CCSD students’ test scores significantly below district’s goals

The School Board heard an information-only presentation Thursday that spanned nearly two hours about student achievement, including targets set in its Focus: 2024 five-year strategic plan.

Information presented to trustees showed students lagged behind compared with the pre-COVID-19 pandemic period but showed improvement after in-person classes resumed.

Strategic plan targets were established in 2019 “ahead of the COVID-19 pandemic that had an unprecedented impact on student achievement across the nation,” Assistant Superintendent Greg Manzi said.

Targets are from the original strategic plan and remain unaltered, he said.

Superintendent Jesus Jara said the presentation is in line with the School Board’s continuous monitoring of academic achievement.

He said he knows the board — with himself and his team — isn’t satisfied with the numbers.

“This is really bringing an update to you on how we’ve rebounded from COVID,” Jara said, but he noted that there is still a lot of work to do.

Data presented to trustees included proficiency rates on a few standardized tests: the Smarter Balanced assessment, state criterion-referenced tests and ACT college entrance exam.

Test scores

On the Smarter Balanced assessment — a standardized test given in the spring that is also used in a handful of other U.S. states — nearly 41 percent of third graders through fifth graders were proficient in English language arts last school year.

That’s well below the district’s target of 63 percent. It’s also a drop compared with nearly 50 percent proficiency during the 2018-19 school year.

Testing didn’t happen during the 2019-20 school year because of the pandemic.

In math, 31 percent of third graders through fifth graders were proficient — below the strategic plan goal of 56 percent and 42 percent proficiency in 2018-19.

About 42 percent of sixth graders through eighth graders were proficient in English language arts — down from 47 percent in 2018. The strategic plan goal was nearly 61 percent.

About 22 percent were proficient in math — down from 31 percent in 2018-19 and below the strategic plan goal of 46 percent.

Middle school scores last school year didn’t rebound at the same rate as elementary schools, but there was still improvement, Manzi said.

In September, the Nevada Department of Education released test scores from the Smarter Balanced assessment from last school year comparing scores with the 2020-21 school year. It showed students made gains in English language arts and math after returning to in-person classes.

The Clark County School District operated under 100 percent distance education for most of the 2020-21 school year because of the pandemic.

Test scores dropped sharply that year. But because of federal waivers, the normal requirement of having at least 95 percent participation in testing didn’t apply, and only about half of district students participated.

Principal and trustee comments

Several school principals at campuses with student performance gains shared with trustees Thursday what they’re doing, including how they’re using district instructional materials.

Ellis Elementary School, which opened in 2018 in Henderson, saw “Read by 3” — third grade reading — proficiency increase from 56 percent to nearly 70 percent, Principal Shaun Cochran Hall said.

Jara told the School Board he hopes they can see that when teachers have the resources, “there’s a lot of great things that can happen.”

Several trustees said they were thankful to hear directly from school principals about successes on their campuses.

Trustee Danielle Ford said she would like to see student achievement data broken down by school and trustee district and an examination of the factors behind the bright spots as well as schools and geographic areas where students struggle the most.

Trustee Lola Brooks said that context matters when looking at student data, noting officials cannot just look at a single data point.

She also said data presented indicates middle and high school students are recovering “not quite as quickly” as elementary school students.

Longtime district staff employee Autumn Tampa said she enjoyed the presentation and found it informative.

Numbers and data can give good information, she said, but Tampa also suggested leaders should go into classrooms to observe and have a real heart-to-heart conversation with employees.

ACT scores

On Thursday, the school board also heard information about scores from last school year on the ACT, which is a state high school graduation requirement.

Among high school juniors, about 44 percent tested proficient in English language arts. That’s down from 46 percent in 2018-19 and the strategic plan goal was 56 percent.

Nearly 20 percent were proficient in math — down from 25 percent in 2018-19 and the strategic plan goal was 42 percent.

The Associated Press reported this week that ACT scores nationwide fell to the lowest level in more than 30 years and Nevada had the lowest average composite score in the nation.

A note on the ACT’s website, though, says a lower composite score should be expected in states such as Nevada where an estimated 100 percent of students are testing.

Nevada is one of only six states that provides equitable access to the ACT to help reduce the barriers for students to post-high school opportunities, Manzi said.

Of states that test 90 percent or more of their students, only two outperform the national average composite score, he said.

Nevada is among the highest states for its English language learner population and students who qualify for free or reduced price lunches, and among the lowest in per-pupil funding, Manzi said.

The Clark County School District has invested approximately $1 million for ACT test preparation and individual schools also make investments.

Contact Julie Wootton-Greener at jgreener@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2921. Follow @julieswootton on Twitter.