Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Nevada scores look good

Scores for the Nevada School District looked good from the standardized tests.

Sandra Browning, Nevada counselor, said students were tested on the Benchmark Exam and End of Course exams. The scores the students were shooting for were 200 at the high school level.

Nevada students were close in literature for junior class members with a combined population score of 185. The combined population is for all students, regardless of whether they are handicapped or not. The End of Course Geometry score was 191, while the EOC Algebra score was 209.

Benchmark Exams were given to students in grades 3-8, with this being the first year for students in grades three, five and seven to take them.

Proficient, Browning told the Nevada School Board at its November meeting, was 40 for third grade math. Nevada students scored 37. Proficient for literature is 65, with NES students scoring 58.2.

Fifth graders scored 37 in math and 54.1 in literature, with the sixth graders scoring 38 in math and 64.4 in literature. For seventh graders, the score was 29 in math and 50.4 in literature. Eighth grade students scored 29 in math and 61.1 in literature.

For fourth graders, Browning said, the students scored 53 in math, whereas the score for the region was 43. In literature, the Nevada score was 60-8.

Nevada, she said, is meeting all state standards, and for the second year in a row the district is on no improvement list at all.

Rick McAfee, Nevada superintendent, said the state was late getting the scores back to schools, but this is good news. Were proud were on no list. Our teachers work hard and it pays off.

Nevada, he said, is making good strides, but working to do more. McAfee credited the improved scores, in part, to starting tutoring earlier and going longer. He told the Board Nevada is one of the few schools in the Southwest Educational Cooperative area not on any list from the state.

Every member of the Board agreed to try and go to the Arkansas School Board Association meeting in Little Rock Dec. 6-8. Jerry Bishop will be the Districts representative.

McAfee had more good news for the Board saying the state has finally released the Title I funds. This budget was in the red because the money had been held back. The state was backlogged because of delays, but got Nevada its money. During the interim, all Title I bills were paid with district funds. These funds will be replaced with part of the Title I money.

We caught a break on the (natural) gas bill, McAfee said, due to the warm weather. We expected it to be $4-5,000, but it was only $1,500. Our electric bill, though, was $7,000.