How Nevada School Star Ratings Work: The 2026 NSPF Parent Breakdown

How Nevada School Star Ratings Work: The NSPF Parent Guide

Every autumn, the Nevada Department of Education releases performance ratings for public and charter schools across all seventeen counties. The system, officially called the Nevada School Performance Framework (NSPF), assigns each school a rating from 1 to 5 stars alongside an index score between 0 and 100.

For parents trying to make housing or enrollment choices, understanding what those stars actually represent is critical. A 5-star rating does not mean a school is flawless, and a 2-star rating does not mean a school lacks dedicated teachers. Here is how the scoring works behind the scenes.

The Core Building Blocks of an NSPF Rating

The state calculates school ratings using six weighted categories. The exact weight of each category depends on whether the school serves elementary, middle, or high school grade bands.

1. Academic Achievement (Proficiency)

Academic achievement measures the percentage of students who pass statewide standardized tests. In elementary and middle schools, this comes from the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) exams in English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics, plus Science exams in 5th and 8th grades. High schools are evaluated on ACT scores and Nevada Science assessments.

Proficiency reflects where students stand relative to state standards today. However, proficiency numbers heavily correlate with household income and community resources. Because of this, Nevada balances raw proficiency against academic growth.

2. Academic Growth (AGP)

Nevada uses Student Growth Percentiles (SGP) and Academic Growth Percentiles (AGP) for elementary and middle schools. This metric tracks how much individual students improve from one year to the next compared to academic peers across Nevada who started with identical test scores.

An AGP of 55 means a student grew faster than 55% of state peers who scored at the same baseline the prior year. Growth scores tell you whether a school is moving students forward, regardless of whether those students entered the school behind grade level.

3. Closing Opportunity Gaps

This component specifically evaluates the academic growth of students who fall into the lowest-performing 25% academically. Schools earn points when they demonstrate that struggling students are receiving targeted intervention and closing the gap toward grade-level proficiency.

4. Chronic Absenteeism

Nevada defines chronic absenteeism as missing 10% or more of enrolled school days for any reason, including excused absences. A student missing 18 days in a standard 180-day academic year is chronically absent. Because attendance strongly predicts reading mastery and graduation likelihood, NSPF penalizes schools with high absenteeism rates.

5. High School Graduation Rates and College Readiness

High school NSPF scores incorporate four-year and five-year cohort graduation rates, Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) participation, dual-credit enrollment, and Career and Technical Education (CTE) diploma endorsements.

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NSPF Star Ratings Defined

The total points earned across all indicators generate a 0-100 Index Score, which converts into the final star designation:

| Star Rating | Index Score Range | State Performance Definition | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | 5 Stars | 84.0 to 100.0 | Superior performance exceeding all state standards | | 4 Stars | 67.0 to 83.9 | High performance meeting state standards across measures | | 3 Stars | 50.0 to 66.9 | Adequate performance meeting basic state benchmarks | | 2 Stars | 32.0 to 49.9 | Incomplete performance needing targeted improvement | | 1 Star | 0.0 to 31.9 | Critical performance requiring state intervention |

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What Parents Should Look For First

When reviewing a school profile on NevadaSchools.org, start by comparing the school's proficiency score against its academic growth score.

If a 3-star school shows a high Math Growth Percentile (above 55%), that indicates teachers are actively accelerating student learning, even if the neighborhood starting baseline was low. Conversely, if a 4-star school shows declining growth scores over two consecutive years, academic momentum may be slowing.

Always examine three consecutive years of NSPF ratings to identify long-term patterns rather than reacting to a single single-year score fluctuation.

Explore all 981 Nevada school star ratings on NevadaSchools.org