Schools await test-score changes

Terry Webster

Tuesday, Sept. 21, 1999 | 10:41 a.m.

Local and state officials are waiting for CTB McGraw Hill to correct errors it made while computing Terra Nova standardized tests given during the previous school year to fourth, eighth and 10th grade students.

CTB McGraw-Hill spokesman Bill Jordan said Monday the test answers given by students were calculated correctly, but scores and percentile rankings are incorrect.

The overall impact of the errors is still unknown, officials said.

Individual student reports and corrected test results should be given to school districts by late October, but data relating to schools needing improvement are expected sooner, said Department of Education spokeswoman Gloria Dopf.

Clark County School District spokeswoman Mary Stanley-Larsen said the matter presents a significant concern, especially since four elementary schools in the district -- Cambeiro, Booker, Madison and Fitzgerald -- are identified as needing improvement for the second year. Lunt Elementary School was entered on the list last spring for the first time.

For each year a school is identified, the state steps up its involvement in making sure improvements are made.

Stanley-Larsen pointed out that the five schools represent 2 percent of the 227 total schools in the district.

The state will have the final word on whether any of the identified schools remain categorized as needing improvement, Dopf said. What will happen to state aid being given to these schools remains uncertain at this point.

According to Jordan, a small amount of data collected -- fewer than 3 percent -- skewed the results.

Under the Nevada Education Reform Act, schools are classified needing improvement if they have over 40 percent of students performing in the bottom 25 percent on all four tests in reading, language, math and science.

Adjustments made by CTB McGraw Hill could hike the scores of low-performing students by up to six percentile points.

"That may be something parents will welcome," Dopf said.

On the other hand, the scores of the highest-performing students may fall by one or two percentile points, she said.

"It's important to remember there aren't real high student stakes attached to these tests," she added.