Math in West Virginia isn’t adding up
What exactly does a West Virginia High School Diploma certify?
Last year, 93% of our seniors earned one, the highest graduation rate in state history. Yet this spring, just one in five juniors demonstrated proficiency in math.
The gap between those two numbers has a simple explanation. A diploma attests that a student met the minimum requirements for graduation. It says little about what the student has learned.
More than 90% of West Virginia students in the class of 2025 sat for the SAT. The average math score was 437 out of 800. A mere 6% of students scored above
600. Another 17% cleared 530, the College Board’s benchmark for having a reasonable chance of earning at least a C in a first-semester college math course.
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This 2009 (!) University of Wisconsin-Madison Placement Office study of “reform vs traditional math” outcomes came to mind when reading Corrinne Hess’s 7 July 2026 article: “Fewer than half of Wisconsin students are proficient at math“.
21% of University of Wisconsin System Freshman Require Remedial Math
How One Woman Rewrote Math in Corvallis
Singapore Math
Discovery Math
Math Forum 2007
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The data clearly indicate that being able to read is not a requirement for graduation at (Madison) East, especially if you are black or Hispanic.
