Teachers and Leaders Council opposes using statewide tests to measure teacher growth in SB 460

The Nevada Teachers and Leaders Council voted May 15 to oppose a set of provisions in Senate Bill 460 that would require statewide assessments be used for the student-learning portion of the Nevada Educator Performance Framework (NEPF).

The council, which advises the Nevada Department of Education (NDE), met on short notice after the bill was published. Chair Salazar said the council had historically opposed using state assessments for individual teacher evaluation because “state assessments are available only for about 40% of teachers,” leaving the majority of educators without a directly comparable test measure.

The council focused on three linked changes in SB 460: a renaming of the Student Learning Goal (SLG) to an “educational growth goal,” a requirement that measures come from assessments specified in NRS 391.105 (statewide, nationally contracted exams for ELA, math and some science grades), and a requirement that data for each teacher’s educational growth goal be reported annually to the Department. NDE assistant director Cathy Voigt explained the bill would keep the NEPF weight for learning goals at 15% but restrict allowable measures to the state-identified assessments.

Members raised practical and validity concerns. Darcy McGinnis and several other members noted that state assessment scores are not available until summer, making timely evaluation and feedback impractical. Annie Hicks and CTE teachers on the council said many educators (for example, career and technical education and elective teachers) do not have state assessments aligned to their courses and that applying statewide tests would not capture the full scope of instruction. Member Drew Sharp said the proposals would remove teacher autonomy for selecting meaningful, classroom-level growth measures.

After discussion, the council took the following formal positions by voice vote: - Opposed Section 50 of SB 460 (the requirement that educational growth measures come from state assessments listed in NRS 391.105). Motion: Drew Sharp (mover); second: not specified. Outcome: approved (ayes recorded; council quorum was nine members). - Opposed Section 49 (the language change from Student Learning Goal to Educational Growth). Motion: Member Sue Molden (mover); second: Pam Teal. Outcome: approved. - Opposed Section 51 (the requirement that each teacher’s goal data be submitted to NDE annually and a certification program for administrators to conduct statewide evaluations). Motion: Member Richard Varner (mover); second: Susan Molden. Outcome: approved. - Opposed Section 52 (changes to the NEPF observation cycle/probationary observation timing). Motion: Richard Varner (mover); second: Sue Molden. Outcome: approved.

Council members and NDE staff also pointed to national experience: NDE staff noted that several states tried tying statewide assessments to educator evaluations and then abandoned those models because results arrived too late, did not measure teacher practice, or produced implementation and fairness problems. Members urged that any measures used for evaluation be valid for the educator’s assignment and that timelines and the workload for districts and NDE be considered before imposing new reporting or certification requirements.

The council instructed Chair Salazar to submit letters of opposition to the specific sections described above. The council did not take a position on other unrelated portions of SB 460 during this meeting.

The meeting also included routine business: members approved the March 31 minutes by voice vote before the legislative discussion began.