| Thirty-eight West Virginia schools have failed to meet the No Child Left Behind
standards for two years.
These schools must now offer parents a choice for students to attend another
school.
Clay County Middle School in Clay and Spencer Middle School in Spencer are
on the list to provide alternative education.
The school board must now pay the expense for students to transfer to a
certified school, even if it is in another county.
According to the West Virginia Department of Education, 516 schools meet the
Adequate Yearly Progress standards and 204 missed the mark this past
year.
Arnoldsburg Elementary School has failed to meet the No Child Left Behind
criteria for one year in one core group.
Calhoun's Director of Curriculum Gregg Cartwright said while both Pleasant Hill
and Arnoldsburg Elementary schools displayed high achievement in nearly all
areas. Arnoldsburg fell short and did not demonstrate "adequate yearly progress
required by No Child Left Behind."
Cartwright said a group of students listed under low socio-economic status
(SES) did not measure up in reading scores, causing the school to be placed
on the first year list.
He said every effort is being made this year to improve skill and knowledge in
that category.
The state said it's difficult to compare this year's results with last year's
because the state switched standardized tests from SAT-9 to the WESTEST,
but the numbers of schools failing to meet No Child Left Behind standards has
increased.
No schools missed the mark because of poor attendance.
Under the federal standards, schools get flagged if a particular group of
students, such as special education, African-American or low-income children
have low test scores.
Other regional schools failing to meet the one year goal include Braxton
Middle, Walton Elementary and Roane County
High School.
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