CCSD's 2025-26 Report: High School Reading and Math Rose, While Middle School Reading and Science Fell

by Ryan Rose

What the CCSD Report Showed

The Clark County School District Board of Trustees met on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026. One item on the agenda was the student performance report for the 2025-26 school year. It focused on the part of the district's plan called "Academic Excellence." Trustees voted 7-0 to accept it. The education nonprofit Opportunity 180 published a recap of the meeting on Nov. 2 in its Nevada Ed-Watch series, and that recap is where these figures come from.

The report compares the 2024-25 school year with 2025-26. Here is every overall number in the recap.

High school

English language arts: 48.9 percent to 51.3 percent, up 2.4 points
Math: 21.2 percent to 22.7 percent, up 1.5 points
Science: 20.1 percent to 23.7 percent, up 3.6 points

Middle school

English language arts: 43 percent to 41.1 percent, down 1.9 points
Math: 27.4 percent to 29 percent, up 1.6 points
Science: 34.6 percent to 31.3 percent, down 3.3 points

Elementary school

English language arts: 45.7 percent to 46 percent, up 0.3 points
Math: 39.6 percent both years, no change
Science: 15.9 percent to 16 percent, up 0.1 points

High school science had the biggest gain on the list. Middle school science had the biggest drop. Those two moves are about the same size, in opposite directions.

A quick word on "points." When a rate goes from 21.2 percent to 22.7 percent, that is a gain of 1.5 percentage points. It sounds small. Across a district this size, though, each point stands for a lot of students. The recap does not give the number of students behind each rate, so we are not going to guess at one.

The report also tied the numbers to three goals: students who read, write and communicate well, students who are confident in math and problem solving, and classrooms that support every learner. Those goals set up the next steps the district shared, which we cover further down.

"Proficient" is a simple idea with a high bar. In plain terms, it means a student met grade-level expectations in that subject. A student who falls short is not failing every class. That student just did not reach the line the test sets. The Opportunity 180 recap does not name the specific tests used.

One note on the numbers. Local news outlets covered the state's school data in September, and a few of their figures do not match this report. FOX5 reported high school science at 27.3 percent, up 4.2 points, and middle school math up 2.5 points. KTNV reported science for 9th and 10th graders at 27 percent, up from 22.9 percent. The direction is the same in each case, since both of those measures went up. The sources we checked do not explain the gaps. In this story, we use the figures from the trustee report as recapped by Opportunity 180.

Empty classroom with rows of desks and a chalkboard, the setting for the grades covered in the CCSD report

Why It Matters to Las Vegas Residents

Think about what 22.7 percent looks like in a real room. In a math class of 30 high school students, that works out to about seven who are at grade level. The other 23 still have ground to make up. These are teenagers who will soon be looking for jobs, entering trade programs, or starting college. Math skills follow them into all of it.

Math also shows a pattern as kids get older. Elementary schools sit at 39.6 percent. Middle schools sit at 29 percent. High schools sit at 22.7 percent. These are different students taking different tests, so it is not a perfect comparison. Still, the line slopes down, and Nevada's statewide results for grades 3 to 8 also showed math proficiency falling as students got older, according to The Nevada Independent.

Middle school is the other place to watch. English and science both fell there. Those are the years when reading gets harder and science classes get more detailed. A parent of a sixth, seventh or eighth grader has good reason to ask how the school is handling reading and science this year.

High school English deserves its own mention. Moving from 48.9 to 51.3 percent means the rate crossed the halfway mark. More than half of high school students are now at grade level in English, based on this report. That is a line parents and teachers will be glad to see crossed, and the district will want to hold it next year.

Be careful with any one-year change, up or down. The eighth graders tested in 2025-26 are not the same kids who were eighth graders the year before. Each group starts from its own place. A drop of two or three points can be the start of a trend, or it can be a one-year blip. It usually takes a few years of data to know which one you are looking at.

Elementary science is the quietest number here, and maybe the most surprising. Only 16 percent of elementary students were proficient in science. It barely moved from last year. Few people talk about it, because reading and math tend to get the headlines.

These numbers touch every household in the valley, even homes with no kids. CCSD is one of the biggest public agencies in Clark County. Schools shape where families choose to live, how neighbors feel about an area, and how ready our future workers are. When people move here, schools are often one of the first things they look up.

How CCSD Got Here

This report did not come out of nowhere. In September, the state released its Nevada School Performance Framework, often called Nevada's Report Card. FOX5 reported that of 353 CCSD schools with data from both years, 49 gained at least one star and 209 kept their rating. That means 73 percent held steady or improved. FOX5 also reported that 157 district campuses earned 3 stars or better, up from 70 the year before.

Attendance was a good story too. FOX5 reported that chronic absenteeism fell at every level: 6 points in elementary schools, 5.4 points in middle schools, and 4.4 points in high schools. Kids cannot learn what they are not in the room for, so that trend matters. In October, CCSD named 79 schools to its Superintendent's Honor Roll for five-star ratings or big jumps in their scores, FOX5 reported.

Teacher and students using a microscope during a science lesson, the subject with the largest swings in the CCSD report

Statewide, the picture was flat. The Nevada Independent reported that reading proficiency for grades 3 to 8 was 45.2 percent, down 0.4 points, which was the first drop in three years. Math for those grades was 36.2 percent, up 0.8 points. KTNV reported CCSD at 43.3 percent in reading and 33.8 percent in math for those same grades. So the district sits a little under the state average in both.

The star ratings across Nevada moved the wrong way at both ends. The Nevada Independent reported that about 14 percent of public schools earned five stars in 2025-26, down from 17 percent the year before. About 19 percent earned one star, up from about 16 percent. State Superintendent Victor Wakefield said most Nevada students are not yet meeting grade-level expectations. The state wants to raise the share of students in highly rated schools from 35 percent to 45 percent within five years.

News 3 reported that CCSD's proficiency rates remain below 50 percent, and that the district is launching priority school units to separate school support from supervision. CCSD Superintendent Jhone Ebert told FOX5 the district needs to "learn from what is working and build on it." The Oct. 29 report is the district's own look at the same school year, shared with the board that oversees it.

What Happens Next

The presentation laid out next steps for each subject. For math, the plan includes in-classroom coaching for teachers. The district also wants to map out the key math skills that build on each other from kindergarten through fifth grade, so teachers know what students must learn before moving on.

For science, the plan is updated pacing guides to give more targeted help, along with materials that build skills like critical thinking and problem solving. For English, the district wants instruction to line up more closely with its core classroom materials, which it calls Tier I. It also plans a new tool to check how instruction looks in class, and materials that push students to talk through hard ideas.

At the same meeting, trustees accepted a human resources report showing first-day teacher vacancies fell from 348 at the start of 2025-26 to 167 at the start of 2026-27. More classrooms with a regular teacher could help all of these plans. We cover that in our story on CCSD teacher ratings and vacancies.

Money and staffing will shape how far these plans can go. CCSD is also dealing with an estimated $44 million bill tied to a 2023 retirement law for substitute teachers. We explain that one in our story on the substitute teacher bill. Coaching teachers and buying new materials both take time and funding, so it is fair to keep an eye on how these budget questions play out.

The recap does not set target numbers for next year, and it does not say when trustees will see the next academic update. The real test comes with the 2026-27 results. The questions to ask then are simple. Did middle school English and science turn around? Did high school math keep climbing? And did elementary science finally move?

Teacher presenting to a classroom of students, the kind of in-class instruction CCSD's next steps aim to strengthen

Ryan's Take

I sell homes in this valley, so school numbers come up at a lot of kitchen tables. Here is how I would read this report. A districtwide number tells you about the whole district. It tells you nothing about the school down your street. CCSD has hundreds of campuses, and FOX5's reporting shows some are climbing fast while others are not. I would not expect one report like this to move home prices anywhere by itself.

I also want to be straight about my role. Fair housing rules mean an agent should not steer you toward or away from an area based on school opinions, and I would not do that anyway. Your family's needs are yours to weigh. What I can do is point you to the official data and help you find a home that fits your list. If a school matters to you, look up that exact school, check that the home is actually zoned for it, and go visit. I would also give credit where it is due. Better attendance and rising high school scores are real progress. Fewer than one in four high schoolers at grade level in math is also real, and both things can be true at once.

Yellow school bus driving through a suburban roundabout on a clear day

What You Can Do

Start with your own child's school. The Nevada Report Card lets you look up star ratings and test results by campus. Compare this year to last year, and look at the subject you care about most. If your child is in middle school, ask the teacher or principal what is changing in English and science this year.

When you talk with your child's school, a few plain questions can go a long way. What share of students here are at grade level in each subject? Is that going up or down? What is the school doing for students who are behind? How will I know during the year if my child is on track? Good schools welcome these questions. At home, reading together, talking through homework, and getting kids to school every day are simple steps that help.

You can also weigh in. Opportunity 180 says trustees generally meet on the second and fourth Thursdays at 5 p.m. at the Edward A. Greer Education Center, 2832 E. Flamingo Road, and online. Check ccsd.net for the current schedule and agendas, since dates can shift. Public comment can be given in person, by email at Boardmtgcomments@nv.ccsd.net, or by voice recording at 702-799-1166 for items on the agenda.

If you are planning ahead for your child's education, Nevada's prepaid tuition enrollment is open right now. We wrote about the drop in the enrollment fee to $1. And if you are house hunting, use the CCSD zoning tool to confirm the assigned schools for any address before you make an offer, because zones can change.

Have questions about how this affects your home or neighborhood? Reach out to Ryan Rose or text/call 702-747-5921 anytime. You can also email ryan@rosehomeslv.com or visit rosehomeslv.com. Ryan Rose | Real Broker, LLC