Kanawha County Schools had about an 80.4 percent four-year graduation rate last school year, up from 75.5 percent in 2013-14, according to preliminary data shared Monday with local school board members.
Jon Duffy, Kanawha's director of counseling and testing, presented the graduation data in a report alongside figures showing a one-year drop in SAT scores, the highest ACT scores in at least five school years and a 67 percent increase in Advanced Placement class enrollment over about the same time period.
Kanawha's average composite ACT score for the graduating class of 2015 was 21.4, above the 20.8 statewide average and an increase from the 20.9 the county averaged last school year. The number of class of 2015 students who completed the ACT - 1,059 - was also slightly above the five-year average number of test takers.
Duffy also presented Kanawha's proficiency rates for last school year on the state's new Common Core-aligned standardized test, on which the county exceeded the statewide proficiency rate in math in every tested grade but eighth, but scored lower than the statewide English/language arts proficiency rate in grades 6 through 10. The new standardized test, which replaced the Westest, is given in math and English/language arts to students in grades 3 through 11.
According to the report, Kanawha's four-year graduation rate was around 69.8 percent in 2010-11, and had only increased about a percentage point two school years later. But the rate increased from 70.9 percent to 75.5 percent from 2012-13 to 2013-14, and again to over 80 percent last school year.
Duffy particularly attributed the gain to the Option Pathway 2 credit recovery program, which was offered for the first time last school year and allowed 100 students to recover failed course credits by passing the related portions of the state's new GED assessment, the Test Assessing Secondary Completion. For instance, he said a senior who needed an English credit to graduate could pass the English portion of TASC to recover that credit.
All but one of Kanawha's eight high schools saw graduation rate increases, Duffy said. He said the only school that didn't was George Washington, which already has the highest graduation rate at over 90 percent.
"That's really, really, so nice to see," board President Robin Rector said of the graduation rate increases, though she noted the rate is still not where the county wants it to be.
The state Department of Education said late last month that 2014-15 statewide graduation rate data wasn't yet final. State Schools Superintendent Michael Martirano has called for a 90 percent statewide graduation rate by 2019-20.
Among the 50 states, West Virginia saw the fourth-largest increase in its four-year high school graduation rate from the 2012-13 school year to 2013-14, according to preliminary data the U.S. Department of Education released last month. The Mountain State saw its graduation rate increase by 3.1 percentage points to 84.5 percent, putting it at 25th in the nation for 2013-14.
As for the statewide standardized testing results, in math, Kanawha's eighth grade proficiency rate was two percentage points below the 25 percent statewide rate. Proficiency means scoring a 3 or 4 on the 1-4 scale test. Kanawha's 11th graders achieved a three percentage point higher proficiency rate than the 20 percent statewide rate for that grade.
Kanawha beat the statewide math proficiency rate for seventh, ninth and tenth graders by less than one percentage point in each grade, and beat the statewide rate by wider margins in the other grades. The gap was biggest in fourth grade, where 43 percent of Kanawha students were deemed proficient but only 36 percent of students were statewide.
In English/language arts, Kanawha's proficiency rates ranged from 37 percent in ninth grade - two percentage points lower than the statewide average for that grade - to 52 percent in grades five and 11. Kanawha's high school juniors had a proficiency rate four percentage points higher than the statewide average.
Students across West Virginia also took standardized testing in science, but the exam resembled the Westest and was only given in grades four, six and 10. At 36 percent, Kanawha exceeded the statewide science proficiency rate in 10th grade by one percentage point. It was below the statewide science proficiency rate by one percentage point in the two other grades, with 35 percent of Kanawha fourth graders deemed proficient and 38 percent of Kanawha sixth graders.
Also Monday, board members discussed a proposed calendar for next school year that resembles this year's calendar and the calendar in 2014-15. It would start classes for most students Aug. 8, provide a week off for Thanksgiving, end the first semester Dec. 16, provide two weeks off for Christmas and let students out for summer May 23 - if there are no make-up days. Kanawha Superintendent Ron Duerring said the board will have the calendar on its agenda again later this month for a possible final vote.
Reach Ryan Quinn at ryan.quinn@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1254 or follow @RyanEQuinn on Twitter.