Silly Season In Nevada's High Schools

Tomorrow starts silly season or proficiency exam testing week for Clark County High Schools and perhaps the rest of Nevada's high schools.
On Monday, the testing starts and Tuesday, all 9th graders are off of school along with those who are proficient in reading.  There is also testing on Wednesday and Thursday.  How does it benefit 9th graders not to be in school on Tuesdays?
With each test, they need teachers to proctor the tests.  So, while those teachers are proctoring the tests, the students who are supposed to be in the teacher's class get a study hall instead, the school's cafeteria.  Further, other classes are just cancelled Monday, Wed. and Thur.
Basically, this week will be a wasted week in Clark County high schools.  And for what?  Proficiency exams?
Proficiency exams cost school districts millions of dollars in the tests, test scoring, materials for the test, man hours learning how to give the exam in addition to the hours giving the tests.  It's a big business for test makers and also the scorers, most of whom are teachers, who also get paid to score the tests, especially the writing portions of the test.
And so why do the students take the test/  Well, for those who speak and read English and are good at taking tests, the exams are supposed to show that the student has met certain criteria to graduate.  That's fine, but what about those students who don't speak English or write it very well?  That's about 1/3 to 1/4 of the students in CCSD.  If you ever wonder why the graduation rate in CCSD is so low, this is a major reason.  Many of the Hispanic students in CCSD speak Spanish, either at home or at school or both.  If they cannot speak or write or read English, what chance do they have for passing the proficiency exams?
I do understand the rationale for the exams- the politicians want to hold schools accountable and this is one way to hold the schools accountable.  They also want to make sure that students are qualified to receive a diploma, but are there not other, cheaper ways to do this?
Unfortunately, this is not going to change.  Proficiency exams have now become a big business in Nevada and they have lobbyists who will try anything to prevent the gravy train from stopping.
But proficiency exams have become a waste of time, money and fail to accomplish it's goals, but provides money to outside firms- money that belongs to the taxpayers and the school districts,
If you get rid of proficiency exams, you will keep more kids in schools, have a higher graduation rate and the teachers don't have to teach to the test.

Nevada's Wasted Week Of Education

This week, most of Nevada High high school students will be taking proficiency exams or they will be affected by the tests.
Proficiency exams test a student's knowledge in science, reading, math and writing. Supposedly, it will tell people that people in Nevada know something. Well they are wrong.
First, these exams cost millions of dollars and man hours buying the test, passing out the tests in a secure manner, administering the tests, gathering up the tests in a secure manner and then grading the tests. This is not free and there are many people making good money from the company that lands the test contract to the people who grade the tests. It's a nice scam at the expense of taxpayers and students.
Then, on the days the tests are given, the students are herded into classrooms and take the test for almost 3 hours. The students who don't take the test or have passed it, don't go to class, for the most part. They treat the mornings of the test as free time, and at our school, they spend their time in the cafeteria. They go to class the last 2 or 3 periods of the day.
The teachers involved have to administer the test and if they are supposed to have a class while they are proctoring the test, their students go to the cafeteria.
This goes on from Monday to Thursday.
Then the tests are gathered and they are sent out to be graded. The written portion of the test is graded by teachers who are hired by the State of Nevada. More money down the drain.
In theory, proficiency exams are good. They are supposed to tell if a student is smart enough to get a diploma. But does it really? Now, the Hispanic community has the most students in the Las Vegas area and is close to being the most in the State of Nevada. Many of those students don't completely know the English language. They may know most of the material in Math and Science, but since the test is in English, many of these students will fail, thereby not graduating. And of course, this leads to our high drop out average in Nevada.
Most Special Education students will fail the test as well. Is this fair? I work with the severely disabled and with students who cannot read, write or speak. They are required to take an alternative test and that most special education students will fail. What does this accomplish?
Bottom line: Proficiency tests in Nevada are a waste of time and money. Students lose almost an entire week of education, the tests costs millions upon millions of dollars to administer and grade and that money could be better spent in the classrooms. It is also discriminatory against those who do not speak English and who are in Special Education. Eventually, the tests will be declared unconstitutional. And in the end, the tests really don't show much about the students who take the test.
It's time to get rid of proficiency testing and either refund the money back to the taxpayer or give the money used in the testing back to the classrooms.