Science stumps students on proficiency examination

Terry Webster

Friday, Oct. 12, 2001 | 10:21 a.m.

Science questions that debuted this week on the Nevada High School Proficiency Exam left some students wondering about the usefulness of the test.

"Some of the things on it were things that we haven't even covered yet," Cimarron-Memorial High School junior Danny Pearce said. "It didn't seem like it was put together too well."

The science portion of the test doesn't count until 2005, but it wasn't all that was new on the exam, which is required for students to receive a high school diploma.

The proficiency test's other sections -- math, writing and reading -- were harder, based on new, higher statewide academic standards. Those standards define what students should know by each grade level.

The science test covered physical, life, earth and space and environmental sciences, state officials say. Only the students who took the exam know exactly what was on it. Teachers and administrators are not allowed to review the exam booklet.

The biggest question students had was not how to take the test; they wanted to know why they were given an exam with material they had neither studied nor reviewed.

"We were able to review math before we took the test, and that was really helpful," Cimarron junior Brittany Smillie said. "But we didn't work on anything for the science test."

Classmate Ashley Carver said most of the science questions seemed to cover material from middle school.

"On the science, there was a lot of old stuff I really didn't remember," Nathan Lamont added.

By the time they are juniors, most high school students will have had the chance to take two years of science, such as biology, earth science, chemistry or physics, Cimarron Principal Ken Bedrosian said.

The test can cover any of those areas, and some of them, such as physics, students may not have studied, he said.

Bedrosian said the science will probably be forced in before students are fully ready, similar to the math part on the proficiency exam.

Of the 22 1/2 credits required to graduate, only two must be in science.

State officials will revise the science test before it begins counting -- when this year's freshmen take the test. The state Board of Education is seeking a new company to run its testing program.

The Clark County School District has a tradition of weak science skills.

Out of four areas covered by the TerraNova exam, a standardized test taken in the fourth, eighth and 10th grades, local students have traditionally scored lowest on science. The TerraNova, which also includes math, reading and writing, is used to compare how Clark County students compare with others in the nation, as well as to evaluate school performance.

"As far as I know, we are going to be the first state in the nation to have a graduation exam for science," said Bill Hanlon, director of the math and science institute for the Clark County School District.