Proficiency exam stumps 610 high school seniors for sixth time

CARSON CITY -- After six tries, there are still 610 high school seniors who cannot pass the proficiency tests in math and reading to earn a diploma.

Of the 532 Nevada students who took the math examination in June, only 71 got passing grades. In reading, 61 of the 210 students who took the test scored high enough to get the diploma.

The results were released Wednesday by the state Department of Education, which said it has not yet compiled the cumulative figures on the number of seniors who passed and who have failed so far. Last year, about 16,000 juniors started taking the examination, required for graduation.

There will be two additional tests this summer to give the seniors another chance. But Keith Rheault, deputy state superintendent of public instruction, said the students must take remediation courses before they will be allowed to take the examination.

There was no indication, he said if any of the 532 students who took the recent math examination went to remediation courses.

Tom McIntosh, involved in the proficiency testing program for the education department, said there are some disturbing results in the last test. On the math examination, a passing grade of 61 was required.

McIntosh said about half of the 532 students scored 45 or below on the math examination. "These kids need to get back to square one to get math skills," he said. "They're banging their heads up against a wall. They need a lot of improvement."

And he said he has been told by the districts that "only a handful of kids have enrolled in remediation classes," meaning they will be the only ones accepted for the examination.

There was controversy during the Legislature concerning the seniors who failed. The Assembly Education Committee voted to lower the passing grade from 61 to 57 to allow more students to get their diplomas. But the committee reversed itself in less than 24 hours. There was also a suggestion of exempting students from passing the math examination but that idea was discarded.

Lawmakers finally decided to allocate $300,000 to pay for remedial math education courses this summer.

Some students have enough credits to pass and some even had scholarships to the University and Community College System of Nevada. The law that was passed allowed the students to retain the scholarships unless they could not pass the two additional exams this summer.

The Clark County School District offered two sessions for math remediation. One extended from June 21 until today and the test will be given tomorrow. The second session extends from July 12 to the 24 and the examination will be given July 30.

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