CARSONCITY, Nev. – TheNevada Department of Education (NDE or Department) has released performance results for theSmarter Balanced assessments in English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematicsadministered to third through eighth graders during the 2020-21 school year.  

Due tothe impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on learning and federal waivers thateliminated the traditionally required 95.0% participation rate for 3-8assessments, the results do not provide a comprehensive view of Nevada studentperformance. However, these data are among a number of measures that can helpeducators understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and identify areaswhere students are in need of additional support and improvement.

“We aregrateful for the herculean efforts educators and families across Nevadaunderwent to ensure students continued to learn despite the numerous obstaclesthey faced last year,” said Jhone Ebert, State Superintendent of PublicInstruction. “Because of the impacts of the pandemic on education,assessing the quality of schools’ support of students is not a valid use ofthis year’s assessment results; however, the assessment results can tell us howour students are doing and support us in advancing equity through our effortsto close opportunity gaps between and among student groups. The NevadaDepartment of Education stands ready to support our educators and students aswe work together to deploy the more than one-billion dollars in federal relieffunds that have been allocated to Nevada to address the academic andsocial-emotional needs of our students resulting from the challenges of thelast year-and-a-half.”

Considerationsfor Performance Data

Due tothe impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, several caveats should be kept in mind inreviewing assessment results from the 2020-21 school year:

• The impacts of COVID-19 on national performance data must be taken into consideration, as the effects of interrupted learning on students are significant. According to the Center for Assessment, the impacts of COVID-19 on student academic performance are estimated to be two to four times as large as the impact Hurricane Katrina had on the students of Louisiana.
• Assessment data will not be used to establish school accountability ratings under the Nevada School Performance Framework (NSPF) in alignment with the waiver approved by the U.S. Department of Education (USED). As a condition of the waiver, school accountability designations from the 2018-19 school year will be maintained in the 2021-22 school year and identified schools will continue to receive supports and interventions consistent with the school’s support and improvement plan. For the 2021-22 school year, all Nevada schools will maintain their designations as established in the 2018-19 school year accountability ratings, including star ratings as well as Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI), Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI), and Additional Targeted Support and Improvement (ATSI) designations.
• Participation rate requirements were waived for the 2020-21 school year. Participation rates in Nevada’s school districts ranged from 98.1% to 54.1%. When participation rates decrease, so too does the quality of the inferences that can be made from the results as they are not a representative sample of enrolled students.
• Comparing performance data to previous years is not recommended due to the unique circumstances created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevada applied for and received approval to waive federally required assessments, including the Smarter Balanced assessments, for the 2019-20 school year. Data from 2018-19, the last school year in which these assessments were administered, has been included for context.

SmarterBalanced English Language Arts (ELA) Results, Grades 3 through 8

TheSmarter Balanced English Language Arts (ELA) Assessment was administered toNevada students in grades 3 through 8. For the State overall, 41.4% of studentsdemonstrated ELA proficiency.

TheStatewide participation rate for ELA was 68.3%, with eight Nevada schooldistricts achieving a participation rate of 95.0% or greater on the assessment:Carson City, Elko, Eureka, Humboldt, Lander, Pershing, Storey, and White Pine.

Theparticipation rate for 16 of Nevada’s 17 school districts and the State PublicCharter School Authority is 93.1%, approaching the 95.0% rate required by USEDin an average school year. Clark County School District (CCSD), Nevada’slargest school district with an enrollment that comprises 65.6% of allpublic K-12 students, had a 54.1% participation rate on the ELA assessment. Forthe 2020-21 school year, USED waived the 95.0% participation rate requirementfor all states. To this end, even though its participation rate was 54.1%, CCSDwas in compliance with federal and State testing requirements.

Overviewof Smarter Balanced ELA Participation Rates

SmarterBalanced ELA Participation Rates by School District 

SmarterBalanced ELA: Percent of Students Demonstrating Proficiency by Grade Level

Statewide,Nevada’s students demonstrated proficiency at a lower rate than in 2018-19.Based on an average of all grade levels, proficiency rates were lower by 7.1percentage points when compared with 2018-19 data.

ELAAverage Change in Percentage of Students Demonstrating Proficiency 2020-21 vs.2018-19

*Thesenationaldata are comprised of an aggregation of assessment data across multiplestates and their respective analyses.

On anational level, pandemic impacts on student outcomes have affected elementaryschool students (grades 3 through 5) to a greater extent than they haveaffected middle school students (grades 6 through 8). Nevada’s grade-levelperformance is in line with national performance trends.

ExcludingCCSD, Nevada student proficiency as demonstrated on the Smarter Balanced ELAassessment saw a 3-to-6 percentage point drop depending on the grade level,which is in line with national trends.

StoreyCounty School District (SCSD) is the only district in the State in which agreater percentage of students demonstrated ELA proficiency in 2020-21 than in2018-19, with an increase of 1.5 percentage points to reach a total of 54.4% ofstudents demonstrating proficiency in 2020-21. Storey CSD’s participation ratesfor elementary and middle school ELA were 96.8% and 98.3%, respectively.

SmarterBalanced Mathematics Results, Grades 3 through 8

TheSmarter Balanced Mathematics Assessment was administered to Nevada students ingrades 3 through 8. For the State overall, the participation rate for SmarterBalanced Mathematics was 68.2% and 26.3% of students demonstrated mathematicsproficiency.

EightNevada school districts achieved participation rates for Smarter BalancedMathematics of 95.0% or greater: Carson City, Elko, Eureka, Humboldt, Lander,Pershing, Storey, and White Pine.

Theparticipation rate for 16 of Nevada’s 17 school districts and the State PublicCharter School Authority is 92.8%, approaching the 95.0% rate required by USEDin an average school year. Clark County School District (CCSD), Nevada’slargest school district with an enrollment that comprises 65.6% of allpublic K-12 students, had a 54.1% participation rate on the Smarter BalancedMathematics assessment. For the 2020-21 school year, USED waived the 95.0%participation rate requirement for all states. To this end, even though itsparticipation rate was 54.1%, CCSD was in compliance with federal and Statetesting requirements.

Overviewof Smarter Balanced Mathematics Participation Rates

SmarterBalanced Mathematics Participation Rates by School District

SmarterBalanced Mathematics: Percent of Students Demonstrating Proficiency by GradeLevel

Nationalanalyses of mathematics performance indicate a decrease of between 8-to-12percentile points in proficiency demonstrated by students. In consideringNevada students excluding CCSD, the average proficiency demonstrated bystudents was between 7-to-12 percentage points lower, in line with the nationalaverage.

MathematicsAverage Change in Percentage of Students Demonstrating Proficiency 2020-21 vs.2018-19

*Thesenationaldata are comprised of an aggregation of summative assessment data acrossmultiple states and their respective analyses.

SmarterBalanced Results Opportunity Gaps 

Opportunitygaps refer to the ways in which race/ethnicity, socio-economic status, Englishproficiency, or other factors contribute to lower educational aspirations,achievement, and attainment for certain students. While variations inparticipation rates limit the comparability of data as the assessed studentsmay not be a representative sample of the student population, highlightingdifferences in outcomes among student groups is critical to advancing equity.The Nevada Department of Education defines equity as the learning needs ofevery student are supported in an environment where all students are valued,respected, and see themselves in their curriculum and instructional materialswhile experiencing academic success without regard to differences in age,gender, socio-economic status, religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation,ability, native language, national origin, or citizenship status.

2020-21Proficiency Rates Disaggregated by Student Race/Ethnicity

2020-21Proficiency Rates by Student Special Population

“Iam grateful to the administrators and educators across the State who perseveredto provide high-quality learning opportunities to students,” said SuperintendentEbert. “However, we cannot be satisfied until every single child has theequitable access and support they need in order to demonstrate proficiency, nomatter who they are or where they attend school.” 

NDE iscommitted to leveraging federal relief funding to continue to support students’social-emotional and academic development. Nevada’s American Rescue Plan ActElementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ARP ESSER) State Plan was approvedby USED and includes details regarding investments in student and educatorsuccess.

Assessmentperformance data will be presented and discussed in further detail at the Nevada State Board of Education meeting on September 30, 2021 at 2:00 p.m.