Study of the alignment of student assignments to the academic standards in the state of Nevada. (Senate Bill 184, Chapter 420, Statutes of Nevada 2007)

Abstract

As part of a 100-school, statewide curriculum analysis project contracted by the Legislative Counsel Bureau, this report is a statistical study of student assignments collected from Nevada public school teachers. Funding for this project was provided through Senate Bill 184, Chapter 420, Statutes of Nevada 2007.

Using its RubyTM curriculum analysis service, The Standards Company LLC collected and analyzed student assignments in English language arts and mathematics from grades 3-8 during the period of March 10 to May 2, 2008. The data displayed in the tables and figures in this final report are complete and indicate (1) the enacted curricula in both English language arts and mathematics miss the targeted grade level by wide margins, most notably in mathematics, (2) the depth-of-knowledge levels of low-performing schools in mathematics was significantly lower than high-performing schools, (3) letter grades received from students attending schools of low socioeconomic status were significantly higher than those attending schools of high socioeconomic status, and (4) a preponderance of collected assignments correlated to workbook samples completed independently.

The scope of this project was vast, generating hundreds of figures and tables that would be difficult to encompass in a single document of manageable size. For brevity, we have therefore included only those figures that (1) correspond to requirements stated in the original Request for Proposals or (2) illustrate what we think are exceptionally interesting results. This report and its executive summary are available at the Nevada Legislature website at http://www.leg.state.nv.us/lcb/fiscal