Education in NevadaThe Good,The Bad, andThe Ugly

Education in Nevada: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Standards – In 2010, Nevada’s English language arts (ELA) and math standards both received a C from the national Thomas B. Fordham Institute.1 On June 22, 2010, the Nevada State Board of Education adopted the rigorous Common Core State Standards in ELA and math for grades K–12.2 These new standards received a B+ and an A- for ELA and math, respectively, from the Fordham Institute.3 Mastery of these standards will help ensure that Nevada students are prepared for success in college and the workforce.

Data System – Nevada’s state longitudinal data system contains eight of the ten core elements that the Data Quality Campaign deems essential. The state still must work to develop a teacher identifier system with the ability to match teachers to students, publicly report student-level course completion (transcript) data, and provide student-level SAT, ACT, and Advanced Placement exam data. Nevada must also work to maximize use of data capacity in driving effective decision making to improve system and student performance.4

Below is a survey of the state of education in Nevada:

The Good

Teacher Policies – In its 2009 State Teacher Policy Yearbook, the National Council on Teacher Quality gave the state of Nevada an overall D- for state policies focused on teachers.5

Specifically, the state received grades on its ability to perform in the following areas:

• Delivering well-prepared teachers: D-• Expanding the pool of teachers: D-• Identifying effective teachers: D-• Retaining effective teachers: D• Exiting ineffective teachers: D+

However, Nevada has since enacted legislation lifting its teacher-student data firewall, which prevented the use of student achievement data in teacher evaluations.6

Charter School Laws – According to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools’ 2011 ranking of state charter school laws, Nevada’s public charter school law is ranked 23rd in the nation. Although

Nevada law does not place any caps on charter school growth, three school districts (Clark, Douglas, and Washoe) have enacted a moratorium on new charter schools. New charter schools can still open in these three districts, but they must be approved by a non-district authorizer. Nevada must expand authorizer options, increase operational autonomy, and ensure equitable funding and access to facilities. For the 2010-11 school year, Nevada has 13,000 students attending public charter schools.7

Return on Investment – Student achievement in Nevada is low relative to state spending on education according to the 2007 national Leaders and Laggards report. Nevada received a D and ranked 33rd among all states for its return on investment, which was measured by its students’ performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)—an independent measuring stick also known as the Nation’s Report Card—relative to its per-pupil spending ($5,460, after controlling for student poverty, the percentage of students with special needs, and cost of living).8

The Bad

Education in Nevada: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Student Achievement – Like many other states, Nevada paints a misleading picture of how well its students are performing. While the state reports proficiency rates of 55% or higher for 4th and 8th graders in math, NAEP reveals a 32% or lower proficiency rate for both grades.9

8th Grade Math4th Grade Math

State TestNAEP

64%

32%

55%

25%

The Ugly

Student Achievement in 4th and 8th Grade Math

Achievement Gap – Not only is the state performing insufficiently overall, but some groups of students are faring even worse. There is more than a 20-point gap in scores between Nevada’s black and white students on both 4th and 8th grade reading tests and close to a 20-point gap in scores between Hispanic and white students on 4th and 8th grade math tests.10 This is morally unacceptable

and a significant threat to continued prosperity and economic competitiveness in Nevada and the nation.

Graduation Rate – Nevada reports a 68% graduation rate,11 but the national Diplomas Count report calculates a rate of 42%.12 Below is the percentage of students graduating in 2007 in Nevada as compared to the United States.

69%

42%

68%

Percentage of Students Graduating in 2007

United States(Diplomas Count-reported)

Nevada (Diplomas Count-reported)

Nevada (State-reported)

Education in Nevada: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Endnotes1 ThomasB.FordhamInstitute,The State of State Standards – and Common Core – in 2010,July2010.2 NationalGovernorsAssociationCenterforBestPracticesandtheCouncilofChiefStateSchoolOfficers,Common Core State Standard Initiative: Preparing America’s Students for College and Career,October2010.(http://www.corestandards.org/in-the-states)3 ThomasB.FordhamInstitute,The State of State Standards – and Common Core – in 2010,July2010.4 DataQualityCampaign,2010-11 Survey Results,2011.(http://www.dataqualitycampaign.org/survey/states)5 NationalCouncilonTeacherQuality,2009 State Teacher Policy Yearbook,January2010.6 NationalCouncilonTeacherQuality,2010 State Teacher Policy Yearbook,January2011.7 NationalAllianceforPublicCharterSchools,Measuring Up to the Model: A Ranking of State Charter School Laws,January2011.8 U.S.ChamberofCommerce,Leaders and Laggards: A State-by-State Report Card on Educational Effectiveness,February2007.9 NewAmericaFoundation,Federal Education Budget Project,September2010.(http://febp.newamerica.net/)10U.S.DepartmentofEducation,InstituteofEducationSciences,NationalCenterforEducationStatistics,NationalAssessmentofEducationalProgress(NAEP),2009.11U.S.DepartmentofEducation,EDDataExpress,StateGraduationRate,AllStudents:2006-07(http://eddataexpress.ed.gov/data-element-explorer.cfm). AccessedonFebruary9,2011.12EditorialProjectsinEducationResearchCenter,Diplomas Count 2010,June2010.13AllianceforExcellentEducation,Nevada High Schools,2010.(http://www.all4ed.org/files/Nevada.pdf)

For more information on the National Chamber Foundation visit www.uschamber.com/ncf. Learn more about the Chamber’s education agenda at www.uschamber.com/icw.

Dropouts’ Effect on the Economy – The Alliance for Excellent Education estimates that the lost lifetime earnings in Nevada for the 2010 class of dropouts alone would total over $6.2 billion. If Nevada graduated all students ready for college, the state would save as much as $25.8 million a year in community college remediation costs and lost

earnings. In addition, if the state increased its male high school graduation rate just 5%, Nevada’s economy would see a combination of crime-related savings and additional revenue of about $78.4 million each year.13 Significantly reducing dropouts each year would multiply these positive outcomes.