| By Dianne Weaver
While Lincoln County school board members complained about plummeting student performance since the state took over their system five years ago, the problem appears to be widespread around the state.
School systems have been placed in a position of living and dying by test numbers.
West Virginia public school students have made no progress in math and slipped in reading since 2003.
Fourth-graders scored an average 231 in math on the 2005 National Assessment of Educational Progress, the same as in 2003 and lower than the national average of 237.
Eighth-graders' math scores dipped from 271 in 2003 to 269, nine points below the national average of 278, according to 2005 results just released.
Fourth-graders' average reading score slipped four points, from 219 in 2003 to 215, and was below the national score of 217. Eighth-graders scored 255 in reading, down from 260 two years ago.
The NAEP is a federal test considered the best measure of how students in every state perform on core subjects.
Under federal law, all states must take part in the test every two years. About 2,500 to 3,000 West Virginia children were tested this year, according to the state Department of Education.
In math, students tackled measurement, geometry, data analysis and probability and algebra. The reading test measured whether students could form a general understanding, develop an interpretation, make connections to the text and examine content and structure.
Twenty-five percent of West Virginia fourth-graders could handle challenging material in math, a slight improvement from 2003 when 24 percent reached that "proficient level." Only 18 percent of eighth-graders reached the "proficient level," down from 20 percent in 2003.
Reading proficiency also was down. Twenty-six percent of fourth-graders reached that level compared to 29 percent in 2003. Twenty-two percent of eighth-graders reached the "proficient level," down from 25 percent two years ago. | 
