Raggio: Don’t ‘dumb down’ schools

Terry Webster

Thursday, Jan. 10, 2002 | 9:14 a.m.

State Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio ripped education officials Wednesday for what he called attempts to "dumb down" the testing program and sidestep accountability measures put in place by the Legislature.

Raggio, R-Reno, who chairs the Legislative Committee on Education, said any efforts to water down the testing program established under the 1997 Nevada Education Reform Act will be "over this chairman's dead body."

"I hope that makes a point," he said.

Raggio, called by some the most powerful lawmaker in the state, criticized a presentation by Nevada Department of Education officials on what will be required to bring the state in line with new federal requirements under President Bush's "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001."

Paul LaMarca, the state testing director, said bringing Nevada up to par would be difficult.

Extensive research will be required, for example, to create a method of tracking student performance by grade level, race, gender and other factors.

"This is a very different model than what we are used to, and so it's going to take significant work," LaMarca said.

State and school district officials said they are still working to gauge the full impact of the federal legislation.

One requirement is that all states must annually test students in reading and math in grades three through eight by the 2005-06 school year. Nevada lacks a state testing instrument for grade six, but has some type of test for the other grades.

Based on preliminary information, Nevada expects to receive $3 million to expand its testing program to meet new federal requirements, LaMarca said.

In meeting federal requirements, the Nevada Department of Education also proposed eliminating the TerraNova exam in grade 10 and replacing it with a new test. Additionally, state education officials want to change the testing time for some exams from fall to spring.

Raggio bristled at that notion, saying it would not allow Nevada enough time to provide school report cards, another requirement of the federal law. The report cards will show how individual school compare with other schools in the district and state.

He also strongly opposed the suggestion that the state move away from norm-referenced testing to criterion-referenced tests. Norm-referenced tests compare how Nevada students perform in comparison to other states, while criterion-referenced tests illustrate students' mastery level of specific skills.

The state currently uses the TerraNova exam, a norm-referenced test, to evaluate school performance in grades four, seven and 10. Schools that perform poorly on the TerraNova are required to write plans of improvement. They also receive additional funding for programs to help raise student achievement.

"Norm-referenced testing is a major component of the Nevada Education Reform Act," Raggio said. "That was a long-fought battle."

He also questioned whether the true intent is to provide excuses or to be unable to compare the state to the rest of the nation.

"People in this state have a right to know how we compare to the rest of the country," Raggio said.

But LaMarca said the state has no choice because the current version of the TerraNova exam is being phased out.

Other questions arose about delays in test results for the Nevada High School Proficiency Exam, which is given in October.

LaMarca blamed delays on the contractor that grades the tests and school districts that failed to submit score sheets in a timely manner.

The test results should have been in all school districts this week.

"To my knowledge and from what I received from the contractor, everyone has received everything," he said. "However, we have heard from the districts that they haven't. We're pursuing that."

Another topic of discussion was how passing scores were set in December for the new version of the high school proficiency exam, which is based on 1998 state standards -- or what students should know by a certain age.

The passing scores established in December give the appearance that the state is lowering standards toward earning a high school diploma, Raggio said.

However, LaMarca maintained that adjustments to passing scores were made only to offset the margin of error that can occur in testing.

"We don't want to fail students who are in fact proficient," he said.