Kanawha County Schools see growth in SAT scores, as well as in math and English performance for middle school

KANAWHA COUNTY, W.Va. –Kanawha County Schools are continuing to see growth in test scores.

The Kanawha County Board of Education met last week and received a report on test scores for high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools. Superintendent Dr. Paula Potter appeared on MetroNews Midday to discuss what was presented during the meeting

One area of growth was in SAT scores, with Riverside High School seeing a 30-point increase.
This improvement comes after the SAT transitioned to a digital format a couple of years ago

Potter said they emphasize to students the importance of these tests.

“Regardless of what tests you’re taking this gives you valuable practice to when you have to take a test that matters to you, whether you’re going to be in a CTE course and you have to pass a certification test for your career, whether you’re going to college, or once you graduate from college if you need to take a test to get into graduate school,” she said.

The increase in test scores can be contributed to recently implemented strategies including calculator training, giving students more access to SAT prep questions, and having software that will extend SAT questions beyond just English and Math.

Potter also noted that middle schools have seen an 8% increase in math scores and a 2% increase in English, while elementary schools have shown gains in proficiency as well.

She acknowledged that some schools still have low scores but emphasized that they are continually working to help those schools improve.

“We continue offering support to any of those schools that might have had a dip scores,” Potter said. “We go through their academic data; our administrators go through classrooms and do walk through data.”

According to Potter, another contributor to the growth is the teachers.

“Our teachers throughout the entire district, elementary, middle, and high school are just very committed to helping our students be as successful as they can,” she said. “We work very hard analyzing data, looking at where our students need are and try to meet them where they are and help them grow in every way possible.”