Stern warning issued on test problems

Thursday, Oct. 24, 2002 | 11:07 a.m.

Nevada's assistant superintendent of public instruction had a stern message Wednesday for schools that have had violations of testing security ranging from carelessness to outright cheating: Straighten up, or the state Education Department will do it for you.

Keith Rheault, assistant superintendent of the Nevada Education Department, told the Legislative Committee on Education Wednesday that if educators do not administer statewide exams correctly or allow breaches of security, state officials will act.

If schools fail to follow the state's requirements, the state will step in and supervise testing, and the teachers and principals responsible could face suspensions from a day to a year or more, Rheault said.

"We're taking this very seriously," Rheault said. "And we expect to significant improvements."

After reports of missing examination booklets and students getting improper access to testing materials, lawmakers voted during the last legislative session to tighten security measures for statewide exams.

The new statutes require the state education department to keep explicit written records of all instances of security breaches and publish a yearly report detailing each incident and the resolution.

"The message has been delivered that this is a serious issue," said Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, who chairs the education committee "We're going to come down hard on anyone who violates the rules."

Rheault presented the first report on test security Wednesday, detailing 50 cases during the 2001-02 academic year. The incidents ranged from tests interrupted by a fire drill to a teacher who gave students answers on a proficiency exam at Virgin Valley High School. That teacher was suspended for a year, and Rheault said the teacher won't be given a license to teach in Nevada again.

The majority of the incidents were minor, such as schools failing to count examination booklets before returning them to the state or students being given an exam intended for a higher grade.

"Most of the episodes were human error, rather than a willful intent to violate the law," Rheault said. "But in some cases, we found administrators should have known better."

Of those 50 reported instances, 27 occurred in Clark County schools.

Given the fact that educators administer tens of thousands of tests each year, the number of incidents reported is comparatively low, Rheault said. However, he added, he hopes the stricter statutes will cut the number of incidents in half in the coming year.

Schools must also file correction plans explaining how the breach occurred and what has been done to ensure it doesn't happen again.

If violations re-occur, the principal of the school along with any teachers involved could face suspension, Rheault said.

Minor infractions, such as failing to return all copies of testing materials, might result in a one-day suspension, Rheault said. More serious infractions, such as improperly guarding testing materials prior to an exam, would result in stiffer penalties.

Clark County School District officials said they welcome the closer scrutiny and that voluntary changes have already been put in place to improve testing security.

The new rules including requiring photo identification for proficiency exams and step-by-step written guidelines for handling exam materials, said Judy Costa, director of testing for the school district.

"We've tried very hard to specify every potential scenario and leave nothing to the imagination," Costa said. "Many of our problems stemmed from people new to the district not knowing what the proper procedure should be, or being too harried to follow the steps. We're working hard to correct that."

Instances of testing security breaches at Clark County schools reported by the state education department include: