Reno Reporter

Of the 4,778 students who took part in the Science portion of their Criterion Referenced Test (CRT) in Washoe County School District, 14.6% met the testing standard while 7.3% exceeded expectations, according to the Nevada Accountability Portal.

The number of students who succeeded in the test fell by 18.5% from the previous school year.

At the time, the proficiency level in the district was 21.9%, 1.7% more than the state's average of 20.2%.

There were 63,777 students enrolled in the 2023-24 school year, 4.3% more than the year before.

Across the state, Washoe County School District had the highest percentage growth in enrollment during the 2023-24 school year, increasing by 4.3% from 61,171 to 63,777 students. Meanwhile, Lyon County School District saw the smallest percentage growth, changing by less than 0.1%, increasing from 9,053 to 9,057 students.

Washoe County School District roughly covers schools within Washoe County and has a main office in Reno.

Criterion-Referenced Tests (CRTs) are used to evaluate students' proficiency in core subjects like mathematics, English Language arts, and Science.

Although Nevada has seen some significant relief in chronic absenteeism since the pandemic, numbers are still high. In the 2023-24 school year, the state reported an improvement of roughly 10% in the number of chronically absent students. However, more than a quarter of students (25.9%) were chronically absent from classes. This mirrors a national trend, with estimates suggesting the number of chronically absent students in the U.S. has grown to over 16 million compared to pre-pandemic data.

Year	Students who meet standard (%)	Students who exceed standards (%)	Total Enrollment
2022-23	14.9%	9%	61,171
2023-24	14.6%	7.3%	63,777