Tougher schools standards urged

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Thursday, Feb. 14, 2002 | 9:44 a.m.

Nevada students need to be held to tougher standards if their performance in college and on the job is to improve, the state's superintendent of education told lawmakers Wednesday.

"We need benchmarks that spell out exactly what we expect," Jack McLaughlin told members of the Legislative Committee on Education who met in Carson City. McLaughlin testified from Las Vegas via a video-teleconference.

The superintendent said he often hears from college administrators across the country who ask him why so many of Nevada's students arrive for their freshman year academically unprepared.

"They ask me, 'Why do they come from your high school to our university and need remedial classes?' " McLaughlin told the legislative committee Wednesday.

Nevada's high school graduates are also showing up for work without basic skills, McLaughlin said.

"Businesses ask me, 'How is it that they come with a diploma from your high school but they need to be retrained?' "

A key component to fixing the problem is Nevada's participation in a pilot program that will establish nationwide standards for high school diplomas, McLaughlin said.

The American Diploma Project seeks to develop new, nationwide standards for high school graduation. Nevada joins Texas, Kentucky, Indiana and Massachusetts in the program, which has been funded by grants from nonprofit foundations.

The program, which was launched in November, will evaluate the states' schools against a yet-to-be-determined national benchmark in an effort to better prepare students for the workforce.

The project should result in better communication between K-12 and higher education administrators about the state's standards, McLaughlin said. It will also allow Nevada to compare its own benchmarks with those of other communities around the country.

"We all need to be on the same page for this to work," McLaughlin said.

Carlos Garcia, superintendent of the Clark County School District, said he wasn't convinced the American Diploma Project was the most effective means of addressing education shortfalls in Nevada. There are too many regional differences in educational funding, class sizes and teaching materials, Garcia said.

"Without making all the factors comparable, it's unfair to expect everyone to meet the same requirements," Garcia said.

Finding qualified teachers is one of the most pressing needs facing the district, Garcia said. The Nevada Department of Education approved a waiver Feb. 8 that will allow experienced teachers with credentials from as many as 27 other states to teach here without taking a state exam.

"Before we have a national diploma, we ought to have standards on reciprocity for teaching credentials," McLaughlin said.

McLaughlin testified at a hearing of the Leading up to the 2003 Legislature, the committee is studying ways to improve student performance and the quality of education.

Nevada has the nation's second highest high school dropout rate, and just 12.4 percent of the state's residents have four-year college degrees.

Regents of the University and Community College System of Nevada voted in December to raise the minimum grade point average needed for admission from its current 2.5 to 2.75 by 2006, and 3.0 by 2010.

At a November meeting in Washington representatives from the five states met and determined the principal goals of the diploma project would be to set nationwide benchmarks in English language arts and mathematics; revise and strengthen existing state standards; and encourage higher education and employers to apply those standards to the admissions and hiring processes.

State Sen. Ann O'Connell, R-Las Vegas, asked whether the program had a component directed at teachers. For now the diploma project is focused on the students, McLaughlin said.

Sen. Bill Raggio, R-Reno, encouraged McLaughlin to recommend adding teacher incentives to project's agenda.

"There are going to have to be incentives if we're going to achieve some of these goals," Raggio said.