Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

11 percent of seniors failed math test

CARSON CITY -- About 1,700 Nevada seniors -- or 11 percent -- didn't receive regular diplomas this month because they failed the high school proficiency test in mathematics.

About 500 did not pass the reading test, and 250 failed the writing test, the state Board of Education was told last week.

But the bigger problem, the board learned, may be the failure of students to earn the required 22 high school credits. Many seniors -- state officials won't know how many until the end of the summer -- did not get diplomas this month because of a lack of credits. Last year that number was 2,000, compared with 700 who lacked diplomas due to failing the math test.

State officials said they do not know how many of those who failed one or more of the proficiency tests may also have failed to gain enough credits.

The failure rate on the math test among the more than 16,000 students this year was slightly higher than last year's 10 percent, state Department of Education officials said. But this year the passing grade was raised to 64 compared with 61 last year.

Seniors had six opportunities to take and pass the math proficiency test, which is one of the biggest stumbling blocks to earn a degree. These students will still be able to get their diplomas if they take remediation courses this summer and pass the examination later.

Despite the decline, board President Dave Sheffield said he was encouraged by the results. The 11 percent, he pointed out, included students with limited English speaking capability and the handicapped.

Paul LaMarca, team leader for standards, curricula and assessments, said 47.9 percent of the mainstream students passed the math examination; 32.7 percent of those with limited English cleared the test; and 28.4 percent of the disabled students passed.

This was the second year of proficiency testing for seniors who must pass to get a regular high school diploma.

The results from the April examination, the last before graduation, showed 43.3 percent of the 3,087 who took the math test passed, LaMarca said. He said 49.5 percent of the 998 students received a passing grade in reading and 61 percent of the 656 students passed the writing examination.

White seniors achieved the higher passing rate at 51.3 percent, followed by 46.7 percent Asian, 43.4 percent Indian, 39.3 percent Hispanic and 32.3 percent African American.

Females posted a 46 percent passage rate in math compared with 40.3 percent for the male seniors, he said.

"The percentage failing cries out for solutions," board member Dave Cook of Carson City said. "We need early remediation. Not just for the 11th and 12th graders." He suggested students who fail standardized tests given in grades 4, 8 and 10 grades get remediation at that time.

The present exam is based on the current curriculum. But the state board has approved higher standards in the academic courses.

That could cause more problems next year, when students will face a tougher test based on the increased standards, Sheffield said.

"I'm always concerned about students who don't pass," Sheffield said. "But we did what we wanted to do. We set a standard that everybody knows what it is.

"We're moving the debate where we wanted. We wanted to have increased standards. We're moving that way. We should be pleased about that."

But state officials noted an equally big problem may be the lack of credits earned by students.

Keith Rheault, deputy state superintendent of public instruction, said last year that 709 students didn't pass eventually because of math. "But there were over 2,000 who didn't get the necessary credits. That's a bigger problem," he said.

Consultant Stanley Rabinowitz of WestEd, a San Francisco education consulting firm, called the passage rate of seniors "encouraging" because it was higher than the rate for juniors. He said seniors tend to be more serious.

Rabinowitz suggested there should be an "early warning" examination for eighth graders to learn who needs extra help in various subjects.

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