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UPDATE - The WV Department of Education has released statistics related to the academic outcomes for state students, after being delayed since August.
More West Virginia students failed to hit proficiency marks in the 2013-14 school year, according to the Westest standardized test scores.
Fifty-eight percent of students in grades 3 through 8 and 11 failed to show proficiency in math â an increase from 55 percent in the 2012-13 school year, the highest the failure rate has been since the 2009-10 school year, when 58 percent didn't meet the threshold.
The online data say a massive drop in test scores starting after the 2008-2009 school year was because the state raised the level to be deemed proficient.
The number of students who failed to hit the mark in reading also increased, from 51 percent to 53 percent, also the highest since the 2009-10 school year.
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Arnoldsburg Elementary School received the state's highest rating using their latest improvement model, deeming it a Success School meeting targets.
Calhoun Middle-High School and Pleasant Hill Elementary schools were deemed Transitional Schools, meeting targets for that level.
At the same time, about 50% of students in the schools are not proficient in math and reading, and scoring much lower in social studies.
After dropping No Child Left Behind standards and going to this year's so-called improvement model, in 2015 the results and ratings will be issued using an A-F system, familiar to parents who receive report cards.
We will issue the Report Card the Westest results from the West Virginia Department of Education.
ORIGINAL STORY By Dianne Weaver
A new report paints a gloomy picture of education in West Virginia.
This despite the state having one of the highest per pupil expenditures and state educational bureaucracies in the nation.
Less than half of West Virginia public schools are meeting goals for both student learning and improvement, according to a report issued Friday by the West Virginia Department of Education.
The state has yet to release Westest results for the Mountain State, embargoed since August.
State schools were evaluated by proficiency tests, student growth measures, achievement gap calculations and factors such as attendance and graduation rates.
The report says 299 of 650 schools met one or both of the state's learning and growth performance goals for all students in 2013-14.
The report says 76 percent of the students who didn't meet proficiency marks in math and 69 percent of those in reading showed no academic improvement.
The state system currently puts each school in one of six categories, with a Success ranking at the top and a Priority ranking indicating areas that require the improvement and additional resources.
In 2015, the state is going to an A to F rating system for schools.
"School designations allow communities to better understand how a school is doing and perhaps, more importantly, the areas where schools may be struggling and need some help," according to state schools Superintendent Michael Martirano.
"We are dedicated to improving graduation rates, increasing school attendance rates and decreasing dropout rates as part of the One Voice, One Focus Vision Plan. I believe understanding and utilizing student assessment and school accountability data is part of the journey to improvement."
The report shows a decline, with 119 schools are now in the Success category, down from 190 in the previous school year.
There are now 180 Transitional schools, down from 257.
The Support category lists 215 schools that aren't going in the right direction, up from 75 in the previous school year.
The department said considerably more schools didn't meet their targets because the state's goals had increased.
The number of schools in the focus category was unchanged at 97. The category designates significant achievement gaps.
There were 29 historically low-performance schools in the Priority category, down from 31.
The state says data from the annual WESTEST2 standardized test, 42 percent of state students dropped in math proficiency, down from 46 percent last year.
47 percent were proficient in reading, down from 49 percent.
76 percent of the students who didn't meet proficiency marks in math and 69 percent of those in reading showed no academic improvement.
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