By Brenda Dorantes

Starting this year, all freshmen will be required to pass the End of Course Exams (EOCs) by the time they graduate. The EOCs are a new test implemented by the state, meant to replace the proficiency exams. Senior students this year are among the last in Nevada who need to pass the proficiency exams in order to receive a high school diploma.

Proficiencies were phased out over the past three years after the state of Nevada made changes to the high school graduation requirements. Instead, all students graduating in 2019 and beyond must pass the EOCs to earn a high school diploma in Nevada.

The EOCs will be administrated online and include two tests in math and two in English (reading and writing). Students will get three free attempts to pass these exams.

“There is no doubt the ELA End of Course Assessments are more rigorous than our previous assessments were because they reflect the new Nevada Academic Standards,” said Saralyn Lasley, the secondary literacy regional trainer. “The tasks are more authentic and a much better judge of a student’s ability to read and write critically.  For example, rather than writing to an isolated prompt as we did in the past, students are asked to read a variety of texts and then analyze, discuss or argue some aspect of the text.”