School’s out on hunt for inadequate schools

Wednesday, Feb. 18, 1998 | 10:24 a.m.

RENO -- The finishing touches were placed on state regulations Tuesday to identify the worst public schools in Nevada and to release $3 million to improve their performance.

The state Department of Education held the last of its two workshops where it received suggestions from local school officials on ways to sharpen the language or clear up misunderstandings.

Terry Owens, an evaluation consultant with the department, said schools with inadequate achievement should be named April 1. The local school districts, she said, mostly know which ones with fall in this category, based on test results from reading, mathematics, language arts and science.

Estimates are there are less than 25 of the 425 schools statewide that will designated as inadequate.

Robert McCord, deputy assistant superintendent of the Clark County School District, said the district is still pouring over the results of the tests given last year to fourth, eighth and 10th graders to assure there's no mistake made in labeling schools either below average or above average.

The regulations will put into effect the school reform act passed by the 1997 Legislature to upgrade public schools and to learn how Nevada students compare with other states.

Statewide Nevada's fourth graders ranked slightly below average in reading and science, average in math and above average in language. Eighth graders scored slightly above average in reading and language but below average in math and science. And 10th graders scored above the national average in all four subjects.

The regulations say that a school will be identified as inadequate if more than 40 percent of its students in the grade score in the lower 25 percent of those who took the test nationally. The scores would have to be in the bottom 25 percent in all subjects.

For instance, if the fourth grade in a school fell down only in one subject, it would not be designated as a poor school eligible for extra money.

Jeanne Botts, an education specialist with the Legislative Fiscal Analysis Division, said the most important part of the law is the improvement plans that must be developed by schools which score low. These schools will be eligible to apply for a share of the $3 million to upgrade their programs.

A school of high achievement would be recognized in more than 50 percent of the class scored in the top 25 percent nationally.

Owens said the draft regulation would be completed by the end of the week for submission to the Legislative Counsel Bureau to see if it jives with the law and then it goes to the education board for adoption.