West Virginia’s leaders have demonstrated a strong commitment to K-12 education in recent years, and there was no resting on laurels in the Mountain State in 2023.
This year, state policymakers focused on student achievement and adopted a multi-pronged policy approach, championed by Senate Education Committee Chair (and teacher) Amy Grady, to help increase student learning gains in both math and reading.
Enacted to address concerns about academic progress, the Third Grade Success Act aims to support more than 68,000 K-3 students by focusing on numeracy and literacy development in the critical early years of schooling.
Students across the nation were struggling with math long before the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted learning and compounded learning loss. An ExcelinEd review shows math performance in most states had been declining for the past decade. West Virginia scored eight points under the national average for math, with only 23% of fourth graders at or above proficiency.
Spurred by this poor math performance, West Virginia leaders took important steps to support the state’s educators and students with teacher training and evidence-based curriculum. West Virginia’s 2023 Teacher of the Year Amber Nichols and 2023 Service Personnel of the Year Jessica Grose shined a light on that work in a video message. They emphasized the importance of math policy and explained the real-world impact of the Third Grade Success Act on educators, including how the law changes and defines roles in the classroom.
The new legislation sets West Virginia apart with its comprehensive approach, an emphasis on struggling learners and a laser focus on ensuring that young learners master the basics of math—a direct factor in earning higher wages later in life.
West Virginia’s Third Grade Success Act became a national first, signaling strong support for the state’s youngest learners by combining smart policies for math with stronger policies for early literacy as well.
The Act refines professional development in early literacy for teachers and creates a critical third-grade retention policy to ensure students are reading to learn before moving onto fourth grade. It also prohibits the use of ineffective “three-cueing” curriculum, ensuring that proven evidence and research inform literacy instruction throughout the state.
The state is wasting no time getting to work in implementing the Third Grade Success Act. The West Virginia Department of Education shared implementation details with lawmakers this summer and has engaged with educators across the state as they prepare to update their instructional practices.
Further, the Department is supporting leadership teams by hosting numerous regional science of reading trainings to get them up to speed on the five pillars of early literacy instruction. The Department has a thorough list of details, frequently asked questions and more on their website.
West Virginia’s Third Grade Success Act is a testament to the state’s commitment to fostering educational success by prioritizing early literacy and math skills. By focusing on early identification, intervention and collaboration among educators, parents and policymakers, West Virginia is taking significant strides toward building a foundation for lifelong learning and success for all students.
