EDITORIAL: Raise the standards - Opinion

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Nov. 01, 2009
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

EDITORIAL: Raise the standards

Nevada education officials were mildly encouraged last month by a modest improvement in the state's math scores.

But the numbers may have been somewhat misleading.

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Results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress testing found that Nevada was one of only four states to show improvement in math proficiency in both the fourth and eighth grades this year.

The scores were still dismal -- only 39 percent of fourth-graders and 34 percent of eighth-graders were deemed proficient in math -- but at least that was better than previous years.

Turns out, though, that Nevada, like many other states, has a different definition of "proficient" than does the federal government. Under the law, states are free to set their own standards -- and they do. While a few fix the bar higher than Washington, most do not.

Nevada, for instance, says a student is proficient if he or she meets the "basic" level on NAEP standards. But Gloria Dopf, the state's associate superintendent for instruction, admits that's one level below what NAEP deems sufficient.

In other words, some students deemed "proficient" at math by Nevada standards are nothing of the sort when judged by the national benchmark.

Now, none of this has anything to do with the slight improvement in Nevada's math scores this year. But it does mean that there are likely many more kids struggling in basic math classes than the state is willing to admit.

At the very least, Nevada should raise its definition of "proficiency" to meet the federal standard.

"States are setting the bar too low," said Education Secretary Arne Duncan. "We're lying to our children when we tell them they're proficient, but they're not achieving at a level that will prepare them for success once they graduate."

Indeed.

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Please enter your name Name: Please enter your email Email: Please enter a comment COMMENTS : (word count limit is 300) You have reached the maximum number of words allowed Current Word Count: Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background. hey rory wrote on November 01, 2009 10:35 AM: raise the fire fighters pay already. maestro wrote on November 01, 2009 09:17 AM: Helen..the village called...they want you back. My what a hateful soul you are. patrick wrote on November 01, 2009 08:17 AM: KD: Name a dozen countries with ONLY private schools, which are not funded by taxpayers and you come up with Japan? Didn't you understand the question? KD wrote on November 01, 2009 08:05 AM: I'd rather name a dozen countries -- let's start with the Netherlands and Japan -- where there is no need for homeschooling because the local school system already produces students proficient in mathematics. While here in the US, we start out in the middle of the pack and quickly drop down to the bottom. http://social.jrank.org/pages/944/How-Educated-Are-We-International-Mathematics-Proficiency-Comparisons.html rascal wrote on November 01, 2009 08:04 AM: Lets not put the blame on the teachers, totally. The school board members lack experience in education. Linda Young is the only one with an education degree, The board members have their future set on other political positions and having a school named after themselves. The administrators are the bosses, they are the ones who should go. The administrators have dodged the bullet for years. If they can't lead, leave. HELEN WEILS wrote on November 01, 2009 07:56 AM: AS LONG AS HOME SCHOOLERS ARE FORCED TO PAY TAXES FOR GOVERNMENT UNION GOONS TO DUMB DOWN THEIR KIDS INSTEAD OF ALLOWING PARENTS THAT MONEY TO DO IT THEMSELVES YOU WON'T SEE THOSE NUMBERS, LITTLE PEE PEE. $10,000 A YEAR WOULD ALLOW ONE PARENT TO STAY HOME TO DO THAT. OF COURSE, YOU AND YOUR LIBERAL TAXAHOLIC UNION GOONS WILL NEVER ALLOW THAT. SO KIDS ARE GETTING DUMBER AND DUMBER SO YOU IDIOTS CAN BE 'POLITICALLY CORRECT' MORON!!! patrick wrote on November 01, 2009 07:33 AM: All right all you "private" education, homeschoolers out there; here's your big chance to prove how much better private schooling is than our current system: Name a country, with even HALF of the population of this country, where the students are home schooled, AND which has the literacy rates that this country does, and good luck to you. John F wrote on November 01, 2009 07:23 AM: So the editors believe that in this instance the federal government is a better judge of what constitutes a proper education than state and local authorities? Whatever happened to their views on federalism? Whatever happened to their views on the evil nature of the Department of Educarion? What a bunch of hypocrites. They'll step all over themselves for another excuse to bash the schools, even when the schools are making progress. That being said, at least they're showing some common sense. There's nothing wrong with holding our schools and our kids to the higher standard. Anthony Wright wrote on November 01, 2009 07:01 AM: The kids could have skipped school and been better off. I think it's time to close the schools, keeping the kids at home and letting mom and dad teach the kids to do math, reading and other subjects. The reasoning is simple. The educational union says it's the parents fault for the low test scores, so it is incumbent on the parents to teach their children. With the schools closed they can do so without school interference. We then can put these taxes to better use than wasting them on schools. Unless the teachers union and the school administration want to take the hit for egregiously poor performance and actually take meaningful corrective steps to increase both the quality and quantity of the education that they provide, they make a very good argument for school vouchers and just flat out closing the government school system. Which doesn’t sound like too bad of an idea anyhow. grumpy wrote on November 01, 2009 06:51 AM: The standards by which these students were compared with are hideously low to start. Clark County schools are absolutely failing our students (and it isn't due to insufficient funds!) This is but one of many reasons why primary education in this country needs to be privatized. The sooner, the better.