Science scores concern school officials

Terry Webster

Monday, March 27, 2000 | 11:20 a.m.

The Clark County School Board plans to take a hard look at the TerraNova test scores for fourth, eighth and 10th graders by race and gender after the most recent results showed science scores had fallen in all grade levels and other scores were mixed.

The bright spot in the results was a significant rise in math scores among fourth graders.

The School Board members have asked staff for more detailed information on student performance, particularly a look at minority test scores looking back to 1997.

"I want to see what it is we are doing or not doing in those declining or rising scores," said board member Ruth Johnson.

The most consistent result of the test, which is used to predict student achievement and judge the success of local schools, was a decline in science scores at each of the three grade levels tested -- fourth, eighth and 10th.

The TerraNova exam, taken last October, measures local student achievement in reading, language, math and science against a national sample of students. Scores in the 50th percentile indicate performance at the national average.

Fourth grade science scores fell nine points from 1998, declining from the the 52nd percentile to the 43rd percentile.

Six point drops in science scores were seen at the eighth and 10th grade levels when compared to 1998. Eighth graders tested last fall scored in the 45th percentile, compared to the 51st percentile the previous year. In 10th grade, science scores were in the 49th percentile, down from the 55th percentile.

Part of the problem with the science scores is that the amount of reading involvement does not equal what students are being tested on, said Judy Costa, the school district's director of testing and evaluation.

To fix the problem, science curriculum in the district will be changed to include more emphasis on language and vocabulary, as well as geology, she told School Board members. "So I do believe we are addressing that."

The integration of reading and science should pay off in both of those areas, Costa said.

And the new emphasis on geology will help, she said. "That is included on the TerraNova and we have not had that heavily in our curriculum."

The emphasis on science already has been increasing. High school students statewide need two science classes to graduate, but beginning next year high school juniors will also need to pass a science proficiency exam in addition to math, reading and writing.

On the positive side, school officials point out that significant gains were made in fourth grade math, an area that has given students problems on High School Proficiency Exam, which is required for a diploma.

"We've obviously made some significant advances in mathematics," board member Lois Tarkanian said. "We haven't made some significant advances in other areas."

Districtwide, fourth graders pulled out all stops in math this year, Costa said.

"This is the first time I've been able to report a score in the 60s probably in the last five years," she said. "So we're very proud of that 61 we got in math."

Last year's fourth grade math scores were in the 57th percentile.

The fourth grade performance in math is laying a good foundation for those students when they test again in the eighth and 10th grade, Costa said.

"We said to the schools, 'Please emphasize math computation,' " Costa said. "A few years ago we were not emphasizing it sufficiently. That's part of the gain in math."

Fourth grade scores also rose in language, from 53rd to 57th percentile, and in ability, from the 48th to the 52nd percentile. Reading scores were unchanged in the 49th percentile for reading.