photo by: Metro Creative

WHEELING — As West Virginia public school students advance through their schooling, their math assessment scores drop. What students score in elementary school usually is higher than in middle school, which is higher than in high school.

Yet those students see their math scores plummet between middle school and high school, and that is testing local educators to find their own solutions to the problem.

West Virginia students take the state’s General Summative Assessment tests in elementary and middle schools. In high school, they use the required Scholastic Aptitude Test standardized math survey. With that move comes math scores in 11th grade much lower than when students take the test in eighth grade.

In Ohio County last year, 43% of eighth graders were proficient in math, but only 27% of 11th graders reached that level. In Marshall County 36% of eighth graders were proficient, compared to 21% in 11th.

Other Northern Panhandle school districts saw the same proficiency plummets:

– 43% of Hancock County eighth graders and 27% of 11th graders

– 35% of Brooke County eighth graders and 23% of 11th graders

– 31% of Wetzel County eighth graders and 16% of 11th graders

– 48% of Tyler County eighth graders and just 11% of 11th graders

Statewide, math proficiency dropped last year from 33% in eighth grade to 20% in 11th grade.

The SAT is a college entrance exam, with many of the students likely not having the upper-level math courses examined through the survey, school officials explain. They add it is also possible the students have forgotten some skills they haven’t used recently.

Additionally, there is also the idea that many students don’t have plans for college and don’t make a serious effort on the SATs administered during their junior year.

“I do think test motivation is one contributing factor,” said Wheeling Park High School Principal Meredith Dailer. “We have seen about 40% of our kids are not planning to attend college, so the SAT being a college entrance exam and being rigorous can be off-putting to some students.

“We do a lot here at Wheeling Park High school to connect students to the importance of that test score and the value a test score can hold for things like the Promise Scholarship and other merit-based (rewards). We try and build that motivation in our students to do well on SAT test day.”

Dailer has a conversation with students at the start of each school year to tell them why the SAT matters, how results can lead to better scholarship packages and help to pay for college. She said that conversation is set to happen this week.

“We also have our kids track their scores to build that motivation – and a positive mindset toward taking the test,” she continued.

WPHS students have access to test preparation from Khan Academy online service.

“They’re getting that comfort level, and hopefully that exposure will hopefully build motivation into doing well on the test,” Dailer said.

Dailer acknowledges the SAT tests on a lot of upper-level math skills from classes that many students don’t take. Those skills can be “challenging” and “multi-step,” she explained.

“That’s certainly a barrier,” Dailer continued. “Not all of our students move to that level of math. They are only required to take Algebra I and geometry as graduation requirements.

“From there, they have their choice of math requirements. Some simply choose to do math other than Algebra II, and that is certainly a barrier for some of our kids (on the SAT).”

Marshall County Superintendent Shelby Haines noted many 11th graders in her school district don’t just take the SAT to measure math proficiency. Career and technical education students also must take a test from the National Occupational Competency Testing Institute (NOCTI), and they usually do “quite well” on that survey, she noted.

Haines this week has been meeting with school principals to discuss standardized test scores and how they can be improved.

She said educators at both John Marshall and Cameron high schools have really done a “deep dive” on the scores.

The SAT was previously a test taken only by students destined for college, “and now we use that for every student – not just those going to college,” she explained.

“I might have kids in 11th grade, they are in a CTE track, and they haven’t used some of those skills being tested for a long time,” Haines continued. “I also may have kids in really high AP (advanced placement) classes, and some of those skills they have forgotten.”

Marshall County Schools now has employed a math coach who goes into schools to assist students with specific math skills that need to be refreshed in the minds of students, she noted.

“We also have implemented more intensive benchmarking to progress monitor the students and their math performance before the exam,” Haines said. “Remember – we’re looking at a one-shot, one-day test.”

While the school district will continue to work on improving its SAT scores in high school math, educators there also realize there are other ways to measure student performance – such as the NOCTI assessment, she added.

Back at WPHS, Dailer said staff has been reviewing the results of the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT) tests administered to 10th grade students each year, and there are plans to also give the examinations to ninth grade students.

Results of the PSAT serve as benchmarks for educators as they assess what questions students are missing on the survey. They then determine what skills need to be addressed through teaching.

“Our teachers already have identified kids who are in a window where they can show improvement and are telling us they want to be in college courses,” Dailer continued. “So there’s quite a bit we do to support our kids through this process on top of just good instruction in math.”