The state test scores are out for the 2017-2018 school year. And there wasn’t much change, overall, for third-through-eighth graders and eleventh graders in Nevada County, with around 51-percent meeting or exceeding the English Language Arts standard. It was 61-percent for eleventh graders in the Nevada Joint Union High School District. But District Superintendent Brett McFadden says that’s a drop of seven points from 2016-2017. He says the test doesn’t seem to matter much for students…

click to listen to Brett McFadden

Meanwhile, math scores were also fairly stable, countywide, with 39-percent meeting or exceeding the standard. It was 36-percent at Nevada Joint Union. McFadden says further expansion of technical education has made math more relevant. But he says he’s also

click to listen to Brett McFadden

This is the fourth year of the computer-based tests, which uses California’s challenging academic standards and asks students to write clearly, think critically, and solve complex problems, as they will need to do in college and for their careers.