Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

1,600 students fail math test, won’t graduate

More than 1,600 Clark County high school seniors -- 13 percent of the class of 2003 -- failed the statewide mathematics proficiency exam and will not receive diplomas at this month's graduation ceremonies, education officials said this morning.

That's more than three times the number of Clark County seniors who did not graduate in 2002 solely because of failing grades on one or more sections of the statewide exam, a review of district records showed.

About 12 percent of Nevada high school seniors failed the math portion of the test, according to numbers released this morning by the state Department of Education.

Clark County educators blamed the poor results on a tougher version of the math test given this year and the schools' curriculum.

"What we've been teaching for the most part up to now isn't necessarily what the kids are expected to know when they sit down for the test," Clark County School District Superintendent Carlos Garcia said. "We need to be proactive in addressing and correcting that reality."

For the seniors who are learning they didn't pass the test, that's little solace.

Amanda Reber, a senior at Western High School, said she and many of her classmates were "furious" this morning after learning they had failed the math section. Students are planning to circulate petitions protesting the exam outcomes and are talking about stronger measures, Reber said.

"Kids are extremely angry," said Reber, who was making her fifth attempt at passing the math section. "Some of them are talking about holding a sit-in or something."

This is the first year the math section of the exam, a requirement for a regular diploma, has been based on tougher standards, as required by the 1996 Nevada Education Reform Act. The math section was a subject of heated debate during the legislative session that ended Monday, with some lawmakers calling for a moratorium until educators figured out how to align school curriculum requirements with the exam material. That measure failed.

"No one's trying to get out of showing that they're learning in school," said Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, a former Clark County teacher who sponsored the bill. "We're just saying there are obvious problems with the test, which it sounds like these scores prove."

Algebra has not been a required course in Nevada high schools, despite the fact the subject comprises 20 percent of the proficiency exam. Beginning next fall, Clark County students will need to pass algebra in order to graduate. The district has also launched a campaign to get more students enrolled in algebra by the eighth grade.

Garcia said while he was disappointed in the scores he wasn't surprised.

"If they're having problems passing the test it only makes sense that we look at what we're teaching them in the classroom," Garcia said this morning. "On the other hand, we have students who recognized they were having problems and didn't take advantage of the tutorials and remedial programs we offered, and we need to reach those kids as well."

Of the 2,009 Clark County seniors who sat for the math section exam in May just 383 passed, said state Superintendent Jack McLaughlin. Additionally, 417 Clark County seniors took the reading section of the exam, with 301 failing. The results from the writing section of the exam were not available.

Statewide 2,135 seniors failed the math section, bringing the overall passage rate to 88 percent, McLaughlin said. That's down from a passage rate of about 95 percent just a year ago.

"It's very upsetting," McLaughlin said. "In my mind, if one kid doesn't pass the system has failed."

McLaughlin said the state Board of Eduation will need to review the math exam and figure out a way to ensure every student gets the classroom instruction they need to pass the test.

"There's an obvious disconnect between the test and what students are being taught," McLaughlin said.

Clark County School District officials said the figures provided by McLaughlin are being reviewed for errors before a final report is released next week.

The testing office spent Monday afternoon faxing individual results to each high school, which will then notify the students.

Last year more than 5 percent of Clark County's seniors -- 520 students -- failed to graduate because they did not pass one or more sections of the exam, according to district records. Students who have completed the rest of their required course work are allowed to participate in graduation ceremonies, although they receive a certificate of attendance instead of a general diploma.

With graduation ceremonies beginning Wednesday, emotions are running high, said John Carpenter, testing coordinator for the Clark County School District.

The testing office received dozens of calls Monday from anxious students and parents seeking exam results, Carpenter said.

"When we get to this time of year and kids don't know yet if they're going to graduate they obviously get very worried," Carpenter said.

Seniors will be allowed to take a final crack at the exam -- albeit after commencement festivities have come and gone. The district will offer two-week summer school cram sessions later this month -- at a cost of $90 per subject -- to help both juniors and seniors prepare for exam test dates in mid-July.

Seniors who pass the test in July will be issued diplomas, Clark County School District Deputy Superintendent Agustin Orci said. After that, they may try to pass at a later date but will be considered adult education students, not members of the class of 2003, Orci said.

"We want to see our seniors graduate on time, but we also know it's important to finish high school, no matter how many tries it takes," Orci said. Reber said she will probably have to put off her plans to attend massage therapy school this summer because the program requires a regular high school diploma. The certificate of attendance she'll be handed instead at Western's commencement ceremonies won't suffice, Reber said.

But Reber said she and many of her friends won't have the time or the money to spare once school ends.

"I know I'll be working, and what's the point of paying for something when you know you're not going to pass anyway," Reber said. "I think a lot of kids are just going to give up."

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