years among the state's top schools when it came to math -- went from 45% proficiency in 2022-23 to 36% this past year. George Washington High went from 47% to 38%. And Bridgeport, W.Va. High School came in at 42% proficiency in math this year for its 11th graders, when it had been at 49% the prior year.
Why the drop? Is it that last year's class of 11th graders were in eighth and ninth grade when COVID hit, and they didn't get the necessary schooling? Are we teaching an ineffective curriculum? Are students spending too little time on schoolwork and more on their devices, which has prompted several school districts -- including Ohio and Monongalia counties -- to ban their use in class?
Whatever the reason, state and local education leaders need to figure it out -- and fast.
Baby steps do little to nothing for students getting ready to enter the real world without the proper tools for success.