Nevada students below national average
By Trevon Milliard, Las Vegas Review-Journal
A national assessment shows Nevada students fell short of the national average in math and reading despite the unprecedented efforts of the Silver State’s predominant district, Clark County, to assist failing students and hire reform-minded leadership.
On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Education released the results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress – also called the Nation’s Report Card – given this year to 719,000 students in fourth and eighth grades, which are seen as educational milestone years. Students can score in a range of 0 to 500, with a scale score of 250 equaling a 50 percent score.
For the sampling of Nevada fourth-graders tested, the average score was 47 percent in math and 43 percent in reading. In both subjects, Silver State fourth-graders placed seventh-worst among the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Department of Defense schools. For eighth-graders, the average score was 56 percent in math and 52 percent in reading, putting the state ninth and 11th from the bottom, respectively.
All four of Nevada’s average scores fell short of the national average, a dubious showing made only by the Silver State, California, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia.
