CHARLESTON, W.Va. – West Virginia students showed improvement in math in six of the seven grade levels assessed on the 2017 statewide summative assessments, and half of the students in grade 11 were proficient in English language arts (ELA), according to results released today at the West Virginia State Board of Education meeting.
Results from both the 2017 West Virginia General Summative Assessment and the West Virginia Alternate Summative Assessment were combined to obtain the final assessment results released today. About 150,000 students took the West Virginia General Summative Assessment, while about 2,200 students who have significant cognitive disabilities took the alternate assessment.
“I am pleased to see improvements within mathematics, but recognize we still have work to do to ensure our students are mastering the skills necessary at each grade level,” said West Virginia Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Steven Paine. “I am confident we will continue to see improvements as our standards are fully implemented and new math instructional materials are adopted.”
Results were presented for math and ELA in grades 3-8 and grade 11. The West Virginia State Board of Education voted not to test students in math and ELA in grades 9 and 10 earlier this year.
Math scores improved in grades 4-8 and 11, but dropped 1 percentage point, from 49 percent to 48 percent, in grade 3; however, that grade still had the highest percent proficient in math across all the grade levels. The biggest gain in math occurred in grade 4 where 43 percent of students were proficient in 2017 compared to 40 percent in 2016.
Although ELA did not see as many gains as math, the percent proficient in ELA was still greater than the percent proficient in math in most grades. ELA proficiency ranged from a low of 45 percent in in grades 3, 6 and 8 to a high of 50 percent in grade 11. The percent proficient in grade 11 increased 1 percentage point from last year’s 49 percent, but ELA scores dipped slightly in grades 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8; the percentage proficient in grade 8 stayed the same as last year at 48 percent.
In science, the percent proficient in grade 10 increased from 36 percent last year to 39 percent this year, while 37 percent of students were proficient in grade 5 and 38 percent in grade 8. In previous years, the science test was administered in grades 4, 6 and 10.
Spring 2017 was the third and final administration of the Smarter Balanced assessment. In response to legislation passed in 2017, the WVDE has issued two request for proposals to identify new assessments that will be used during the 2017-18 school year. One assessment will be selected for grades 3-8 and another assessment, which must be a college-entrance exam, will be selected for grade 11. The WVDE plans to announce the new statewide assessments by September 1.
To review 2016-17 assessment results, see below: