Trustees debate merits, meaning of test scores

Robert Perea, The Fernley Reporter

While the Lyon County School District continues to experience challenges with assessment results and is trying to find ways to improve student achievement, a presentation on assessment results for the 2023-24 school year at the Nov. 12 meeting of the District’s Board of Trustees turned into a debate of the merits of the American College Test and other assessment measures.

The data for the 2023-24 school year showed that 9.5 of the district’s high school students are proficient in math, compared to 19.4 percent statewide. In English Language Arts, 27.2 percent of Lyon County students tested as proficient, compared to 45.2 percent statewide. Those numbers were down from 10.4 percent in math and 33.5 in ELA in 2023.

“While we were hoping to see improvements in the data from last year, this was not necessarily the case across the board,” said Jim Gianotti, the district’s Executive Director for Educational Services. “However, we do see some promising results as we look through and analyze the data.”

For high school students, those results are from the ACT test, which is required of all Nevada high school juniors. Nevada is one of just eight states nationwide that require all high school students to take the ACT.

The ACT test is a college entrance exam intended to predict a student’s chances of getting a B in that subject. No Nevada or California universities require the ACT for admission.

However, Gianotti said that data is not helpful to the district in terms of instruction, but the Nevada Department of Education has chosen it as the college and career readiness exam for high school students. Students take the test as juniors. Students who plan to go to college often take the test a second or third time to improve their scores, but Gianotti said the district is only provided the results of the one test each student takes as a junior.

“Oftentimes the results come after summer, so the students are no longer in that teacher’s classroom and they can’t take any action upon any of that data,” he said,

Giannotti said Lyon County students had an average composite of 16 for last year, while the median composite was 15. An average score for English was 14.4 while math was 15.9.

“With 22 being the cut for math, a student who scored a 15 would need to get 16 more answers correct in order to hit a 22,” Gianotti said. “So it’s a difference in just a few test questions, in all honestly, between some of these cut scores.”

Gianotti said the problem with using the ACT as a measuring stick for districts is that students who are not going to college don’t take the test seriously.

“I don’t feel it’s a valid result and I don’t think we want to put all our eggs in that basket because I think if we do, we’re mistaken because our students can actually perform much better than what they show on that ACT because it’s a one-shot deal and we don’t get the buy-in from our students on that test,” he said.

Nevada used to administer a high school proficiency exam, which students had to pass in order to graduate. But Gianotti said the state dealt with lawsuits and other issues, and dropped the high school proficiency exam because students were denied a diploma. Since then, Gianotti said Lyon County has seen a steady decline in ACT scores.

Gianotti said the MAP test, Measures of Academic Progress, showed that the median Lyon County test score was at the 50th percentile.

“That is right where, when you look at a bell curve, where we should be,” he said. “So, I will challenge that that is a valid result on the ACT.”

Trustee Sherry Parsons asked how Lyon County students compare to students in other counties of the state, which led to a back-and-forth debate between herself and Trustee Darin Farr.

“Why would we want to compare?” Farr asked.

“I bet you don’t want to compare,” Parsons responded.

“It’s not that,” Farr said. “The fact is that they’re all using the same flawed exam. It’s not a fair assessment of our students’ abilities.”

“Every county has those same problems though, and we’re at the bottom,” Parsons replied, saying that Nye County, which has a chronic absenteeism rate of 44 percent, still posted a 33-percent proficiency in math on the ACT, compared to Lyon County’s nine percent.

In addition to measuring student achievement, Gianotti said the ACT is used for Career and Technical Education funding.

“So if we don’t show improvements in ACT, we run the risk of losing funding for our CTE programs across the district, which means a lack of funding for welding, wood shop, culinary, you name it,” he said.

Damon Etter, the District Professional Development and Data Manager, said the district’s philosophy is that assessment should be for learning, and not of learning.

“When we look at assessment of learning, that can create a dichotomy of proficient or not proficient, and can create discouragement for our kiddos,” Etter said.” So, when we think of assessment, we like to think of assessment for learning, where it basically builds confidence, motivates our students to learn and celebrates their successes as a growth model. That also informs for teachers what the next steps are for each student.”

Etter relayed a conversation he had with a brand new kindergarten teacher, who said many students came to school knowing how to get onto an iPad and how to use a QR code, but they don’t know their letters, the letter sounds or how to identify letters.

“So, they all come to us with different abilities and skills, and so we like to see where students are at and then help them grow from there,” he said. “As we look at our progressions and all of our data together, we can see that difference amongst all of our students, but overall we’re seeing some really great growth amongst them and where they’re at.”

Etter said there are two different types of assessments school districts use. Norm reference assessments compares results to other students in the nation who have taken the exact same assessment. Criterion reference assessments measure results based on standards.

“It doesn’t really help us a lot of the time when it comes to assessment for learning, (it’s) very much an assessment of learning, and so again, it’s not a useful tool for trying to motivate and encourage kids,” he said.

Among other highlights from last year’s test results, Heather Moyle, also an Executive Director for Educational Services, said the district’s English Language Learners increased 13 percent from the spring of 2023 to the spring of 2024 in their adequate growth proficiencies.

In career and technical education, in 2023-24, the district increased the number of completers earning certificates by almost 100, an increase of 52 percent. In order to earn a certificate, students must pass the end of program assessment as well as the workplace readiness assessment.

Gianotti said the number of students that earned an industry recognized credential increased by 161, an increase of 89 percent.

Gianotti said the Trustees in the past few years have approved multiple curriculum adoptions to try to help improve student achievement.

“So, we have a ton of things that we are working on to improve outcomes for our kids,” he said. “The priority is to graduate them life and career successful.”

Trustee Bridget Peterson decried the reliance on assessment testing at all, saying the district has changed its focus from test scores to the Portrait of a Learner program, which is more project-based and work-based learning.

“Employers want students who are a bigger picture than a test assessment score,” Peterson said. “I would say to other districts, they should catch up to us. We don’t need to be like them. They should be like us.”