Task force says math test reasonable, but needs improvement

Thursday, Dec. 2, 1999 | 9:54 a.m.

The 10-person task force of educators, parents and business people submitted its report Wednesday to the Legislature.

Lawmakers had asked the group to review the exam in an attempt to answer claims from the public and some southern Nevada principals that the test was unfair because it covered material students hadn't learned.

Nevada seniors are required to pass a proficiency exam in reading, writing and math to graduate.

"From what we were told by the districts, we are confident that the district curriculums covered what was on the test," said Anne Loring, Washoe County school board president and a member of the task force.

Sen. Bill Raggio, R-Reno, pushed for the task-force review after a group of Clark County high school principals wrote to lawmakers saying it was unfair to ask students to pass the test when they hadn't been taught the material.

Some parents and even some educators apparently confused the proficiency test with new academic standards. New and tougher requirements in math have been approved and are being taught in classes, but the class of 2003 will be the first required to pass a corresponding proficiency test.

The class of 1999 and students graduating before 2003 will have to get a higher passing score on the current test, but the test covers material schools have been required to teach the past five years.

Although the math proficiency exam is aligned with state-mandated curriculum that has been in place since 1994, the task force did find the different forms of the test varied in difficulty. Some parents and students complained some tests were harder than others. Many saw the one given in April as more difficult.

Loring said some questions on the test could be worded more clearly, "but people weren't jumping up and down saying, 'This one test is hard, and this one is easy.' It wasn't that evident. There was a general sense there may be some difference in the level of difficulty, but not sufficient enough to force a student to fail who had covered the material."

One example: A round pizza is cut into 10 pieces. What is the measure of the central angle of each piece? Possible answers are 10, 18, 36, 45 or 90 degrees. The answer is 36 degrees, the angle of each of 10 equal wedges cut through the center of the circle - but the question doesn't say whether all pieces are equal or cut through the center of the circle.

The task force made recommendations improving the testing process and avoiding similar complaints in the future. Among them: suggestions to better edit the test questions for clarity and ensure the questions reflect realistic situations that high school