By Mary Catherine Brooks
Wyoming County Bureau Chief
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Meeting the arduous standards required by the federal government’s No Child Left Behind is all in the details for Wyoming County Schools.
All the county schools achieved Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), based on the most recent West Virginia Educational Standards Test 2 (WESTEST2).
“We’re elated,” emphasized Frank Blackwell, county schools superintendent.
“That’s the goal of every school — to make AYP,” he said. “That indicates students are succeeding in the classroom, not just on the test.
“So we’re extremely happy.”
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Performance measures include required student achievement set by the state, student participation of 95 percent in the statewide assessment, graduation rate of 80 percent, and an attendance rate of 90 percent for elementary and middle schools, according to officials.
The measures are used to determine school and county performance, and progress, for the purposes of accreditation and approval by the state Department of Education.
Students must perform at the required level on the state’s custom-designed standardized achievement test, or WESTEST2, in core subjects that include reading/language arts, math, science, and social studies in order for the school and district to be approved by the state Department of Education.
The test was revised in 2008 to measure students on additional skills such as critical thinking and problem solving.
Also, from 2009 to 2010 the state raised the scores needed to demonstrate proficiency in a core subject.
To add to the complexities of the testing results, students are also divided into subgroups, including all students, economically disadvantaged students, those with disabilities, students with limited English skills, among others.
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“We analyze the progress of every student in every subject area,” Blackwell explained.
“The analysis allows the teacher to know where the child is doing great, where the child is doing okay, and where the child needs additional help.”
Then time is given to provide that additional individualized student assistance, Blackwell said.
“All this data analysis generates a lot of extra work for our teachers, but this allows us to know where each child stands academically,” he noted.
“It’s a long, detailed process,” he said. “Our teachers are willing to do whatever they have to do, to put in the extra time to have success in the classroom.”
Blackwell lauded the central office staff, the principals, the teachers, support personnel, the parents, and the students for their efforts.
“It really takes a team effort,” he emphasized.
