By Stephen Smoot
If a sports team raised its ranking from 23rd to seventh, all of its supporters would bask in the good feelings of accomplishment while determining ways to continue the trend of improvement. Pendleton County Schools has demonstrated that improvement in academics and those who worked to make it happen are taking tremendous pride in it.
The Pendleton County Board of Education members and Charles Hedrick, superintendent, praised parents and students, then faculty and staff during its second regular meeting of August.
Hedrick lauded both students and parents, saying that not every county has a group of parents as dedicated to their children’s education. He added that “Travis (Heavner) and Ms. (Barbara) Whitecotton have done a lot of work” to help bring about improvement.
He added that “J. P. (Mowery) pointed out that we’re the only small rural county and the only county that’s unlevied” to earn a top 10 ranking despite being in both categories. “Unlevied” refers to the fact that Pendleton County Schools does not enjoy the financial support of an excess levy to support operations.
Pendleton County scored a ranking of seven in the Schooldigger.com rating system, 16 positions higher than last year, also earning a four out of a possible five stars. Putnam County earned the top position, followed by Ohio, Jackson, Hancock, Monongahela, and Wood. Pendleton scored above Ritchie, Marion, and Tyler counties in the remainder of the top 10.
Schooldigger states on its website that it uses “data-driven” comparisons to rate systems and schools.
Pendleton scored better than any other county system in the greater Eastern Panhandle. Jefferson County rated 13, Hampshire 21, Grant 26, Morgan 28, Berkeley 35, Mineral 36, Tucker 42, and Hardy 49.
Hardy’s lower ranking almost certainly stems at least partly from having a large and growing number of students for whom English is not their first language.
Additionally, Pocahontas County earned a ranking of 17 and Randolph 54.
Just as last year, Brandywine Elementary earned the best ranking of the county’s elementary schools. The school leapt 14 spots to 13th best out of 368 in the entire state. Franklin soared 51 spots to take a ranking of 111, still in the top third in the state. North Fork Elementary scored a 154.
Pendleton County Middle/High School enjoyed the most dramatic rise, however, gaining 59 spots to earn a ranking of 38. In the greater Eastern Panhandle, this puts the school only behind Jefferson High School, Washington, Musselman, and Frankfort as the fifth best performing high school in the region.
Last year, the Pendleton County Board of Education and superintendent changed course when confronted by falling scores and rankings. They embarked on a program of change that helped to bring about the results released this month.
Part of the answer came with the hiring of Whitecotton, a former Hardy County Schools superintendent, as School Improvement Coordinator with a mandate of change. She served as a key cog in a system that tracked the progress of every student. Benchmark testing done on a regular basis, as well as other metrics, provided the numbers needed to gauge student achievement.
Whitecotton also oversaw implementing changes brought about by the state in educational policy and practice.
If students fell behind, principals and central office staff could both check with the teacher to see what support they might need. Carrie Nesselrodt, director of student services, also worked closely with Communities in Schools to boost attendance, which helped to improve academic results.
On the West Virginia Summative Assessment Test Scores, Pendleton students again performed well. These scores indicate what percentage of students would not need to take remedial classes in a given subject in college were they to choose to go. These numbers encompass all students in the system.
In mathematics, Pendleton County took a ranking of 11th in the entire state with a score of 40.3 percent. This means that just over 40 percent of students, if all decided to go to college, would not need extra remedial help. In English and language arts, Pendleton earned a sixth place ranking at 52.3 percent. For science, Pendleton also placed sixth with a 34.7 percent score.
Hedrick told the board that the system must “continue to make that movement even higher.” J.D. Wilkins, board president, agreed and suggested that the board write up and pass a resolution “to thank students, parents, and staff for the improvements.”
The board agreed to do so.
