| Elementary and middle-school students in West Virginia are lagging behind most states in the USA in math and reading.
The Nation's Report Card says there are some gains, but the improvements are generally "flat" in the Mountain State.
The average math score for West Virginia's fourth graders taking the National Assessment of Educational Progress was 236 in 2007. That's an increase of five points over 2005. The national average in 2007 was 239.
Eighth-grade math students in West Virginia improved from 269 in 2005 to 270 in 2007, well below this year's national average of 280.
Reading scores for fourth and eighth grade students in West Virginia remained steady at 215 and 255 respectively. The national average was 220 for fourth-graders and 261 for eighth-graders.
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