Rising Star schools are identified by the Nevada Department of Education and meet the following criteria:
Based upon the most recent annual report of the statewide system of accountability for public schools, the public school is an elementary school or middle school that was rated in the lowest 5 percent of elementary or middle schools in the State in pupil achievement and school performance for the most recent school year.
Or, the public school is a high school that had a graduation rate for the immediately preceding school year of less than 60 percent.