Nevada schools can reach higher for students

A major concern with the No Child Left Behind federal initiative was that the emphasis on the lower end of the educational spectrum would mean the higher end - the best and brightest students - would be shortchanged.

But a new report on Advanced Placement test scores for 2005 shows nationwide increases across the board from 2000 and significant gains from last year. These are the kinds of classes - Latin, macroeconomics, French literature - that challenge high-school students, and it's a good indicator of whether they are reaching beyond the minimum education competencies.

Nevada remains below the national average (although it's not near the bottom) on Advanced Placement scores, which slipped a bit from 2004 to 2005.

There were also no "exemplary schools" from Nevada listed on the report, and there remain significant gaps in the numbers of black, Hispanic and American Indians students taking the tests and scoring well on them, compared with white students.

It takes a bit of searching, but there is encouraging news for Nevada in the report as well.

The state's average score did rise with the rest of the nation's over the past five years, and the number of students taking the tests rose 19 percent (to 10,667) in just one year.

That tells us Nevada's explosive growth, often cited as a reason test scores among state students are below national averages, shouldn't be used as an excuse anymore. Despite a much bigger pool of test-takers, including a significant number of minority and low-income students, Advanced Placement scores have climbed or kept pace with national averages.

Nevada educators and legislative leaders still have plenty of challenges, even as Gov. Kenny Guinn and the Legislature the past two sessions deserve credit for increasing spending and starting several education initiatives. We'll keep watching for signs they're working.

Yet Nevadans shouldn't settle for mediocre or average, because they'll never catch up that way. There must be a goal of excellence for the top students in the state.