The West Virginia Board of Education (WVBE) received an update on House Bill 3035 (Third Grade Success Act) benchmarks at its December meeting in Charleston. Data shows that children in early grades are requiring less academic interventions compared to last year due to the additional resources now available.
The Third Grade Success Act was passed by the West Virginia Legislature in 2023 and created a statewide approach to early literacy and numeracy for children in kindergarten through third grade. The law builds supports around K-3 students by placing early childhood classroom assistant teachers (ECCATs) in every classroom; codifying the Science of Reading for reading instruction, establishing an approved list of assessment screeners and outlining other important strategies to address student learning needs.
Compared to last year’s beginning-of-year (BOY) assessment, this year, fewer students required learning interventions to address learning gaps in literacy and math across all grades (K-3). First graders saw the largest decrease of 7% in literacy intervention. In math, second and third graders saw a decrease of approximately 4.5%.
Graduation Rate
The WVDE also announced the graduation rate of 92.6% for the 2023-2024 school year which is unchanged from the previous year. The five-year cohort rate is 93.4% which is an increase from the 92.53% rate from the 2022-2023 school year. Graduation data is available on the WVDE Zoom website.
School Closures
The WVBE approved several counties’ Comprehensive Education Facilities Plans (CEFPs) and school closures. Declining enrollment has led to 25 proposed or approved school closures this year. The following requests were approved.
Clay County: Clay County Middle School closure and consolidation into Clay Elementary School, Big Otter Elementary School and Clay County High School. This closure is contingent upon West Virginia School Building Authority (SBA) funding for an addition to the high school.
Preston County: Closure of Fellowsville Elementary School and its merger into South Preston School; and closure of Rowlesburg School and its merger into Aurora School.
Wetzel County: Hundred High School consolidation into Valley High School; and Paden City High School consolidation into Magnolia High School and New Martinsville School.
Wood County: Closure of Fairplains Elementary School and merger into Martin Elementary School; and the closure of Van Devender Middle School and its merger into Jackson Middle School and Hamilton Middle School.
Preston County requested transportation waivers which were also approved. For complete details, please visit the WVDE website.
To view this data and other reports presented during the December WVBE meeting, please visit the WVDE website.
The next regularly scheduled WVBE meeting is at 10 a.m., Jan. 8, 2025, in Building 6, Suite 600, 1900 Kanawha Boulevard, East, Charleston, West Virginia.
