Greenbrier County’s schools and students maintain their focus on continuous improvement as student performance results were released statewide on ZoomWV (http://wvde.state. wv.us/zoomwv/,) as part of the West Virginia Department of Education’s (WVDE) accountability designation announcement.
Through the accountability system, every public school is designated as either a Success, Transition, Focus, Support or Priority school. West Virginia’s accountability system uses several measures to determine school designations including student proficiency rates from the WESTEST2, student growth measures, achievement gap calculations, and either attendance rates for elementary and middle schools or graduation rates for high schools.
“Greenbrier County Schools continually uses data to drive instruction and improve student performance. Through a rich variety of strategies such as greater personalized learning, increased use of relevant technology, early identification of and intervention with at-risk students, expansion of the Option Pathway program for our high school students and multiple opportunities for professional staff development for teachers and building administrators including professional learning communities, technology integration, and instructional coaching support, we will continue to impact student success,” said Sallie E. Dalton, superintendent of Greenbrier County Schools.
Of Greenbrier County’s 13 schools, two schools (White Sulphur Springs Elementary and Greenbrier West High) met both student performance and growth expectations and earned a Success designation. Another two county schools (Rainelle Elementary and Eastern Greenbrier Middle) earned a Transition designation because they showed progress in meeting their school-specific student proficiency goals in Reading and Math.
Eight schools (Lewisburg Elementary, Rupert Elementary, Crichton Elementary, Smoot Elementary, Alderson Elementary, Frankford Elementary, Ronceverte Elementary and Greenbrier East High) earned a Support designation. A Support school is one in which the majority of student groups have not met the annual academic goals in mathematics and English/language arts, has not reached its goals in student academic growth, student success on the WESTEST 2, and learning gaps between student groups. One school (Western Greenbrier Middle) was identified last year as a Focus School as a result of not closing learning gaps based on academic progress on the WESTEST 2. This designation is held for three years, although Western Greenbrier Middle is showing improvement in many areas.
“It is important for our schools, parents and communities to understand that the new accountability system is not about comparing one school to another. It is about keeping an eye on moving all schools and all students forward,” stated Superintendent Dalton.
“School improvement is a continuous process no matter what designation a school has received. Greenbrier County Schools is committed to helping each of our students succeed. We will continue our focus on raising all schools and students to their highest potential,” concluded Superintendent Dalton.
For more information about school designation and statewide assessments results, visit ZoomWV http://wvde.state.wv.us/zoomwv/ or contact Catherine Thompson, associate superintendent of Greenbrier County Schools at 304-647-6470.