Parents get tips on new testing reports

Eric Leake

Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2004 | 9:11 a.m.

Only six parents attended a workshop explaining a new parent report card Tuesday at Green Valley High School.

Representatives from The Grow Network, a division of McGraw-Hill, walked the tiny audience through the report's testing details and activity suggestions.

"In the past, when parents got information on this, they just got overall scores," said Kathleen St. Louis, an outreach coordinator for the network.

St. Louis said parents who have used the reports in other cities found it offered two advantages over a basic score.

"This information hasn't been presented to parents in such a clear way, number one. And it hasn't been linked to activities,"she said.

The reports are new to the state and being distributed to parents of children who took standardized tests in grades 3, 5, 8, or 10 last year. Additional reports will be available in May after testing next spring.

The four-page report is funded by the state Legislature and is being distributed by schools. It gives details of a child's performance on the Nevada Criterion-Referenced Examination in Reading and Math or the High School Proficiency Exam in Reading and Math.

Activities are offered to help students improve in problem areas. Additional activities and information are available at www.growparents.com, all to help parents get involved in their child's education.

"We're not trying to turn parents into educators," said Martha Sutro, network team leader for the state. "It's just everyday things you can do."

Kim Hodge attended the workshop with her fourth-grade daughter, Cheyanne Phelps, who attends Aggie Roberts Elementary School.

Hodge got the report and the workshop schedule Monday and was all over it, she said, adding that she is active in her daughter's education and would definitely use the report.

Hodge said the test details were a little confusing in their comparisons, but that she liked the activities.

"Overall, I like the program," she said. "You know what the test is going to be? When I go onto the Web site."

Jami Carpenter, a counselor at Basic High School, said she would encourage parents to use the report.

Carpenter is a parent herself of a school district senior and said parents are often intimidated by schools and may not know how to help their children academically.