Education: One-size-fits-all approach will not work
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As West Virginia Board of Education members digested the results of this year's summative assessment, newly appointed member James Paul asked an important question: What is happening to our older students?
"The picture that I see is some gains in grades three, four, five, elementary school in both subjects, but flat or declining a little moderately at the middle school (level) and at the 11th grade (level) where there seem to be real problems," Paul said.
State Superintendent of Schools Michele Blatt spun her answer to give credit to lawmakers who passed the Third Grade Success Act in 2023, which she says helped improve elementary school English language arts and math scores, but also pulled focus away from older students.
In fact, Blatt said now the state Department of Education is working on Bridging for the Future, which will focus on those same younger kids as they work through middle school.
"I think if we look at the ELA and the math for our middle schools ... we do have a trajectory. We are slowly seeing an increase there over the years," Blatt said. "When we look at all of our schools, all programmatic levels, it is our middle schools that we need to put the most focus in and determine how we can better engage those students and make sure that they are meeting the demands and things that we have of them."
Wonderful. That still leaves four grade levels worth of Mountain State students hung out to dry.
When Paul pressed on what could be done for older students, Blatt deflected by touting the number of students (70%) enrolled in Career and Technical Education who demonstrate proficiency on national occupational assessments and workforce credentials, while acknowledging many of those same students struggle with the SAT and other traditional academic standards.
"We know that the students that take the national assessments for the occupations that they're in ... meet and exceed those workforce credentials," Blatt said. "So, our schools continue to focus and emphasize the importance of this 11th grade assessment to all of our students, (but) it's not something that we believe that they see the value in."
Students who choose and do well in career/technical study are to be commended -- nothing can diminish that accomplishment, and they are likely to be well-prepared for careers in THOSE fields.
Educators must decide it is worth supporting students who are struggling in some subjects in a way that might help them value those subjects more.
For that matter, educators across West Virginia, and at all levels, must value science enough to start producing the same improvements there as have been proven possible in math and ELA.
West Virginia students are smart and capable, though certainly deserving of more than a one-size-fits-all approach. Rather than diminish the importance of science for everyone, or traditional academic standards for a significant number of older students, let's show them we know they can do it, and we're ready to help them.