Washoe and charters push AB 386 to let districts choose K–3 reading assessment; NDE warns of reporting workload

Washoe County School District and charter leaders told the Assembly Ways and Means Committee that Assembly Bill 386 would give districts flexibility to choose an interim reading assessment for kindergarten through grade 3, a change they say would reduce duplicate testing and improve instruction.

Dr. Laura Davidson, Washoe County School District director of research and evaluation, told the committee the district adopted i‑Ready two years ago at its own expense because teachers found MAP Growth—Nevada’s current Read by Grade 3 interim assessment—"no longer giving educators or families understandable, actionable data." Davidson said current law forces districts to administer MAP for compliance and i‑Ready for instruction, amounting to six tests a year for K–3 students and creating unnecessary testing time and cost.

Why it matters: District advocates said AB 386 imposes no state cost because districts would pay for any alternate assessment, but the Nevada Department of Education told the committee the bill’s language must be clarified to ensure the state is not left responsible for multiple assessment payments and that NDE would need staff to set data reporting standards to make different assessments comparable for federal accountability.

NDE testimony: Amelia Thibault of NDE said the department’s fiscal concern originally arose because the draft language did not explicitly state district financial responsibility for an alternate assessment; NDE estimated an average contract cost of about $4 million per biennium per reading assessment if the state were to pay, and indicated staff time would be required to establish uniform reporting and validation across potentially multiple assessment vendors. Thibault said an amendment clarifying that districts, not the state, would pay for an alternate assessment would address the department’s principal concerns.

Supporters and school groups: Independent charter schools and the Nevada Association of School Superintendents testified in support. Sarah Adler, representing a coalition of northern Nevada charter schools, and others said i‑Ready provides diagnostic skill‑level guidance teachers use to target instruction and that many charters and districts already pay for i‑Ready licenses.

Outcome and next steps: The sponsor indicated willingness to work with NDE on an amendment clarifying financial responsibility and data‑reporting expectations; the committee did not take a vote and the hearing was closed.