{Charleston, West Virginia}...According to statistics released by the state Department of Education, 9 of the 13 middle schools in Kanawha County are considered "below standard" in student achievement. Only four county middle schools met the Annual Yearly Progress parameters set by the federal No Child Left Behind law. In West Virginia, progress is measured by the number of students with "proficient" scores on the WESTEST. Of the state's 151 middle schools, 113 didn't meet standard requirements. Elementary schools and high schools in the county and the state are outpacing performance at the middle school level. Five of the eight Kanawha County high schools achieved progress, better than the state average of 39 percent. Only nine of the county's 43 elementary schools did not make the standard, also slightly better than the 77 percent state average for elementary schools. While those numbers are slight improvements from last year, they are significantly worse than the five years before.
