In the three years since the state starting holding schools accountable for student achievement, the number of Washoe County schools needing improvement has dropped from eight to one.

Scores from October's TerraNova tests show steady improvement from previous years in the core areas of reading, language, math and science across the state and in northern Nevada. Washoe County's scores are a few points higher than the state average in all four areas and Carson City and Douglas County schools continue to perform well on the annual exam. Douglas County fourth-grade students improved their scores from last year and scored higher than those across the state in reading, language and science, but their scores fell in math, which is a concern for officials because math used to be one of the district's strengths.

Eighth- and 10th-grade students also outscored those who took the test last year.

In Carson City, concerns also are centered on math scores that are down in all but two schools from last year. In most cases, the scores across the district are down. However, Empire Elementary School improved its scores in all four-subject areas.

In 1997, state lawmakers passed the Nevada Education Reform Act, mandating every Nevada school meet certain minimum TerraNova scores or face state takeover. Students in grades four, eight and 10 are tested each year and schools with more than 40 percent of students in the bottom quarter in all four subject areas are labeled "needing improvement."

According to Reno Gazette-Journal research, Echo Loder Elementary in southeast Reno will be the only school in the three counties the Nevada Department of Education will designate April 1 as needing improvement. Neither Carson City nor Douglas County has had a school on the list or expect any this year.

On the flip side, Elizabeth Lenz Elementary in the south Truckee Meadows will be the only Washoe County school to be recognized as exemplary for having 50 percent of students scoring in the top quarter in all four subjects.

Reno and McQueen high schools and Swope Middle School should earn the second-highest designation - high achieving - for having 40 percent of students in the top quarter. Elementary schools in the high-achieving category are expected to be Jessie Beck, Caughlin Ranch, RoyGomm and Hunsberger schools in Washoe County.

Washoc County testing director Dotty Merrill said schools that have focused on identifying where students need help have seen some of the biggest gains. Last year, hundreds of teachers at schools across the district took a workshop on how to break down test data and use it to target instruction for students.

"Schools have that are making use of that item analysis are seeing greater gains," Merrill said. "Lenz worked really hard last summer analyzing the data and making changes in instruction, and their scores I think reflect that."

In both Carson City and Douglas County, school officials are trying to avoid a slot on the state's "needs help list" and have already set up reading programs to help catch those lagging before they fall behind.

Carson plans to concentrate on its math problems this year by giving students more time at their desks working math problems. In Douglas, each school will develop a plan for improving math.

Help still needed

Al 1 eight Washoe County schools targeted for improvement in 1998 have moved off the needing-improvement list although some schools still are not up to par in all four subject areas.

Example: Glenn Duncan Elementary in northeast Reno was one of the first schools labeled needing improvement. This year, 31.7 percent of students were in the bottom quarter in reading; those numbers dropped to 27.9 and 17.1 percent in math and language, respectively. Science is the only area where the school is still struggling: 45.2 percent of students scored in the bottom quarter.

"We have all of our first-grade students reading at grade level, and we're seeing that spread through the other grades," Duncan principal June Hall said. "That's not what we were seeing a few years ago. The school has completely turned around."

Like Duncan, some schools are seeing lower scores in science but higher scores in the other three core subjects. Many schools are focusing on basic reading and math to bring their scores up, and science instruction may be suffering.

"If I have to make decisions, that's where I would spend my time," said Jim Hager, Washoe County schools superintendent. "We're trying to increase the depth of the curriculum in math, reading and writing area, so it could be some of that occurring. But if you can't read you're never going to get the chance to catch up with science."

Some schools also are seeing some significant fluctuations from previous years. Roy Gomm Elementary in southwest Reno has been in the high-achieving category both in 1998 and 1999 but won't earn the distinction this year. Although the school still is scoring well, the numbers aren't as high as they were.

Merrill said she sees a number of reasons to explain variations in scores at traditionally high-performing schools. Turnover in teaching staff and rezoning at a school are possible explanations. It also depends on the students being tested that year. Some classes perform better than others.

"I'm not using that as an excuse because no school should be using that as an excuse and neither should the district. But we also can't ignore it," Merrill said.

Periodic checkups useful

Roger Corbett Elementary in southeast Reno is another school that's seen substantial improvements in the past couple of years. In addition to adopting a year-round schedule, the school is using a curriculum that tests students at the beginning of the school year and periodically throughout the year to chart academic progress.

"This is the third year we've done that, and it's made a big difference,' said Diane Hubele, mother of a Corbett fifth-grader. "Every quarter there's a test to make sure they're improving, and the kids know what's expected of them. They're working with students at their same level, which is good for the students, but also for the teachers who don't have to deal with a bunch of kids at 10 different levels."

Critical to the turnaround at Duncan, Corbett and other schools was an influx of money from the Nevada Legislature to pay for programs to increase student achievement. Most schools that received the money used it to purchase reading and language arts programs to get all students reading at grade level, the first step to raising test scores.

Hall said Duncan's staff researched the list of state-approved programs to figure out what would work best for the school's students, who largely don't speak English. Teachers visited other schools and shared what they learned, but the whole staff was involved in the decision to adopt Reading Recovery and Cell/ExLL - two programs targeted at literacy and reading comprehension.

"It's a shared governing process with the staff, who decided through consensus what they were going to do "Hall said. "It was a total buy-in. If you select it, it's yours, and there's no reason why it can't work.

It was a real different way to approach what we do in public education."

Although each school has been able to tailor its curriculum to meet students' needs, there is a common thread among low-performing schools that have made improvements - more training for teachers. Every program on the state list focuses heavily on giving teachers a variety of strategies to use in the classroom.

"All of our teachers are reading specialists and could go out at any school and get a job as a reading specialist," Hall said. "They know the ins and outs of what it takes to teach students to read. At any time I can ask a teacher where a child is in the reading process and to identify their strengths and weaknesses. The program is driven by assessment, but we couldn't do that if the staff weren't so well informed."

But training teachers costs money. The state has shelled out millions in the past three years for new programs at schools to improve student achievement. E.C. Best Elementary in Fallon has received about $251,742 in the past two years to pay for the literacy program Reading Renaissance.

"They've used that for two years, they're in the third now, and they've seen dramatic increases in their TerraNova test scores. They're right at average in most subject areas now' state superintendent Mary Peterson said. "The other side of that is we've invested about a quarter of a million in remediation funds in helping that school improve."