The West Virginia Board of Education (WVBE) received a report on West Virginia’s annual assessment data during its meeting today in Charleston. The 2024 state summative assessment results including the West Virginia General Summative Assessment (WVGSA) for grades 3-8, the SAT School Day for grade 11, and the West Virginia Alternative Summative Assessment for grades 3-8 and 11 were reported by the West Virginia Department of Education’s (WVDE) Office of Assessment.
The statewide assessments were administered to more than 95% of students in the grades designated above. There were slight gains in overall proficiency with increases since last year in English language arts (ELA) (44% to 45%) and math (35% to 36%). Science proficiency remained flat at 29%. Early learners made the most significant gains in reading.
The report showed progress in ELA with a 6% gain in third grade proficiency, and a 7% decrease in those who did not meet the standard compared to last year’s assessment. This is attributed, in part, to the passing of the Third Grade Success Act during the 2023 state legislative session and the WVDE’s Ready, Read, Write, West Virginia literacy initiative. With the rollout of the revised mathematics standards on July 1, 2024, and the adoption of new instructional materials at the county level, the WVDE will fully launch its Unite with Numeracy initiative this fall targeting math proficiency and success.
Last year marked changes in SAT School Day testing. All students took a digital version of the test and moved away from the fixed-form paper and pencil version previously available. Additionally, the testing time was shortened from four hours to approximately two hours.
The data reflects student proficiency approaching pre-Covid-19 levels, and the WVDE remains engaged with counties, schools, stakeholders and state leaders to support student academic success.
This year’s assessment data report can be found on the WVDE website and the ZoomWV dashboard.