The Clark County School District needs all the good news it can get. Thus district officials were gushing Thursday about student gains on the high school proficiency exam.

After three rounds of testing -- and three more yet to come -- 83.2 percent of seniors have successfully completed the test. That's ahead of last year's pace, when 84.2 percent of seniors passed over the entire school year.

"We're headed in the right direction," said new Superintendent Walt Rulffes.

Added Sue Daellenbach, the district's director of testing: "I'm crossing my fingers, but it's looking real good right now."

The more high school students who have mastered the basic reading and mathematics on the proficiency exam, the better. And if this year's trend continues over the next few months, it will be the third straight year of improvements after the percentage passing bottomed out at 83 in 2002-03.

But let's remember that 90.8 percent got by the test in 1999-2000. In addition, lawmakers have set a relatively generous passing score -- especially on the math section -- to keep the failure rate from soaring.

And what happens when the new science section is added to the test in the coming years?

District officials deserve credit for implementing programs designed to ensure more students acquire the rudimentary skills necessary to pass the test. The next question, then: Why do many who pass the test still need remedial math and English after they enroll in college?