Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2002 | 11:05 a.m.
CARSON CITY -- A new test scoring system will be put in place this spring to help determine whether third and fifth graders are adequately learning reading and math.
The system, adopted by the state Board of Education Saturday, will not affect whether students are promoted to the next grade.
It's the beginning of the state's effort to align itself with the federal No Child Left Behind act, which requires states to measure student performance and schools to improve yearly.
Keith Rheault, deputy state superintendent of public instruction, said today the grading system will be tied to the academic standards set by the state. It will be used to judge whether schools are performing below standard and qualify for state and federal aid.
"We're looking ahead and setting the test scores where they (the students) need to be, board President David Sheffield said Monday.
Applying the new scoring system to the tests taken last spring, about half of the students performed below the state's standard.
Sheffield said nationally about half of the students are below the standard and even some blue ribbon schools in other states did not perform up to par.
Rheault said in the past schools were judge below standard based on the national TerraNova tests that compares Nevada with other states. Now the scores will be on the curriculum established in Nevada.
The new scoring system, approved by the board, says third graders must get 28 of the 40 reading questions on the state test correct to meet the standard. Those who answer 35 or more of the questions exceed the standard, 13 to 27 correct answers means students are approaching the standard, and under 13 correct answers deems students "emergent / developing."
Applying the new scoring system to the third grade reading test last spring, 29 percent met the standard, 22 percent exceeded it, 36 percent approached the standard and 12 percent were emergent.
Similar cutoffs were set for math. Among third graders who took the test last spring, 27 percent were at standard, 24 percent exceeded standard, 38 percent approached the standard and 11 percent were emergent.
Last year's fifth graders did better in reading: 38 percent scored standard, 11 percent were above par, 43 percent approached standard and only 9 percent were "emergent/ developing."
In math 37 percent of last year's fifth graders met the standard, 14 percent were above par, 41 percent approached standard and 8 percent were in the lower level.
The number of correct answers needed to get a standard grade or above may fluctuate in the future, depending on the difficulty of the test and the number of questions, Paul LaMarca, director of testing and assessment for the state education department, said.
The test scores were computed by educators from across the state who studied the state standards, then recommended the standards, he said.
In the past the only scoring system was to judge whether schools were "low performing." School where more than 40 percent of its students finished in the bottom quarter in all subjects of the basic skills test were judged in need of improvement, he said.
The standardized test is being changed this fall, and a new formula is being calculated, LaMarca said.
A science test is being developed for the fifth grade but that won't be tested until the spring of 2004, LaMarca said.
The state also is developing tests for eighth graders in reading, math and science to be given in spring 2004.
Sun reporter Emily Richmond
contributed to this report.
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