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Test Scores Will Show How the Pandemic Pummeled Public Ed in WV

The State Board of Education will receive data next week on test scores for West Virginia school children for the 2020-2021 school year.  These are the West Virginia General Summative Assessment results for students in grades three through eight.

The news will not be good.

The pandemic played havoc with instruction here and across the country last year. In West Virginia, many counties went through a series of closings and re-openings, schools pivoted to remote learning with mixed results and too many students just fell through the cracks.

State School Superintendent Clayton Burch has already seen the scores and shared them with county superintendents. “Across the board, at every grade level, all subjects, you’re going to see a drop,” he said on MetroNews Talkline Thursday.  “At some of those grade levels the drops are pretty significant.”

Burch was never a fan of students trying to learn from home, although in many cases schools had no choice. “As a whole, virtual learning did not work for the majority of children,” he said.

I heard stories throughout the last school year from teachers and parents about the pitfalls of remote learning.  Yes, some students were engaged and did the work, especially children who had a strong support system at home.

However, many of the stories from teachers were about students who simply did not do the work or even show up for virtual learning.  Some parents expressed frustration that, with work and dealing with the pandemic, they struggled to keep their children engaged in their lessons.

Sadly, the assessment will not tell the whole story.

Clayton Burch

The school system also tracked referrals by teachers and administrators of students to counselors and school nurses.  Educators tracked data from Child Protective Services, information on opioid overdoses by students, suicides and attempted suicides.

Burch said that data combined with the academic test scores made for a “devastating” school year.  “I intentionally use the word ‘devastating,’” he said.

West Virginia students were already struggling academically before the pandemic.  The biennial National Assessment for Education Progress (NAEP) test scores released in 2019 showed West Virginia students below the national average in math and reading in all four testing areas.  They even lost ground in three of the four.

That is the disturbing backdrop for the new school year that is about to begin in West Virginia.  All counties will start with in-person instruction, while decisions on mask-wearing and how to adjust when a student or teacher gets Covid will be managed at the local level.

The already difficult job of teaching will be even more challenging this year as teachers attempt to make up for missed instruction last year while at the same time try to cover new grade-level material.

Burch believes that in-person instruction is vital.  He said students need “to be in school as consistently as possible, no yo-yoing in and out.  They need to be in those classrooms each and every day in front of their teachers.”

Every school year is critical toward the success of young West Virginians.  However, this upcoming term takes on an additional air of importance because of the missed opportunities for learning last year.

 

 

 

 

 





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