Improvement in Academic Performance as Chronic Absenteeism Declines in Nevada
The mastery in mathematics and English Language Arts increased in the 2023-24 school year, but there are still lagging levels from before the pandemic. Public schools at the state level are making strides towards reducing chronic student absenteeism or chronic class absences and improving academic performance, according to data from the Nevada Department of Education (NDE) for the 2023-24 school year.
Chronic student absenteeism is considered when a student misses 10 percent or more of school days. Despite the state’s progress in performance rates in mathematics and English Language Arts among third to eighth-grade students, they are still below pre-pandemic levels.
State Superintendent of Public Education, Jhone Ebert, stated that the data signals that the state is on the right path. She attributes the progress to recent state investments in K-12 education.
Chronic Absences from Classes
Chronic absenteeism in the state decreased by 9 percentage points in the 2023-24 school year, from nearly 35 percent in the 2022-23 cycle to 26 percent last school year. Around 60 percent of the state’s 781 schools reduced their rates by at least 10 percentage points, according to the NDE.
Ebert attributes the decrease to the schools’ efforts to connect with students and their families, including home visits and efforts to locate students who are absent from classes. The Clark County School District (CCSD) also saw an improvement in its chronic absenteeism rate, from 38 percent during the 2022-23 school year to 31 percent last school year. However, the county still has a higher rate than the state average.
Washoe County, which saw a surprising increase in chronic absenteeism rates in the 2022-2023 school year compared to the previous year, decreased its rate by almost 3 percentage points in the 2023-2024 school year. Despite the improvements, the chronic absenteeism rate remains much higher than before the pandemic. Nearly 77 percent of schools saw increases in chronic absenteeism – with an average of about 8 percentage points – between the 2018-2019 school year and the 2023-2024 school year, according to an analysis by The Nevada Independent.
Student Achievements
Nevada schools saw improvements in math proficiency among third to eighth-grade students for the second consecutive year, but it still falls below the pre-pandemic math rate of nearly 38 percent. The state’s English Language Arts proficiency rate for those grades, which was 41 percent, also saw a slight increase but remains below the pre-pandemic rate of almost 49 percent.
Statewide, more than half of schools improved their performance in English and math starting from the 2022-2023 school year, according to an analysis by The Nevada Independent. CCSD students in third to eighth grade have performance rates below state averages, with a 30 percent proficiency in math and 39 percent in English Language Arts.
The math proficiency of CCSD high school students has been on a downward trend since the 2018-19 school year, similar to the state average. Ebert attributes this to the need for more math teachers and an increase in student engagement.
Among all charter and district schools, Lincoln County students in third to eighth grade had the highest math proficiency rate at 47 percent. Eureka County students recorded the highest English Language Arts proficiency rate at 59 percent.
While the state is working on strategies to advance K-12 education more rapidly, Ebert mentioned that it will take some time. “We are providing specific and specialized resources to those who need them the most, and these resources only became available just a year ago,” said Ebert. “To implement any program, it takes at least two or three years to see some changes.”