Math problems add up for LV students

Tuesday, May 18, 2004 | 11:04 a.m.

For Desert Pines senior Sarah Williamson, the fourth time had better be the charm.

Williamson will get her final chance today to pass the math section of the Nevada High School Proficiency Exam in time to graduate with her class in June.

She passed the reading and writing sections on her first try, but her previous three attempts at the math section have fallen short.

"I really want that diploma," Williamson said Monday, as she reviewed the Pythagorean theorem and perpendicular angles in a study class at the Harris Avenue campus. "The certificate of attendance doesn't mean anything. It's like, 'Yeah, woo-hoo -- you showed up for four years.' "

Williamson joins 2,724 other Clark County high school seniors -- 22 percent of the class of 2004 -- who will take the math portion of the Nevada State High School Proficiency Exam this week. Another 8.3 percent of the district's seniors need to pass the reading section and 6.7 percent must pass the writing section.

Karlene McCormick-Lee, assistant superintendent of research and accountability of the Clark County School District, said a lowered passing score likely helped reduce the number of seniors still needing to pass the math exam. The district has also increased its efforts to help students prepare for the exam, McCormick-Lee said.

At this time last year 25 percent of the district's high school seniors hadn't passed the math proficiency exam. That prompted lawmakers to pass legislation lowering the passing score from 304 to 290 out of a possible perfect score of 500. The minimum passing score increased three points to 293 for the class of 2004. The passing score will continue increasing by several points each year through 2007, when it will be restored to 304.

Last year was the first year of an updated, and many say more difficult, version of the math exam. The gradual increase in the passing score gives educators time to find more effective ways of teaching the required material, Nevada Schools Superintendent Keith Rheault said.

"The argument for dropping the passing score was that students weren't given sufficient opportunities to learn," Rheault said Monday. "The Legislature came up with a fair and appropriate compromise."

In order to graduate, Clark County seniors must have 22.5 academic credits and passing scores on the reading, writing and math sections of the Nevada High School Proficiency Exam. Students who complete the credits but do not pass the exam are allowed to participate in commencement ceremonies but receive "certificates of attendance" instead of diplomas.

The lower passing score likely helped reduce the number of seniors who still need to pass the math exam, said Karlene McCormick-Lee, assistant superintendent of research and accountability for the district. The district has also taken steps to address inconsistencies between the exam and graduation requirements, McCormick-Lee said.

As of this year all students in the district must have passed algebra in order to graduate. Additionally, the district has redesigned its "math applications" class to serve as an intensive crash course in preparing for the proficiency exam.

"We're getting better at targeting our teaching," McCormick-Lee said. "We need to match our instruction to the skills our students are expected to demonstrate on the exam."

A complete school-by-school breakdown of seniors still needing to pass one or more portions of the proficiency exam was not immediately available.

At Community College High School's Charleston campus all of the seniors have passed the math, reading and writing portions of the exam. At Green Valley High School 46 seniors need to pass the math exam. And Desert Pines High School has 63 seniors scheduled to take the math exam this morning, down from 90 last year.

Joseph Peila, who teaches math applications at Desert Pines, announced to his students in the fall that he intended to see every single senior pass the statewide exam graduate with a full diploma.

"At the start of the year we had probably 250 kids who hadn't passed the math part and we were at 170 by January," Peila said. "Now we've dropped to 63 and I definitely feel like we're in a position to make it."

Algebra accounts for about 20 percent of the test's questions while geometry makes up a full third of the exam, said Peila. Most students who come to his class as seniors have not taken geometry before and must play a frenzied game of catch-up. Peila also spends significant time helping students decode the unfamiliar format and vocabulary of the exam's questions.

"I tell them, 'You can do this, but you've got to come to school every day and do the worksheets and homework and stay for extra help,' " said Peila, who is a 2004 Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year. "Part of the challenge is making these kids believe that they can pass it."

Desert Pines senior Chris DeBose said he is determined not to let one math exam keep him from getting the diploma he knows he's earned.

Since starting in Peila's class DeBose said his proficiency exam score has climbed from 216 to 286 in February -- just seven points short of passing.

"If I don't make it I'll be upset," DeBose said. "We go to school for 12 years and it doesn't mean nothing if we don't pass one test."

Nationwide 24 states either have proficiency exam requirements for graduation or are in the process of developing them. Nevada has had its exit exams in place since 1982.

Assemblyman Jason Geddes, R-Reno, said he believes the proficiency exams add weight to the state's diplomas by requiring an objective measure of a student's knowledge. But continued problems with the exam, including late and inaccurate scoring by Harcourt Testing Co., have been frustrating, Geddes said.

State education officials announced last week that they were seeking bids to potentially replace Harcourt.

Geddes, a member of the Legislative Committee on Education, said he wants to ensure students are given results early enough to prepare for the next round, if necessary.

"We need to make sure the testing and the reporting schedules line up appropriately," Geddes said. "It doesn't do students much good if they don't have time to sign up for the extra help they need before the next chance to take the exam."

Critics of the test have argued that the content of the math proficiency exam doesn't accurately reflect the math curriculum being taught in schools.

"What we are doing is an injustice to students," said Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, who fought unsuccessfully during the last legislative session to have the proficiency exam requirement scrapped. "We should be looking at student's overall portfolio or achievement. To have a single test determine whether someone gets a diploma or not is ridiculous."

It's not just Clark County students who are struggling with the math proficiency exam. Tausha Goss, a senior at Spanish Springs High School in Sparks, will take the exam today for the seventh time. She'll find out if she passed June 2 -- the same day of her school's graduation ceremonies.

"It doesn't make any sense -- I'm eligible for the advanced diploma but I may not graduate because of one math test," said Goss, who plans to attend community college in the fall. "I don't think people get how hard the test really is."