Only 10% of Nevada's high school juniors are considered college-ready in four core subjects based on their ACT test scores.
The Nevada Department of Education reported on Monday that the average composite score on the college entrance exam was 17.4 out of 36, and remained unchanged from last year. This is the second year that virtually all 11th graders in the state took the exam, rather than just the college-bound students.
State superintendent Steve Canavero said the scores are not officials wanted to see and called it a "statewide cry that our students deserve more."
He said he believes many Nevada education initiatives launched and funded last year will help improve students' academic performance, but said many high schoolers are missing out on programs targeted to younger students.
In July 2014, the Nevada State Board of Education selected the ACT as Nevada’s college and career readiness assessment. Nevada is one of 10 states that require all 11th graders to take the ACT as part of a comprehensive plan to raise expectations and prepare students to succeed in college and career readiness.
“Gov. Brian Sandoval and our Legislature recognized in 2015 that our students’ educational success and the future of our economy were intertwined and passed a suite of historic K-12 education reforms,” Canavero said. “Many of those reforms and investments are just now being deployed. We believe that these efforts will have a positive impact on our students’ preparation and thus ACT scores. But, we also know that many high school students will miss out on the reforms targeted at the early grades and can’t wait for us to figure out college and career readiness in the distant future. Their future is now.”
“We are never pleased to see scores that appear to be low, especially in areas like college readiness, where we have been focusing support in WCSD,” said Superintendent Traci Davis. “We will be working with the Nevada Department of Education in closely scrutinizing the most recent results of the ACT tests among high school juniors statewide, which do not reflect higher scores achieved by WCSD students in other standardized tests including the Advanced Placement and PSAT (Preliminary SAT test).
“We are seeking clarification and guidance from the state. Specifically, we will be asking the state and ACT for better information regarding what exactly these reports say and what actionable data they provide. We are eager to collaborate with other Nevada school districts, the Nevada Department of Education, and State Superintendent Dr. Steve Canavero to ensure that all districts receive data in a timely manner in order to help us all provide support for students as they enter their senior year of high school. We want to support all of our students with the best and most current information available so decisions can be made based upon robust data that most accurately reflects their academic achievements and challenges.
“Ensuring our students are ready for the next stage in life is of critical importance to WCSD. Over the last few years, we have established partnerships with the University of Nevada, Reno and Truckee Meadows Community College to provide even more opportunities to our students as they continue to post gains in their academic achievement as measured by other standardized tests given throughout the school year.”
More complete data from Nevada’s 2015-16 ACT tests can be found at www.doe.nv.gov
(The Associated Press, Washoe County School District also contributed this report.)
