Editorial: Don’t rush students into science testing

Wednesday, June 13, 2001 | 9:27 a.m.

Red-faced lawmakers return to Carson City this week as a special session of the Legislature is convened to take up bills that passed both houses, but whose validity has been questioned because they were adopted after a midnight deadline when the Legislature was supposed to have ended. Reapportionment and a tax bill that will balance state government's budget will take center stage. There is another piece of legislation that will be considered that hasn't received the same kind of attention, but it is important nonetheless, especially for high school students.

Current law requires that seniors pass a new science exam in 2003 if they're to receive a diploma, but Senate Bill 148 would move that requirement to 2005. Delays such as this usually should be viewed skeptically because they are just postponing the inevitable. But in this case, state education officials note that school districts are only now adjusting the science curriculum to meet the state standards. For instance, Nevada now requires two science credits to graduate. As Sun reporter Cy Ryan noted, there are five possible areas of science study, so it's likely that some students may have taken biology and chemistry, for example, but may not have taken any courses in the physical sciences. If the test would have been allowed to go into effect, it could have set up many students for failure through no fault of their own.

Valid tests can tell us how well students are learning, and whether our schools are doing an adequate job of instructing children. But the object of the tests shouldn't be punitive. If someone hasn't been given the proper educational foundation, you surely can't expect them to meet a new set of standards.