Columnist Bill Hanlon: Nevada high school students facing tougher profici ency tests

BILL HANLON is a school district administrator and a member of the State Board of Education. He can be reached on the Internet at bhanlon@ accessnv.com

FORTY PERCENT of the state's approximately 16,000 juniors failed the new Nevada High School Proficiency Exam last month. The test is considered high-stakes because it has to be passed to graduate from high school in Nevada.

The test came as a shock to many because of the ease with which students passed the old proficiency test. The state began developing the new test after revising course study in 1994. The new test has been a couple of years in the making. About 500 students took a pilot test last year and a full-scale pilot was administered to all Nevada juniors in October.

The test has been validated and is considered reliable. It was developed because of higher academic standards put in place under the State Board of Education's direction in the last few years.

Two reasons given for such a high failure rate are: 1) Many students may not have taken the test as seriously as they should have -- those students probably relied on the reputation of the old test; 2) students were not taking appropriate coursework to prepare them for the new test.

The old test, adopted with former state Superintendent of Public Instruction Eugene Paslov's recommendation, was designed so that 84 percent of the students taking it would pass on the first attempt. In other words, the old test was not a measure of what kids were supposed to know, but was a criterion-referenced test that was normed so students would pass. About 99 percent of the those taking the old test ended up passing.

The former superintendent often claimed that he had no expectation of student failure. Under those conditions, he was right, few failed. But with that attitude, the state was criticized for having low academic standards, and students knew they didn't have to worry about studying.

The new test is a measure of what kids should know and be able to do upon graduation. It clearly measures increased academic standards. And more importantly, it was not designed to simply pass students. The board and current Superintendent Mary Peterson understand that, when you raise the bar of academic standards, there will be a greater number of students not able to make the jump on the first attempt.

So, just as with past tests, students have more opportunities to pass. The board believes that students should have the opportunity that most parents instill in their own children: "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again."

Because of that, parents of students who failed the test on the first attempt should not panic. They should, however, make sure the kids take testing seriously and make every effort to ensure their children are enrolled in appropriate classes next year to help them prepare.

The test has two parts: English and math. In English, about 20 percent of the students failed. In math, one-third failed. However, the performance of minorities on the math portion is of concern to the state board and superintendent. Sixty percent of black students and more than 50 percent of Hispanics failed the math section. Bias studies were done, so that is being ruled out as a factor.

The new test is designed to measure academic standards, not fail students. However, while 40 percent of the students failed this year, the state board, as mandated by the Legislature, will increase the passing score next year. That might result in an even higher rate of failure. That will certainly have an impact on an already high dropout rate that increased again this year.

Many local school districts already have implemented plans to help students after they learned the results of the pilot in October. Parents also may want to consider summer school to get their children up to speed.

While many legislators may be waiting for new, tougher standards to be created by the Council to Establish Academic Standards over the next two years, students and educators are well aware that the State Board of Education and the Department of Education already have higher, more rigorous academic standards.

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