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Nevada Seniors May Not Need Exam to Graduate
The Assembly Education Committee voted unanimously Wednesday to turn the statewide high school proficiency exam into a chance for extra credit, instead of a requirement for graduation, making it it easier for seniors to earn diplomas.
Lawmakers said they continually hear from high schoolers who have stellar academic records but still cannot manage to pass all sections of the exam. Failure to pass the exam is keeping students from going on to college or careers in the military, Assemblyman William Horne, D-Las Vegas, said.
"We didn't want to do away with the exam entirely, but we didn't want it to be a requirement for graduation," said Horne, who chaired the subcommittee that worked on the bill.
Currently diplomas are given only to Nevada students who pass the reading, writing and mathematics sections of the proficiency exam and satisfy local school district requirements for attendance and course credits. Beginning with the class of 2005, this year's sophomores, students will also have to pass a science section.
For the class of 2002, 76 percent of Clark County seniors completed all the requirements for graduation. Statewide the graduation rate was slightly higher at 80 percent, according to the Nevada Education Department.
Under Assembly Bill 179, passing grades on the proficiency sections would show up as "endorsements" on the student's diploma -- not unlike a teacher's license which reflects special accreditation in a particular subject.
State Superintendent Jack McLaughlin said this morning endorsements could help raise the status of high school diplomas.
"It would be wonderful if a diploma said what it really stands for," McLaughlin said. "It could tell potential employers or a higher education admissions office exactly what a student achieved."
Eleven states including Nevada currently require proficiency exams for graduation. Several other states offered tiered high school diplomas, showing which students passed proficiency exams and at what level.
The math portion of the exam appears to be the most significant stumbling block for Nevada students, with as many as 38 percent of seniors failing the section, committee member Assemblywoman Vonne Chowning, D-Las Vegas, said.
"One section of one exam shouldn't be an impediment for students going on with their lives," Chowning said this morning. "One size does not fit all in this case."
Chowning, who also serves on the academic standards committee that devised a tougher version of the exam in 1998, said state funding that was promised to train teachers in the new exam material never came through.
"And who's suffering because the teachers haven't had the training in the necessary math classes? The kids are," Chowning said.
So-called high stakes testing, where results determine whether teachers get raises, schools get funding or students get diplomas, may actually hurt achievement, according to recent research by the Education Policy Lab at Arizona State University. Putting pressure on students and teachers to perform -- or else -- can lead to poor test results and increased instances of cheating, the study found.
Agustin Orci, deputy superintendent of instruction for the Clark County School District, said he couldn't comment on the specifics of the bill until he had an opportunity to review it. In general, the proficiency tests have "done what they were supposed to do, " Orci said.
"The tests make sure kids take school and learning seriously and consider academic achievement a necessary element for a successful future," Orci said.
The federal No Child Left Behind Act requires states to test students in grades three through 10 and sanctions schools that do not show adequate yearly progress. But there is no federal requirement that proficiency tests be tied to high school diplomas.
— Emily Richmond
Seniors may not need exam to graduate
Las Vegas Sun
April 10, 2003
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/lv-ed/2003/apr/10/514927566.html
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