An Ohio County parent posed questions this past week to the Ohio County Board of Education and district administrators that deserve answers.
Dr. Carter Kenamond addressed the group during a work session on annual testing results. Kenamond had questions specifically focused on math scores. He had done his own research on Ohio County students who are now seniors -- and his findings weren't good.
"When they were fifth graders, 46% of them met proficiency in math," Kenamond told board members. "By the time they were juniors, they were 24% proficient. That's an absolute drop of 22%. In a class of about 400 students, that's about 100 students that have fallen off.
"I know this is not unique to Ohio County. I know it happens, and I think that is something we have to figure out. What is happening between 5th and 11th grade, and how can we fix that?"
It's easy for school officials to blame COVID-19 for the results, but as Kenamond noted, math scores had been falling for years before that. Assistant Superintendent Rick Jones also claimed that a lack of certified high school math teachers and high school students choosing career and technical programs were potential culprits.
Then school board member Molly Aderholt posed her own poignant question.
"But shouldn't our most basic math classes get our students to proficiency?" she asked.
That's an excellent point. Is the gap in math between the career and technical track and the college prep track so wide that CTE students don't take the math classes that lead to proficient scores?
School administrators offered their reasons as to why this is happening. Now they must offer solutions. Student Services Director Raquel McLeod said there soon should be more depth and coverage of math standards. What exactly does that mean? And when will the public be apprised of the district's efforts?
To Jones' point of a lack of certified math teachers at Wheeling Park, what is being done to attract and retain qualified educators? Ohio County is in a tough spot -- teachers who live here are just minutes away from driving across a state border to Ohio or Pennsylvania and making more money.
Board members and administrators must have a real discussion as to what steps they can take to bring more certified teachers here.
This is a very real problem that needs immediate attention from school officials. This can't be relegated to the "Well, we discussed it" file as board members move on to the next matter.
Kudos to Kenamond for taking the time to bring his concerns before the school board. Now it's the job of the board and the district's administrators to actively work to find a fix.