Nevada Ed-Watch: State Board of Education 9/4/24

Nevada State Board of Education

What is the State Board of Education & what are they responsible for? The Nevada State Board of Education adopts regulations based on Nevada laws, which are passed down to individual school districts in Nevada to implement. The Board has 11 total (7 appointed and 4 publicly elected) members.

How often does the State Board meet? The Nevada State Board of Education meets once per month on Wednesdays at 9:00 AM or 2:00 PM. Click here to see the 2024 meeting materials.

Can community members engage at State Board Meetings? A time for public comment is provided at the beginning (for agenda items) and at the conclusion (on any matter) of each Board meeting. Members of the public may provide public comment in writing via email; public comment will be accepted via email for the duration of the meeting and shared with the State Board of Education during the public comment periods. Public comment may be emailed to NVBoardED@doe.nv.gov.

Click here for a list of all State Board Members.

Wednesday, September 4, 2024

Nevada State Board of Education Meeting

Click here to see the regular SBOE meeting agenda.

Click here to watch the meeting playback.

What happened at the regular meeting?

Public Comment #1

• Support for the SBAC pilot program

President’s Report

Highlights included:

• Introduction of Regent Stephanie Goodman, new appointee to the State Board of Education
• Board Member Updates: Nevada State University opened a clinic for children’s mental health and new programs to train mental health professionals; collaboration between Jobs for Nevada Graduates and AT & T to provide laptops for students
• Nevada System of Higher Education Updates: Considering additional supports for certification and other non-degree programs for community colleges; recent summit on wildfires and mitigation strategies for communities from the Desert Research Institute; UNLV welcomed 32,000 students this semester, and UNR is celebrating its 150^th year; voicing support for workforce development initiatives and potential collaboration

Superintendent’s Report

Highlights included:

• The new school year has begun, and Superintendent Ebert has attended numerous first day celebrations at schools across the state.
• On August 24-25, Nevada Future of Learning competency-based rubric training took place, culminating in a draft rubric.
• The Department is undergoing a comprehensive efficiency assessment to identify potential improvements and efficiencies to processes and services to stakeholders.

Board Approved the Consent Agenda

Consent agenda items included:

• Approval of the High School Start Time Survey
• Approval of FY 2024 Q3 Class Size Reduction Report

Review the consent agenda.

Board Will Revisit NAC 388.430 Age Requirement Revisions at a Later Board Meeting

Staff members presented on proposed changes to the Developmental Delay Eligibility under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Nevada has an age range of three to five years old, consistent with eight other states/territories, and the proposed change would extend the eligibility past the age of five (IDEA can be extended up until the age of nine).

Potential impacts include an increase in the number of students that are not found eligible in other categories that will now still be eligible under the Developmental Delay (DD) eligibility, and the inability to predict the impact of DD category rerates beyond age five, as it is data not currently collected.

Impacts on resources could include teams opting to use DD as a catch-all category rather than exploring more specific classifications which could include more specific supports, increasing the number of IEP meetings and documentation, additional staff training, and increased behavioral and social-emotional supports. There would also be a fiscal impact, although it is unknown what that could be at this time.

School districts were surveyed regarding their support for the change. Of the respondents, 88% were favorable to extending the eligibility age to nine; 8% supported extending the eligibility age to seven or eight; and 3% did not want the age changed. An additional 1% supported a change but wanted to revise the criteria.

Additional adjustments to improve outcomes, aside from this potential change, include increasing opportunities for early intervention, shifting expectations for universal Pre-K, and expanding inclusive practices.

Staff recommended further studying the impacts of the change of up to six months for more research. Concerns regarding delaying the decision were voiced, as well as concerns about needing more data to make a decision.

The Board will have the Department bring this agenda item back to the Board at a later time with additional data.

Explore the presentation.

Board Created a Subcommittee for the Review Process for Adopting Textbooks

The Board voted to form a subcommittee to review the process for adopting textbooks, and took volunteers for the subcommittee. Board Members Hughes, Cantu, and Hudson will comprise the subcommittee.

Board Heard an Update from the Commission on School Funding

The Commission on School Funding presented an overview on target per pupil funding under the Pupil-Centered Funding Plan (PCFP). In 2022, the PCFP amount was $10,204 per pupil, with the national average sitting at $15,591, and the recommended funding level is $15,718 per student. The estimated per-pupil amount for 2025 (legislatively approved) is $13,368 (see below for a comparison to national average and recommended funding).

The Commission also presented a 10-year phase-in on per-pupil funding and comparison to the national average. See below:

The Commission also discussed potential funding sources and fiscal reform for the State, including property tax. A separate presentation on property tax and potential scenarios is available here. Sales and use tax considerations were also discussed, with 38% of minimum statewide rate inuring to the benefit of education, and there has been interest in either increasing the sales tax rate or expanding the tax base to assist with increased educational funding. Detailed explanations on revenue generation through sales tax and examples on broadening the sales tax base can be found in this presentation.

The Commission still has several deliverables it is charged with, including some of the funding recommendations detailed above, and items related to reporting and accountability. Part of the accountability task is analyzing reporting efficiencies and using existing data to construct frameworks for accountability and return on investment. The blueprint for the accountability and reporting focus must be finished by November 15, 2024.  

Weights for different student groups (English Learners, at-risk students, and GATE students) are fully funded to the extent that the base per-pupil funding is funded. There are two cost adjustment factors: the Nevada Cost of Education Index and the Attendance Area Adjustment. Additional information on these two factors and recommendations from the Commission can be found here.

Board members expressed concerns about potential changed metrics for students, grad scores, and definitions of “at-risk” pupils. (Explore the presentation on the at-risk definition overview.) Additional questions and concerns about the grad score usage as intended were addressed during the question-and-answer period. The topic of grad scores will be brought back at a future board meeting.

Board Discussed the Updates to Regulations Regarding the Interim Route to Certification for a Special Education License

The Board heard an update to the proposed updates to the process by which school districts and charter schools may allow existing teachers to apply for an endorsement in special education and be placed in a special education assignment area for three years while they are completing coursework requirements for that endorsement area.

Next steps include a public hearing held at a Commission meeting to consider adopting the regulation, State Board consent agenda approval in October, and final adoption consideration by the Legislative Commission in November or December.

Review the update and the regulations.

Board Discussed the Smarter Balanced Assessment and the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) Pilot for SY 2024-25

Staff discussed the Department’s NWEA pilot in partnership with the Nevada Association of School Superintendents. This pilot is a result of not currently being able to use student performance data in a timely manner to help inform instruction.

Many districts use NWEA, and teachers are comfortable with the data to inform end-of-year assessments and outcomes. Thirteen districts are looking to potentially participate in the pilot, but not the three largest districts (Clark County School District, Washoe County School District, and the State Public Charter School Authority). Minimum student thresholds for the pilot have been met. The NWEA summative pilot has been submitted as a grant application to the U.S. Department of Education, with additional information and guidance expected in October. Board members expressed concerns about sample sizes, scheduling, communication with families, training teachers on the data, and equity, as well as ensuring the pilot is part of an overarching strategy.

Staff also discussed the Smarter Balanced Adjusted Blueprint, and how the SBAC is aligned to the Nevada Academic Content Standards and provides consistent statewide data, how SBAC assessments inform educators regarding the level of student performance that their instruction needs to support, that SBAC provides a consistent metric across grades 3-8 regarding the preparedness of students to leave high school with a range of post-secondary options, and how SBAC assessments meet federal assessment requirements.

Under the Adjusted Blueprint, SBAC length and time would be reduced. The performance tasks do not change, and the Computer Adaptive Test, or CAT, employed is shorter in length than the full blueprint CAT. Each content area (English Language Arts and Math) would be reduced by about an hour. Because of the reduced length, there are not enough items to support reporting the full set of Claim scores at the individual student level, so the Composite Claim scores will be used. Staff stated that the Composite Claim scores tend to be more reliable than individual components, but because the Composite relies upon multiple components, the clarity and actionability of the data is reduced as compared to individual components. However, the two scores measure the same depth of content. The Blueprint has been submitted for peer review but has not yet been approved.

Next steps include representatives from NWEA and NASS addressing areas of concern and questions from the Board, to take place at a future board meeting.

Explore the presentation.

Future Agenda Items

Suggestions for future agenda items include Read by Grade 3 cut scores and event planning for recognition and award ceremonies. Goals include:

• Dual credit programs from the Nevada System of Higher Education
• CCSD teacher exit/transfer survey
• CCSD Reorganization Compliance Report NRS 388G
• Statewide Plan for the Improvement of Pupils update
• ESSER update
• Read by Grade 3 Subcommittee updates (pulled from today’s meeting agenda to be heard in October)
• SBAC update

The next Board of Education meeting is scheduled on Wednesday, October 2, at 2:00 p.m.