West Virginia’s students continue to trail national peers in mathematics, according to new federal data, even as state accountability measures show year-over-year improvements in both math and English language arts performance.

Nationwide performance results show West Virginia eighth-graders scoring below the national average and little change over time, while the state’s Balanced Scorecard reports steady gains across multiple grade levels. The two systems aren’t directly comparable: The National Assessment of Educational Progress tracks long-term performance against national benchmarks, while the Balanced Scorecard measures annual progress within the state.

Together, the results suggest that while West Virginia may be improving by its own measures, it continues to lag behind most of the

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