24 percent of Class of ‘99 didn’t graduate

Terry Webster

Wednesday, Sept. 29, 1999 | 11:39 a.m.

When it came time to get their high school diplomas, about 24 percent of the Clark County School District's Class of 1999 were left empty-handed.

A Nevada Department of Education official said 2,250 seniors didn't graduate in May, with 585 failing the High School Proficiency Exam and another 1,665 not graduating for other reasons.

Most of the students falling under the "other reasons" category didn't earn enough credits, said Tom McIntosh, the state education department's director of standards, curriculum and assessment.

School officials criticize the 24 percent figure, stating that basing it on the June enrollment of 9,530 does not take into account students who are still working on their degrees. They also argue that it's not an accurate representation because it does not reflect the large number of students transferring in and out of the district.

A district study now under way will account for every student. It's expected to be completed in two weeks.

McIntosh, who developed the state report, said he heard complaints about his calculations, too.

He's standing by them.

"Nobody denied the 2,250," he said.

Of the 1,655 students, 1,100 students needed five or fewer credits to complete their high school graduation requirements.

A variety of factors led to the credit deficiency, school officials said. For example, the Class of 1999 had 450 students enter the district some time after the ninth grade. Some of them may have come from other districts where the credit requirements are different.

Starting next year students will be placed according to the number of credits they have, and they won't advance to the next grade level until they meet the requirements, said Judy Costa, testing director for Clark County Schools.

In order to graduate, seniors need between 21 1/2 and 22 1/2 credits, depending on whether they get physical education or computer literacy requirements waived.

Regardless of the failure rate, Clark County Schools will not soften its requirements, Superintendent Brian Cram said. Instead it will help students meet the standards, he said, adding there are many remedial help programs available.

"When we evaluate ourselves we ask if we have programs in place to help these students," he said. "And we do."

There are programs like alternative education, counseling, options to receive school credits through work, summer school, independent study and distance learning, Leonard Paul, secondary education assistant superintendent, said.

"We really try to provide every option that we possibly can," Paul said. Even the Community College of Southern Nevada is getting involved. In conjunction with the district, the college started a remedial program this week at a student cost of $68.

Without a high school diploma, students planning to get into the military this year were unable to do so, Costa said. But lack of a diploma isn't stopping them from getting into community college -- or even from earning a degree.

"This is an open door school," said Tom Flores, program assistant at the college. "Students do not have to have a G.E.D. or high school diploma for the open degree programs."

According to the Flores, math skills are typically the weakest for incoming students.

"The average high school senior is placed into pre-Algebra when we take their calculators away," Flores said.

College tests can place students as far back as third grade, Flores said, adding that anyone scoring under a seventh grade level is put into a basic skills course.

In Clark County 279 seniors who had sufficient credits bombed the beefed-up math portion of the proficiency exam this year. Thirty-four students failed writing and 35 failed reading. A total of 237 students failed more than one of the tests.

Both McIntosh and Costa said they don't think the proficiency exam is too hard.

If anything it's too easy.

"The test is more in line with what kids should be able to do, but we are not talking about rocket scientists," McIntosh said. "They should be able to pass it pretty easily."

According to Flores, the community college has had to step up its remediation efforts.

"In the past five years, we have grown from 12,000 students to 35,000, making us one of the largest community colleges in the nation," Flores said. "The area we have been hardest hit in is remediation."

Students seeking general equivalency diplomas also are on the rise.

"Our G.E.D numbers are up," said Flores. "We are already booked up through October. I've talked to students and some of them are frustrated. They have taken the (proficiency) test four or five times and they are saying they don't care. To them this is an easy way out."

Flores suggested that one way to improve student performance is to make parents pay a nominal tuition fee for their children to attend public schools.

"I think then the parents would make sure their children are doing their homework and passing their classes," he said. "A lot of this has to do with the home environment, too. If something is free, then to a lot of people it has no value."