Education (Testing & Assessment)

SB 962 requires all West Virginia high school students (public, private, parochial, and denominational) to pass a civics examination, the U.S. Naturalization Exam, and tests on the West Virginia Constitution as a graduation prerequisite. The bill mandates that required courses include instruction on American government structure, historical ideologies (including critical analysis of communism and socialism), and primary source materials. Students must demonstrate factual knowledge of U.S. history, government, and the dangers of historical socialist/communist systems through cumulative assessments. The law also requires schools to provide voter registration opportunities for eligible students. This affects every high school student in West Virginia seeking graduation.

SB 804 exempts middle and high school students participating in extracurricular sports in "good standing" from mandatory physical education requirements. Specifically, students listed by their coach at the end of each sport season are not required to complete the standard PE classes for that school year (middle school: daily PE for one semester; high school: a full credit for graduation). The bill directly affects athletes who maintain coach-determined good standing in sports. It does not alter overall PE requirements but creates this specific exemption based on athletic participation. The change applies to students in grades 6-12 who meet the coach's criteria during their sport season.

SB 215, the West Virginia Constitutional Schools Act of 2026, requires public schools in West Virginia to implement daily prayer or meditation time, include a specific pledge honoring both U.S. and West Virginia flags, and provide students and parents with the state constitution for review. It mandates removing mandatory state "Next Generation" curriculum standards by the 2026/2027 school year, allowing districts to choose classical or locally developed standards instead. The bill also replaces statewide standardized testing with district-level testing choices, offers national assessments like the SAT or CLT for parents, and limits statewide testing to random samples for policy research. These changes directly affect all public K-12 schools in West Virginia beginning in the 2026-2027 academic year.

This bill would require all West Virginia public high school students to pass a state-developed college readiness exam in 10th grade to qualify for public financial aid at West Virginia's public colleges and universities. The State Board of Education must create the exam and set passing standards, allowing students who fail to retake it after a reasonable time. It applies only to publicly available financial aid for public institutions and would take effect for the 2026-2027 school year. The bill does not affect other forms of aid or private institutions.

HB 4077 would eliminate standardized testing requirements in all West Virginia public and private schools by directing the State Board of Education to stop administering such tests. The bill takes effect for the 2026-2027 school year and all subsequent years. This change would directly impact every student, teacher, and school administrator in the state by removing a longstanding assessment requirement. The policy shift specifically targets the administration of standardized tests, without specifying alternative evaluation methods.