7 of 10 Carson City schools improve in Nevada ratings

Seven of the 10 schools in the Carson City School District improved enough to earn a higher star ranking in the Nevada School Performance Framework.

The Nevada Department of Education released the NSPF on Sunday.

All the elementary schools within the district showed improvements, according to a media release from the school district. Mark Twain and Seeliger Elementary schools jumped two stars from the prior year. Mark Twain improved to four stars, and Seeliger attained the highest five-star rating. Other ratings were:

Fritsch Elementary School, four stars

Carson High School, three stars

Bordewich Bray Elementary School, three stars

Empire Elementary School, three stars

Fremont Elementary School, three stars

Carson Middle School, two stars

Eagle Valley Middle School, two stars

Pioneer High School, two stars

What does it mean to be rated as a five-star school? According to the Nevada Report Card, a five-star school “recognizes a superior school that exceeds expectations for all students and subgroups on every indicator category with little or no exception.”

Additionally, two of the heaviest impacted schools, Empire and Fremont, have increased their star ratings the last two years. The district also noted that it was important that none of their schools rated at a one-star level.

“We are celebrating the growth that has occurred in our district and appreciate the hard work exhibited by our teachers and students,” said Richard Stokes, superintendent for the Carson City School District. “While we are excited to see the growth in many of our schools, we are not fully satisfied and will be focusing on those areas that will continue to show academic improvement in the district.”

Stokes additionally mentioned Carson High School earned a total index score of 84, which would normally determine a five-star rating. However, due to the TSI (Targeted School Improvement) designation, the school was only awarded a three-star rating.

Under the NSPF, indicators and measures are customized for the elementary, middle and high school levels. Schools earn points based on performance in each measure, which are added together to generate a score for each indicator. The results for each indicator are then added together to create a total Index Score, which is on a scale between 1 and 100. This Index Score corresponds to a star rating from one to five.

The lower score at Carson High may be attributed to English Language Learners significantly underscoring on the ACT, said Tasha Fuson, associate superintendent of Educational Services for the Carson City School District. Carson High scored 10 out of 10 on English Language Proficiency.

“Overall, districtwide, these are good scores,” Fuson said. “Specifically, we have made substantial growth with our English Learners achieving English Language proficiency and increasing early college options and graduation rates for our high schoolers. Showing overall improvements in seven out of the 10 schools within our district is great news, especially since our district has large subpopulations of students served on Individualized Education Plans, within the English Learners Program and receiving free or reduced lunch who require additional supports within the school environment.”

The NSPF star rating system was shaped by stakeholders from across the state and is designed to summarize the performance of a school based on multiple indicators and measures. Parents, students, educators and communities can use star ratings to understand how schools are performing and closely examine the indicators and measures that determine the ratings.

A one-star rating indicates that a school did not meet state performance standards while a five-star school is exceeding all expectations. The star rankings are based on proficiency and growth measures in math and English Language Arts, graduation rates and absenteeism rates.

Stokes also noted that clarifications are still coming from the Department of Education. Some corrections have been made on the Nevada Department of Education website since the rankings were released Sunday. For information, please click on the Nevada Report Card button on doe.nv.gov.