Nev. Suit Challenges Basic-Skills Test for Teachers

By Melanie Lasoff

A state judge will decide by early November whether the Nevada education department can revoke the licenses of teachers who fail to pass a required basic-skills test.

Martin Kravitz, a lawyer representing a group of teachers who failed the test, as well as the Clark County Teachers Association, argued in court last week that the state uses the Pre-Professional Skills Test improperly.

It was designed by the Educational Testing Service to assess college students and new teachers, not experienced teachers, the lawsuit argues, and the E.T.S. specifically warns that it should not be used as the sole criterion for deciding a teacher's competency. The suit also says that teachers--and even school nurses--are required to pass an exam that includes material irrelevant...