Tougher standards adopted for schools

Friday, Aug. 21, 1998 | 1:29 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Public school students next year will be getting their first taste of Nevada's educational reform package -- and it won't be easy.

The state Board of Education Thursday approved more rigorous standards in English, science and math. "This was the first major step," in school reform, said board chairman David Sheffield of Elko.

These standards "define what a student should know in grades second, third, fifth, eighth and at the end of high school," Sheffield said.

The school districts will now have one year to align their curriculum to the higher standards. It means, in some cases, subjects will be taught at earlier grades.

Eugene Paslov, an educational consultant, said these standards are "more rigorous and demanding." For instance, he said there are expectations that all students will take algebra and geometry by eighth- and ninth-grades.

"Some students don't take these at all now," said Paslov, who has been advising the Council to Establish Academic Standards.

Keith Rheault, deputy state superintendent of public instruction, said a lot of the materials was previously taught in the schools. "But they will be moved down in many cases and increased in difficulty," he said.

For instance, he said, some math taught in the fourth-grade will now be moved to the third-grade. And these standards are specific on what will be required.

Rheault said there will be an extensive campaign to inform the public and the school districts about the standards so curriculum can be revised.

Gov. Bob Miller and the 1997 Legislature passed a reform package after complaints that schools in Nevada were only mediocre.

The next step will be developing a series of assessments to see how the students are doing. And there will be requests to the 1999 Legislature for more money for teacher training.