Craig Co. and Roanoke City school accreditation rates increase after warnings

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CRAIG COUNTY (WSLS 10) - After warnings were issued to a few local schools, implementation of some new teaching practices turned things around.

According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, only 40 percent of fourth graders are at or above proficiency in math this year.

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That's a 2-point drop from 2013.

Eight graders dropped two points, while reading scores flat lined at 36 percent for fourth graders.

But the trend doesn't carry over in the commonwealth. Virginia students are outperforming their national counterparts. Forty seven percent met or exceeded the national reading standard.

Governor McAuliffe recently announced a significant number of schools earning accreditation for 2015.

Superintendent Kelly Wilmore for Craig County Schools Superintendent said his teachers create interactive lessons for their students.

"A lot of repetition, a lot of song and dance, memory techniques anything to get them moving out of their seats," Rebecca Craighead a 6th grade math teacher at Craig County Middle School said.

Michelle Frazier is the Title I reading teacher. She said to get the students interested in reading, they have incentives like a skating party for those who reached their goals.

"We look at our data we look at what's happening in school and I'm proud that we do work hard to see the needs our students" Frazier said.

Kelly Wilmore, the Craig County Schools Superintendent said one of his schools had a warning for accreditation three years ago. He said after implementing 'test talk's with students, one-on-one time, and a reading specialist room, all the schools in Craig County are fully accredited.

"It's a tremendous tribute to our teachers and our administrative team and our kids, our kids are great everyone bought into the system the last three years,"

Schools in Roanoke City, like Breckinridge Middle, have also improved their rate.

Breckinridge had a warning last year. The principal said last year, after implementing tools like laptops for the eight graders and using resources like the white board to make learning more interactive - results were obvious.

"Our community should be very proud of the improvements at Breckinridge middle school has made, while we got a little ways to go I want to publicly acknowledge our teachers our students and our parents," Tracey Anderson, Principal at James Breckinridge Middle School.