EDITORIAL: Nevada again lowers standards in the face of dismal student test scores

Nevada’s student test scores continue to rank near the bottom nationally. Unfortunately, dumbing down the standards seems to be the usual and all-too-convenient response.

Last week, the State Board of Education set the benchmark by which Nevada students will be deemed proficient in math and English based on their ACT scores. Not surprisingly, the bar will be lower than the national standards created by those who produce the college admissions exam.

The state’s ACT results have been dismal since the test became a requirement for high school juniors. Only 10 percent of Nevada kids who sat for the exam in 2017 were deemed capable of college-level work in all categories tested. An astounding 60 percent of the state’s juniors didn’t make the grade in any of the subjects on the exam.

ACT results are one measurement used to compile school rankings as part of the state’s five-star system created to identify strong and underperforming campuses. By relaxing the ACT standards, the board potentially inflates school ratings, making it easier to deceive parents and taxpayers.

This has been a regrettable pattern in Nevada for years. The state no longer imposes a high school proficiency exam because too many students couldn’t handle an eighth-grade level test that measured basic knowledge in core subject areas. Never mind that the passing score was set well below 60 percent, the traditional cut line.

And what was the Clark County School District’s response when high school students who ignored homework assignments discovered they had a tough time earning the points necessary to pass? District officials allowed principals to impose a “minimum F” policy, which ensured students could receive no less than a 50 on a scale of 100. Once again, this allowed local schools to artificially bump up graduation rates, deceiving taxpayers.

Expect more of this nonsense in the future. The state is set to begin imposing Read by 3 requirements during the 2019 school year. That means third-graders who aren’t proficient in reading must be held back. Had the measure been in place for the 2015-16 calendar, more than 10,000 of the state’s third-graders — 54 percent — would not have advanced to the fourth grade. Schools will no doubt exploit a handful of the law’s loopholes to mute widespread parental outrage. In addition, Democratic lawmakers can be counted on during the 2019 legislative session to try to neuter Read by 3.

You can’t solve a problem if you devote your energies to disguising it through bureaucratic legerdemain. Nevada in recent decades has seen constant tension between those who seek to set high standards for students and those who prefer to protect the stagnant status quo and their cushy sinecures. Sadly, the latter have too often prevailed — and the state has the student test scores to show it.