389.015 - Administration and scoring of examinations; transmission of results; effect of failure to demonstrate adequate achievement or to pass; confidentiality of examinations. [Effective through Dec
389.015 Administration and scoring; transmission of results; effect of failure to demonstrate adequate achievement or to pass; certain exceptions for child transferred due to military transfer of parent; confidentiality of examinations. [Effective January 1, 2011.]
1. The board of trustees of each school district shall administer examinations in all public schools of the school district. The governing body of a charter school shall administer the same examinations in the charter school. The examinations administered by the board of trustees and governing body must determine the achievement and proficiency of pupils in:
(a) Reading;
(b) Mathematics; and
(c) Science.
2. The examinations required by subsection 1 must be:
(a) Administered before the completion of grades 4, 7, 10 and 11.
(b) Administered in each school district and each charter school at the same time during the spring semester. The time for the administration of the examinations must be prescribed by the State Board.
(c) Administered in each school in accordance with uniform procedures adopted by the State Board. The Department shall monitor the compliance of school districts and individual schools with the uniform procedures.
(d) Administered in each school in accordance with the plan adopted pursuant to NRS 389.616 by the Department and with the plan adopted pursuant to NRS 389.620 by the board of trustees of the school district in which the examinations are administered. The Department shall monitor the compliance of school districts and individual schools with:
(1) The plan adopted by the Department; and
(2) The plan adopted by the board of trustees of the applicable school district, to the extent that the plan adopted by the board of trustees of the school district is consistent with the plan adopted by the Department.
(e) Scored by a single private entity that has contracted with the State Board to score the examinations. The private entity that scores the examinations shall report the results of the examinations in the form and by the date required by the Department.
3. Not more than 14 working days after the results of the examinations are reported to the Department by a private entity that scored the examinations, the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall certify that the results of the examinations have been transmitted to each school district and each charter school. Not more than 10 working days after a school district receives the results of the examinations, the superintendent of schools of each school district shall certify that the results of the examinations have been transmitted to each school within the school district. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, not more than 15 working days after each school receives the results of the examinations, the principal of each school and the governing body of each charter school shall certify that the results for each pupil have been provided to the parent or legal guardian of the pupil:
(a) During a conference between the teacher of the pupil or administrator of the school and the parent or legal guardian of the pupil; or
(b) By mailing the results of the examinations to the last known address of the parent or legal guardian of the pupil.
Ê If a pupil fails the high school proficiency examination, the school shall notify the pupil and the parents or legal guardian of the pupil of each subject area that the pupil failed as soon as practicable but not later than 15 working days after the school receives the results of the examination.
4. If a pupil fails to demonstrate at least adequate achievement on the examination administered before the completion of grade 4, 7 or 10, the pupil may be promoted to the next higher grade, but the results of the pupil’s examination must be evaluated to determine what remedial study is appropriate. If such a pupil is enrolled at a school that has failed to make adequate yearly progress or in which less than 60 percent of the pupils enrolled in grade 4, 7 or 10 in the school who took the examinations administered pursuant to this section received an average score on those examinations that is at least equal to the 26th percentile of the national reference group of pupils to which the examinations were compared, the pupil must, in accordance with the requirements set forth in this subsection, complete remedial study that is determined to be appropriate for the pupil.
5. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 6, if a pupil fails to pass the high school proficiency examination, the pupil must not be graduated unless he or she:
(a) Is able, through remedial study, to pass the proficiency examination; or
(b) Passes the subject areas of mathematics and reading tested on the proficiency examination, has at least a 2.75 grade point average on a 4.0 grading scale and satisfies the alternative criteria prescribed by the State Board pursuant to NRS 389.805,
Ê but the pupil may be given a certificate of attendance, in place of a diploma, if the pupil has reached the age of 18 years.
6. A pupil who transfers during grade 12 to a school in this State from a school outside this State because of the military transfer of the parent or legal guardian of the pupil may receive a waiver from the requirements of subsection 5 if, in accordance with the provisions of NRS 392C.010, the school district in which the pupil is enrolled:
(a) Accepts the results of the exit or end-of-course examinations required for graduation in the local education agency in which the pupil was previously enrolled;
(b) Accepts the results of a national norm-referenced achievement examination taken by the pupil; or
(c) Establishes an alternative test for the pupil which demonstrates proficiency in the subject areas tested on the high school proficiency examination, and the pupil successfully passes that test.
7. The State Board shall prescribe standard examinations of achievement and proficiency to be administered pursuant to subsection 1. The high school proficiency examination must include the subjects of reading, mathematics and science and, except for the writing portion prescribed pursuant to NRS 389.550, must be developed, printed and scored by a nationally recognized testing company in accordance with the process established by the testing company. The examinations on reading, mathematics and science prescribed for grades 4, 7 and 10 must be selected from examinations created by private entities and administered to a national reference group, and must allow for a comparison of the achievement and proficiency of pupils in grades 4, 7 and 10 in this State to that of a national reference group of pupils in grades 4, 7 and 10. The questions contained in the examinations and the approved answers used for grading them are confidential, and disclosure is unlawful except:
(a) To the extent necessary for administering and evaluating the examinations.
(b) That a disclosure may be made to a:
(1) State officer who is a member of the Executive or Legislative Branch to the extent that it is necessary for the performance of his or her duties;
(2) Superintendent of schools of a school district to the extent that it is necessary for the performance of his or her duties;
(3) Director of curriculum of a school district to the extent that it is necessary for the performance of his or her duties; and
(4) Director of testing of a school district to the extent that it is necessary for the performance of his or her duties.
(c) That specific questions and answers may be disclosed if the Superintendent of Public Instruction determines that the content of the questions and answers is not being used in a current examination and making the content available to the public poses no threat to the security of the current examination process.
(d) As required pursuant to NRS 239.0115.
(Added to NRS by 1977, 474; A 1983, 769; 1987, 616; 1993, 456; 1995, 8, 1742, 1743, 1744; 1997, 1773, 1868, 2768; 1999, 476, 481, 1430, 2666, 2670; 2001, 194, 1206, 1487; 2001 Special Session, 173; 2003, 282, 286; 2003, 19th Special Session, 55, 58, 60; 2007, 1077, 2097; 2009, 2616, effective January 1, 2011)