WCS announces state exam results
Scores lower, but remain above state in all areas
PARKERSBURG - Wood County Schools students rank third and fourth statewide in math and reading respectively, according to the West Virginia General Summative Assessment scores released by the West Virginia Department of Education.
The GSA is administered annually to students in grades 3-8 to determine mastery in math and reading. Those in grade 11 are tested using the SAT college entrance exam.
The GSA also includes scores in science for grades 5, 8 and 11, but those are not used to determine overall scores.
Though Wood County Schools was above the state averages in all grades in all categories, classroom time lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic did play a factor in lower scores across the board.
Wood County Schools saw a drop in scores in nearly every category when compared to numbers from the 2017-18 and 2018-19 school years. Those drops also were seen in statewide averages and scores in counties throughout West Virginia. Due to the pandemic, no test was administered for the 2019-20 school year.
Superintendent Will Hosaflook said the district lost little ground in the area of reading, but saw a greater slide in math. Even so, he said, the loss would have been more pronounced without the dedicated work of Wood County Schools educators.
“We have a lot of work to do but we also have a lot of reasons to be proud,” Hosaflook said. “I commend all of our teachers, administrators and service personnel for keeping students engaged and learning throughout this very challenging time.”
Officials will use the GSA scores to set benchmarks and goals for the current school year. The scores also will be used to help identify areas of academic need in specific subjects and grade levels.
The PowerPoint presentation on the Wood County GSA scores can be found at https://5il.co/xpye.