[{"_1":2,"_100":-5,"_101":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76,88],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6203829,"mediaKeyId","3781319-d4c58506132803402d6a9a9b55d30fc1","parentId",3781319,"title","Board starts facilities conversation on K—5 vs. intermediate model, hires consultant to lead community engagement","audioSeconds",371,"startMs",4996965,"endMs",5368000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=3781319-d4c58506132803402d6a9a9b55d30fc1&start=4996&end=5368","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3781319-d4c58506132803402d6a9a9b55d30fc1/thumbnail_4996965.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6203829/West-Virginia/Board-starts-facilities-conversation-on-K5-vs-intermediate-model-hires-consultant-to-lead-community-engagement","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6203829-f4e2a4f6afe14ad814ce5aab84ca4ad3/orig.mp4?Expires=1770556791&Signature=SOoNrN4IdzV~HyPKv64qR4m5d1URsidbtVtG7ZlFWZxkbVGFoKy8sOLUOGLDtpapDKhsKcOIXcyHKLYeCGKVuNJXiq3J5AE36RsofxUY3D8gHn5BenVHRs2TvS7pyQMEfbCK1Vt6ShPsJRzzvdU9910sCsBM-1INSS1Sr8M2ee87n0gd3npZQvqRF3In4kAxaodgizOVX4OwBa5PVfpKorSEQNCgaf-pTqiRZYTKdIxE-cCxxsHLMuIvwNtJZFwypH9w53HANvWBiWsaEtXpq795cMi7J-n9-PP0unsijovZ-ltzXh~IOkHbIJSzJJGwMqpPFcQia79LIqLYMRzzXA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Berkeley County Schools","date","2025-06-10T12:19:40Z","article","Berkeley County Schools staff said they have begun a community engagement process to review the districts facilities plan and the possibility of shifting grade configurations, including revisiting K5 models at some schools.

District leaders introduced Scott Leopold of HPM, a partner engaged to help facilitate community conversations about the districts Comprehensive Educational Facilities Plan (CEFP) and longer-term facility priorities. \"Scott is a partner that looks in with his firm. They will help facilitate conversations with the community around your facility plan,\" a staff member said when introducing Mr. Leopold.

Why it matters: several board members and others said changes in grade configuration (for example, moving from a primary/intermediate split to K5 at some sites) could affect instructional continuity, family relationships with schools, and student opportunities. Board members noted the historic move to full-day kindergarten and the reconfiguration of primary/intermediate schools and said those decisions may have contributed to discontinuities as students transition into larger intermediate and middle schools.

Planned process: staff said HPM will help the district assemble community input, review the five-year timeline (the CEFP is in year five) and host an educational-futures conference in the fall to gather broad input from families, businesses and community leaders about what learning and facilities should look like for the next decades. Staff said the process will include board members, principals, teachers and families and will likely run for several months.

Ending: staff framed the outreach as a kickoff to a months-long process and said the community workshops will be used to assess whether adjustments (for example, additional K5 schools versus intermediate schools) make sense for particular neighborhoods such as the Valley View area. No final facility decisions were made at the meeting.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Board of Education Special Meeting 6/11/25","oneSentenceSummary","Administrators introduced HPM partner Scott Leopold to begin a community-facing review of the districts five-year facility plan and raised K5 configuration as a possible topic for a public process.","taxTitle","BERKELEY COUNTY SCHOOLS, School Districts, West Virginia","taxId",13060,"location","West Virginia","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6203833,"Board members raise concerns about grade inflation and call for a grading-quality task force",210,3463385,3674000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3781319-d4c58506132803402d6a9a9b55d30fc1&start=3463&end=3674","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3781319-d4c58506132803402d6a9a9b55d30fc1/thumbnail_3463385.jpg","/articles/6203833/West-Virginia/Board-members-raise-concerns-about-grade-inflation-and-call-for-a-grading-quality-task-force","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6203833-4efc7deac8b97f907f6f8ea85ecc0544/orig.mp4?Expires=1770556791&Signature=GjjxdOaBHnIZ6BiIGwh5t~pAppxRe1m6tC5BwjiJUBo-bkHGyMvaNhAxzedJtjUb8S~vEnDsP3KvOmqB~svao6ULSXPjyl6PUt1RTuMkBgJ6BG7sC4SJYE1ij6d6kiMiDZMZOdOQRiebMzeXtsc4pNjQZEytE8oyUdnxe-amI9ul1HZTmRH-eQ1uJSAloDrJrJrOrOpVRJIWfQBwB1IYT5bMopR1DDynuIFY0Hd5FhOpXxipVyi9X~ZholGKfFpZTyjr8rk1w4BE5ArtTKFo5ap~DLJFZmk7fv9XzAVtgfmO76ZkSdP~JcfEqiut4ZgHiM4ziLfsu6doE2CR9ofvZg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Several board members at the Berkeley County Schools meeting pressed administrators about an apparent discrepancy between high numbers of graduating students receiving honors and lower assessment mastery earlier in studentscareer, and suggested the board form a task force to evaluate high-school grading practices.

Why it matters: board members said the board sees large numbers of students graduating with honors yet noted lower performance on state and diagnostic assessments in earlier grades. The concern centered on whether grading practices and course weighting at the high-school level are consistent across the district and whether grades reliably reflect mastery of standards.

What board members asked: members urged a review of grading and graduation policies, including whether end-of-course district exams or a standards-based grading approach should be used to make high-school grades more consistent and comparable. One board member proposed forming a task force of teachers, administrators and experts to draft potential policy options and bring recommendations to a workshop or future meeting.

Staff response: district staff said grading scales exist (percentage-based A/B/C ranges) but that teachers and schools vary in how they weight participation, homework and tests. Staff noted elementary grades already use standards-based reporting but that high-school grading practices differ by teacher and school. Staff also said district leaders are discussing greater use of standard-aligned district assessments and possible end-of-course exams to reduce grade inflation and better align transcripts with assessment outcomes.

Next steps: the board discussion produced a proposal (not yet adopted) to assemble a task force to assess high-school grading, consider draft policy options, and report back to the board. No formal motion or vote to create the task force occurred during the session.","Board members questioned apparent mismatch between high school graduation honors and lower performance on state assessments, and several members proposed creating a task force to study grading practices and assessment alignment.",{"_33":89,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":90,"_41":91,"_43":92,"_45":93,"_47":94,"_49":95,"_51":96,"_53":97,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":98,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":99,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6203838,"Berkeley County Schools: District posts mixed assessment gains; staff recommends dropping IXL at high school pending board action",3807,42260,3850000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3781319-d4c58506132803402d6a9a9b55d30fc1&start=42&end=3850","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3781319-d4c58506132803402d6a9a9b55d30fc1/thumbnail_42260.jpg","/articles/6203838/West-Virginia/Berkeley-County-Schools-District-posts-mixed-assessment-gains-staff-recommends-dropping-IXL-at-high-school-pending-board-action","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6203838-3a33247154bc1dccf34235b4abc9b0e7/orig.mp4?Expires=1770556791&Signature=CELLBmIsJK4dYK4ZHMvtoHC7minwUMxn7biULMrYo518Zlx03x3Qn~w2uOBHFIEnCYCYsmIKokjhS7MW9vRo749jpOZYk0BDBeg8HEYqQIz1m-PGxYzRrolB0j8xVSBZamk4VyYF4ft5f45ZHmDT0uY6rAEAAg4cjiPAUWL52QEM4fWr~t3flfqFjYXgl2t3Mwi8evhmJywZSPn52WhoSqlmkLazG7G6WOjCGZ1VKcMdjyNhZwFVbw76M~HYo82TBTpL4Ofeojqhm2Xb2wNhVCF4pEj-YSAXAVwu-qiZnwkXqgb-dyBbEfRaCwlgw2Ek0M3eNmKUi1FTi76JvgnIIg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Berkeley County Schools officials presented end-of-year assessment data showing measurable gains on formative diagnostics but results that still fall short of state targets for mastery, and recommended discontinuing IXL at the high-school level pending board consideration.

The presentation, led by Mrs. Lopez, a staff member presenting the districts monitoring report, included I‑Ready, MAP, PSAT/SAT school day and internal benchmark results. \"This is all data,\" Mrs. Lopez said, noting the figures represented every student who tested in grades 3 through 8 and grade 11 and that the states accountability numbers could differ when the West Virginia Department of Education applies attendance filters.

Why it matters: district leaders said formative measures show growth that could be masked by mastery-based state accountability. The state set a 2025 target of 48 percent proficiency on the West Virginia General Summative Assessment (GSA); the districts reported figure was about 42 percent. In reading-related diagnostics the district reported stronger relative gains; in math the district reported 34 percent on one benchmark versus a roughly 38 percent target.

Key results and context: the district reported a variety of diagnostic and benchmark improvements. I‑Ready stretch-growth rates were reported at about 38 percent (reading) and 25 percent (math). The SAT school day average for the district was reported as 893 (reading and writing 470; math 423), with about 15 percent of test takers meeting both College Board benchmarks; staff reported 211 students identified as Promise-eligible. Mrs. Lopez cautioned that those figures represent administered tests and that state accountability data will exclude students with attendance under the states threshold (130135 days as specified by the West Virginia Department of Education) when released in August.

On use of instructional platforms: the presentation included IXL diagnostic results showing many students two or more grade levels behind in math on that diagnostic. A district staff speaker said usage and alignment problems limited the resources value at the high-school level. \"IXL is not aligned to the SAT,\" a staff member said during discussion, and principals and teachers had raised similar concerns about usage and instructional alignment. District leaders said the high-school administration proposed replacing IXL with other resources (including greater use of Khan Academy and College Board practice) and that the formal recommendation to discontinue IXL at the high-school level would appear for board consideration on Monday. That recommendation is a staff action pending formal board approval.

Board questions and next steps: board members pressed staff on comparability with national and NAEP results, cohort versus year-over-year reporting, and whether fall diagnostics could be compared fairly with other states that test all students. Mrs. Lopez and other staff said they would supply comparative data for the 10 states that test all students, and reminded the board that the districts accountability picture will be finalized by the West Virginia Department of Education in August. Staff also described plans to shift from high-level diagnostic reporting to standards-mastery reports teachers can use to target instruction.

Ending: staff characterized the districts situation as a combination of assessment changes, implementation gaps, and alignment issues: \"We have to use the data to change their instruction or to drive their instruction,\" Mrs. Lopez said. The board scheduled formal consideration of the IXL recommendation on the next business agenda and requested additional cohort-level and comparative reporting from staff.","District staff presented end-of-year assessment results showing gains on several diagnostics but performance below state GSA targets; staff recommended not renewing IXL at the high‑school level, pending formal board approval.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Board starts facilities conversation on K—5 vs. intermediate model, hires consultant to lead community engagement

Board members raise concerns about grade inflation and call for a grading-quality task force

Berkeley County Schools: District posts mixed assessment gains; staff recommends dropping IXL at high school pending board action