Nevada to miss federal deadline

Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2006 | 8:11 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Nevada will not meet a federal deadline by the end of this school year that requires every public school teacher to be designated "highly qualified."

Keith Rheault, state superintendent of public instruction, told a legislative education committee Tuesday that of the 3,000 new teachers hired statewide every year, not all are rated "highly qualified" -- a designation achieved by passing a test in their teaching area.

In 44.8 percent of English classes taught in Clark County during the 2004-2005 academic year, the teachers were not considered highly qualified. But that's down from 70 percent in the 2003-2004 academic year.

Clark County has one of the highest rates of "not highly qualified" in elementary schools in the state. According to 2003-2004 figures, only Lander County was worse, with 46 percent of its teachers rated not highly qualified.

Karlene McCormick-Lee, Clark County School District assistant superintendent of research, accountability and innovation, said there was a "dramatic difference" in the district's year-to-year comparison, primarily because more teachers realized what they needed to do to be designated "highly qualified."

"Not suddenly did all of our teachers become qualified overnight," she said. "It was more of a function of our teachers identifying (how to become) highly qualified."

Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, chairman of the committee, said there seems to be a link between the status of teachers and the proficiency of students.

For example, in 2003-2004 only 43 percent of Clark County's third grade students were considered proficient in reading, he said. Only two other districts -- Pershing and Esmeralda --- were lower.

To be considered highly qualified in their teaching area, a teacher from out of state must pass an exam. Those who graduate from universities in Nevada are tested before they get out of school.

Rheault said elementary school teachers from out of state must have a degree from an accredited college.

"The only option for them to be highly qualified was to pass a state-required test in the content areas of English and math and social studies," he said.

Rheault told the committee that Nevada will request a one-year waiver from the federal government to enable every teacher to reach the highly qualified designation.

Because Nevada is making progress toward having 100 percent of its teachers rated highly qualified, the federal government will not punish the state, Rheault said.

"If we're not making progress, they could withhold funds," he said.

The legislative committee also received a progress report on the accountability of the education system.

Bill Thornton, one of the authors of a UNR report, said an examination of 16 sample schools shows that in some, teachers are paying more attention to the symptoms rather than the root causes of the lack of student progress.

Thornton said he found that in some schools teachers make a big effort to get the students to class on the day that evaluation tests tied to state or federal funding are administered. It is "distressing," he said, that the teachers are not as vigorous in getting the students to class the rest of the year.

The study found a major difference in the administrators or principals who lead schools. While some strong administrators focus on trying to improve instruction and student performance, some principals are essentially "caretakers," he said.

Raggio asked Thornton: "How do we get rid of these ineffective principals?"

Thornton replied: "I'm not going there, Coach."

Cy Ryan can be reached at (775) 687 5032 or at cy@lasvegassun.com.