The Ed-Watch series is designed to increase access to information on decisions being made regarding public education in Clark County and Nevada.
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 Thursdays at 9:00AM. Click here to see the 2019 Board Meeting Schedule. Click here to visit Hope For Nevada’s #NVEd Calendar.
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. There is a time limit of three minutes per speaker. Members of the community providing testimony must fill out a visitor card, available on-site the day of the meeting.
Click here for a list of all State Board Members.
Thursday, November 12, 2019
Nevada State Board of Education Meeting
Click here to see the meeting agenda
What happened at this meeting?
Board Approved the Consent Agenda
Consent Agenda Highlights:
- Approval of Dual Credit requests for:
- Somerset Academy for courses at the College of Southern Nevada
- Pinecrest Academy for courses at the College of Southern Nevada
- Nye County School District for courses at Great Basin College
Board Heard Presentations About Barriers and Progress Towards Nevada’s Student Achievement Goals
The Board heard from the Superintendents of the Clark and Washoe County School Districts, as well as a representative from the Nevada Council to Establish Academic Standards, about challenges and growth towards improving student achievement across Nevada.
The Interim Superintendent of the Washoe County School District shared the following needs for improving achievement in Washoe:
- Alignment of school years, legislative years, and calendar years to address operational challenges related to timing of fund disbursements.
- More flexibility in licensure reciprocity for educators who come to Nevada from another state.
A representative of the Nevada Council to Establish Academic Standards shared concerns about:
- Major changes in schools not suiting the interests of educators
- Low academic achievement rates
- Alignment of standardized tests to the standards of the Nevada Department of Education
The Superintendent of the Clark County School District (CCSD), shared the following updates:
- Support for the County Commission seeking additional funding through AB 309, specifically to address chronic absenteeism among students
- Concerns about the lack of investments made in the professional development of school leaders.
- CCSD is working on developing exit surveys to address the retention rates of teachers and substitute teachers.
- CCSD is also working on ways to expand the teacher pipeline through partnerships with local colleges and universities.
The Board Heard a Presentation on Teacher Attrition and Absenteeism
The average daily teacher attendance rate for schools and districts is defined as the percentage of teaching staff in classrooms on an “average school day” within the reporting school year. In 2018-2019, the average teacher attendance rate was 95.6%, which has been consistent over the past 3 years.
Teacher attrition refers to the number or percentage of educators who exit employment with a Nevada school district in a given year. The teacher attrition rate in 2018-2019 was 8.9% (2,326 teachers, with 13 out of 17 counties reporting). There was an average of 9.0% attrition over the past three years.
The Office of Educator Licensure will come back to the Board with a comparison of these rates to average national rates. More information was requested from the board about the reasons behind teacher attrition.
Click here to see the presentation.
The Board Heard Presentations about Student Chronic Absenteeism
The Board heard from representatives of the Safe and Respectful Learning Environment, Parental Involvement and Family Engagement, and the Assessments, Data, and Accountability Management departments.
The following information was shared with the Board regarding chronic absenteeism:
- In 2018, Nevada aligned its definition of chronic absenteeism to the federal definition, which states that students who are absent 10% or more of their enrolled school days are considered chronically absent.
- The chronic absenteeism rate in Nevada in 2018-2019 was 19.2%. Nevada’s public charter schools had a chronic absenteeism rate of 8.44%. The Clark County School District had a chronic absenteeism rate of 20.38%.
- Students with disabilities have the highest rate of chronic absenteeism in Nevada, followed by students who are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.
- Research shows that by 6th-grade, chronic absenteeism is a leading indicator that a student will drop out of high school. By 9th-grade, chronic absenteeism becomes a greater predictor of dropout rates than 8th-grade test scores.
- School and family resources available include Attendance Works, a national and state-level initiative to reduce chronic absenteeism. Additionally, there is a new pilot program underway with Hazel Health to provide tele-health services in partnership with District Schools.
Click here to see the presentation.
The Board Approved the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V) State Plan
A representative of the Nevada Office of Career Readiness, Adult Learning & Education Options presented the updated Career and Technical Education Program State Plan (Perkins V) to the Board. A key update to the plan was requiring each Local Education Agency (LEA) to complete a local needs assessment.
The strategic goals of the plan are:
- Goal 1: Improve the quality and alignment of career and technical education programs.
- Goal 2: Ensure equity of opportunity and access for all students in career pathways aligned to high-skill, high-wage, or in-demand occupations.
- Goal 3: Ensure employers have a pipeline of skilled talent.
- Goal 4: Ensure programs have a pipeline of high-quality CTE teachers in aligned programs.
- Goal 5: Increase the number of high-quality work-based learning (WBL) opportunities available for secondary, postsecondary, and adult students (e.g., internships, apprenticeships) statewide.
- Goal 6: Raise awareness of the need and opportunity for a stronger education-to-workforce pipeline for students, parents, educators, and Nevada employers.
- Goal 7: Expand opportunities for high school students enrolled in career and technical education programs to earn early college credit.
Next, the Perkins V State Plan will go to the Governor’s office for a 30-day review prior to being submitted to the Governor’s Workforce Development Board in January 2020.
Click here to see the presentation.
The Board Heard a Presentation About Silver State Governance (SSG) Training
The Board heard about Silver State Governance (SSG) training, which provides coaching for Board members to ensure a majority of their time is spent focused on student outcomes. Governing Boards that spend at least 50% of their time focusing on student outcomes are the most likely to see progress.
The Guinn Center conducted an audit of Nevada schools, which found that within some districts, only 10% of time spent was focused on student outcomes. Nevada’s State Board of Education was the only Board that spent nearly 50% of its time on student outcomes.
SSG is launching a pilot this weekend for Lincoln and Lyon County school Boards and Superintendents.
Click here to see the presentation.
The Board Discussed the 2020 Census
In 2016, Nevada received $6.2 billion in federal funds based on census data, including hundreds of millions of dollars for education. However, it is estimated that in 2010, 6,000 children in Clark County alone were not counted– which reduced funding allocated to Nevada.
Click here to see the presentation.
The Board Heard Information on Graduation Rates for the 2018-2019 School Year
A representative of the Office of Assessment, Data, & Accountability Management presented to the Board about the 2018-19 school year graduation rates. The Class of 2019 had the highest graduation rate in Nevada history. The statewide high school graduation rate of 84.11 percent is 3.26 percentage points higher than it was in 2017.
In Clark County, there was an 85.8% graduation rate in 2019, slightly exceeding the state’s average rate of 84.1%.
Graduation rates by student race and ethnicity:
- White: 87.33%
- Hispanic: 82.95%
- Black: 72.18%
- Students with an IEP: 67.1%
- Homeless Students: 65.7%
- Students in Foster Care: 44.2%
Click here to see the presentation.
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