Proposed rule would cap local testing time at 2% of instructional minutes, exclude state accountability assessments

The Nevada Department of Education presented draft amendments to NAC 390 on Oct. 20, 2025, proposing limits on the amount of instructional time that school districts and charter schools may spend on locally administered assessments.

Administrator Peter Zutz said the proposed rule would require school districts and charter schools, unless the State Board approves a waiver, to ensure the total number of minutes spent conducting examinations or assessments during the school year does not exceed 2% of the total instructional minutes. The draft also caps the number of examinations and assessments administered to a pupil in a school year at five, except for assessments that are part of the statewide accountability system. Zutz clarified that the 2% cap applies to district-administered assessments (for example, i-Ready or district-specific benchmarks) and does not apply to federal or state-required accountability assessments; he also said assessments such as the SAT — if administered by a district and not part of the state accountability system — would be counted toward the 2% cap.

Why this matters: The proposed limit is intended to reduce instructional time lost to locally administered tests while preserving federal and state accountability testing requirements.

Public comment: Carson City trustees raised clarifying questions. Trustee Sue Johnson asked whether the 2% cap would exclude SAT/ACT; Administrator Zutz responded that SAT is not state-administered and would fall under the 2% cap if a district chooses to administer it. No written public comments were submitted for this item during the workshop.

Next steps: The Department closed the workshop; further drafting through LCB will define operational details, waiver procedures and how districts must calculate instructional minutes and counts of assessments.