Nevada gets C-plus for school standards

The grade put Nevada 18th among 48 states with such standards, according to a report released from the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation. Idaho and Iowa were excluded because they haven't completed standards documents.

The nonprofit education research organization said Thursday the average grade of all states is a C-minus, up slightly from a D-plus in 1998.

Although Nevada is in the top half, the news is not all good. According to Fordham, some states are writing more detailed standards documents, but 42 states - including Nevada - still hold mediocre or inferior expectations for students in most subjects.

"If you compare the grade to other states we look pretty good," said Debbie Smith, chairwoman of the Nevada Council to Establish Academic Standards. "Also, in that overall grade they evaluated the very first draft of our social studies standards that we had last spring, so that should be taken into consideration. We've done a lot of work on that document since then."

Nevada earned a B for English standards and C's across the board in history, geography, math and science requirements. Other Western states earning better scores included California, Arizona and Utah.

According to Fordham, Nevada has mediocre standards that are sometimes vague but a strong accountability system that focuses attention on schools that fall short.

The combination of vague standards and high-stakes testing could create problems such as widespread cheating as educators feel pressure for students to pass tests. However, some rewriting could easily fix the problem, researchers say.

Nevada legislators have mandated the council review and update the standards periodically, and Smith said it's important to understand the standards are a fluid document. As the demands of high school graduates evolve, so too will the standards.

Educators within Nevada have criticized the standards for being overwhelming to teachers, too detailed and an unrealistic expectation of the amount of material students need to learn in a school year. However, the Fordham Foundation report cites the opposite, stating that Nevada standards are too vague and need to be more detailed.

"That's again why I think a lot is a matter of perspective and how you look at them," Smith said. "I feel fine with the work we've done, especially when you look at how much later we started the development process and how quickly we've done the work."

Most criticism of Nevada standards in the report was centered on the history, geography, math and science. The report cited a lack of European and world history, little attention to major figures in U.S. history and unrealistic expectations for younger children in some areas.

Weak math standards in middle and high school "represent very little progress over four years of school." Science was dinged for giving short shrift to topics like energy and plate tectonics.

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