Friday, April 3, 1998 | 10:48 a.m.
Woolley Elementary School is a fourth- and fifth-grade elementary school only. The fourth-graders whose test scores were used to make the inadequate designation had been at the school only for about six weeks when the national reference tests were administered.
But Principal Holly Jaacks said the designation of the school as inadequate isn't the issue.
"The intent of the law is to make sure everyone gets a good education," she said. "We're 100 percent behind that."
The tests used to determine which schools in Nevada are inadequate in terms of student achievement are administered in the fourth, eighth and 10th grades in the fall.
Schools are deemed inadequate if more than 40 percent of the students tested had average scores below the 26th percentile on the standardized tests measuring progress in reading, math, language arts and science.
Jaacks said the situation for Woolley Elementary is unique: There are no other elementary schools with only fourth and fifth grades. Two other schools send their pupils to Woolley when they reach the fourth grade.
State schools chief Mary Peterson said the situation with Woolley points out the need for the accountability law to take into consideration those schools that "feed" students into another school.
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