Assembly wants troublesome math proficiency test put on hold for study

A contentious math proficiency test may be put on hold while it and math education in Nevada are studied.

Numerous parents and high school seniors have protested the exam, saying it has become a hammer threatening the futures of numerous young people with otherwise good grades.

Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, said AB179 puts a moratorium on the math test requirement while a comprehensive audit of the test and the math curriculum in each school district is conducted.

She said 2,500 students in Clark County can't get a high school diploma because of the test.

"We are failing our students and then asking them to pay for that failure," she said told the Assembly Ways and Means Committee.

Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, said the bill seeks to ensure that students are actually being taught the math concepts required by the test.

John Marvel, R-Battle Mountain, joined the supporters, saying he is concerned the inability to pass the math test is driving more kids to drop out rather than continue trying for the diploma.

Assemblyman David Goldwater, D-Las Vegas, and Giunchigliani agreed with Marvel.

"We don't require kids to take geometry. We don't require most of the courses the test tests," said Giunchigliani. "We are saying one high-stakes test will decide their future. That's setting them up for failure."

"We are causing the dropout rate now because they get frustrated, they can't do it and they leave school," she said.

She said the idea is to put the test on hold but reinstate it after the study indicates what improvements are necessary in the test, math curriculum or both.

The bill should be voted on by the full Assembly Monday but is expected to run into trouble in the Senate where Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, is one of the legislature's staunchest supporters of the mandatory proficiency tests as a condition of receiving a diploma.