Friday, May 18, 2001 | 4:51 a.m.
Extra Credit Here are some of the programs the Clark County School District uses for students behind in their course credits:
COSTAR Provides counseling and placement services for students in grades 10-12 who need more credits to graduate.
Credit Deficient Program Provided by funding to high schools for two classes each semester; offered before or after school. May also be by "contract study," which allows students to complete students by using a combination of assignments in and out of regular classes.
External credits All students can earn up to six graduation credits outside of the traditional classroom. Included are music equivalent programs, educational travel, community service and correspondence classes.
Independent study For students in grades 10-12 who need a flexible schedule or cannot attend regular school because of medical problems.
Sunset High School An evening high school for students in grades 9-12 who have family commitments or other issues that prevent them from attending daytime school.
What Will You Do An interactive multimedia CD-ROM, which covers topics on what students can do if they fall behind in course credits.
Thousands of high school students in Clark County are learning a tough lesson on their way to graduation: There is little room for error.
Clark High School senior Dustin Lopez knows this firsthand.
Lopez said if he could do high school all over again, the goofing around with friends and cutting classes to go fishing would never have happened.
Although Lopez is back on track to graduate, thousands of other Clark County School District students -- more than a third of the enrollment -- are caught in the same hole Lopez fell into: the hole created by a lack of credits. While it's possible for students with determination to pull themselves out, others can't.
Credit deficiency -- students lacking credits appropriate for their grade level -- is a leading reason students drop out, district officials say. The problem is significant because the dropout rate is nearly 7 percent, and has recently been as high as 9 percent. The district's goal is for the rate to be closer to 3 percent.
When students fall behind, committing to one of its many programs is the only way to recover. The programs occur before or after the regular school day because there is no other time for students to catch up.
Clark County requires 22.5 credits for a standard diploma, and students have the opportunity to obtain 24 credits during their high school careers. Failed classes that are graduation requirements -- such as English -- must be made up.
More than 20,000 students, or about 35 percent of the district's high school population, last year lacked the appropriate number of credits for their grade level.
A district survey last year of students showed that not having needed credits is the top reason students drop out. Other reasons include getting a job, caring for children and health-related issues.
Maria Chairez, dropout-prevention program director, agrees that credit deficiency is the main reason students drop out.
And Nevada has one of the highest credit requirements in the nation. A 1998 Education Commission of States study, the most recent one available, found the average required by states that direct course requirements was 20.
More credits do not necessarily mean a better education, according to Bill Hanlon, director of the district's math and science institute.
"People equate credits with standards," he said.
It's more important to teach students so they can master the subject than it is to load them up with courses, Hanlon said.
Comparing Clark County's credit-deficiency rate to other districts nationwide is difficult because most don't keep records, according to the commission.
"Nobody really tracks that," said Kathy Walker, a researcher with the Colorado-based commission.
Comparisons also are difficult because states vary in their requirements for language arts, social studies, math, science, physical education and electives. Nevada also requires students pass a proficiency exam to earn a diploma.
The district began tracking its credit-deficient students a year ago in response to a new state policy that classifies high school students based on completed course work. In other words a student in his third year of high school who has only five credits cannot be called a junior.
The policy's purpose was to prevent unqualified students -- those who are credit deficient -- from taking standardized tests.
Statistics on credit deficiency for this year will be compiled this summer.
Even though the district is keeping statistics on credit-deficient students, it has yet to unravel all of its causes.
"There is a littany of reasons: Attendance problems, poor study habits, personal situations or some kids have difficulty with a teacher," said Leonard Paul, assistant superintendent for secondary education.
The district "makes it pretty difficult for students to fail," Paul said, citing remedial programs, activities and clubs that increase student interest.
Still, tens of thousands of failing grades were issued last year.
Documents for the 1999-2000 school year show that 81,617 D grades and 93,641 F grades were issued to high school students.
Jami Carpenter, a counselor with the district's distance learning program, said the classes that high school students fail most are English and World History.
About 2,000 students failed World History last semester.
"I don't know why, but it really seems to give students a lot of trouble," said Carpenter, who runs one of the many programs that the district uses to target students who are credit deficient.
Student enrollment in distance learning has shot up from 345 in 1996 to 1,455 this year.
"The vast majority of them are credit deficient," Carpenter said.
The program allows students to complete some regular courses by watching programs on KLVX Channel 10 or by taking home course videotapes.
The highest enrollment in distance education this spring is driver education with 258 students. Although the class is not required by the district, it is by the state if students want drivers licenses before they turn 18.
In contrast, 73 students signed up for English, which about 1,200 students failed last semester.
"At-risk" schools participate in distance learning, but high schools with the largest distance-learning enrollments are among the highest achieving.
Things aren't much different in summer school.
Superintendent Carlos Garcia admits that most students attending summer school aren't doing it to catch up. They are taking extra classes to increase their number of elective courses or to take fewer classes as a senior.
Both summer and distance learning courses come with a price tag. For distance learning, it's $50 a course. Summer school costs $90 for each half credit.
Garcia says summer school should be free, but the district won't be able to fund it in the near future.
Clark County's growth is singled out as another cause of credit deficiency. The district has a large influx of students from other states and a highly transient population that moves from neighborhood to neighborhood.
Those issues are enough to start problems.
Clark High School students said they attend classes during the summer or attend other programs to get caught up. Some are in classes up to 12 hours a day.
Still, students admit they skip school and didn't apply themselves as freshmen and sophomores. Then, they scramble to catch up.
The problem typically begins in ninth or 10th grade, Clark High counselor Roy Ware said.
"By the spring of the junior year, if (students) need fewer than eight credits, they can look at summer school, Sunset High School, correspondence courses or some of the other programs," Ware said.
If students are much further behind than that, chances are they are not going to graduate with their class, he said.
Looking for ways to begin chipping away at the district's credit-deficiency problem, Garcia thought block scheduling was the answer. It would allow students to take eight credits a year, instead of six.
The number of students facing a problem locally is proportional to the number of credit-deficient students in Fresno, Calif., where he was superintendent before coming to Las Vegas.
"It helped there, and I really think it would help here,' he said.
But the estimated $3 million for additional staffing and textbooks was not included in the 2001-2002 budget.
Garcia is still seeking a solution for credit deficiency in Clark County, the sixth largest school district in the country.
So far, he hasn't found any easy answers.
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