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SALT LAKE CITY — Members of the Utah State Board of Education gave preliminary approval Thursday to adopt more changes to Utah's school grading system, a controversial accountability program that gives schools a letter grade based on year-end assessments and other metrics.
The changes allow the State School Board to exempt special education schools from the grading system in exchange for an alternative measurement of accountability. This includes the Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind, as well as 10 other schools in the state that serve only disabled students.
Currently, no charter schools are included in the exemption. But some parents and educators say the exemption should include Spectrum Academy, which has a student body that is 90 percent autistic, according to Glenna Gallo, state director of special education.
The State School Board may later adjust the rule to include schools with a student body less than 100 percent disabled.
The school grading system, which was mandated by the Legislature in 2011, has changed repeatedly to accommodate similar grade distributions from year to year. Last year, the Legislature voted to make alternative high schools exempt from the accountability system.
The Legislature also changed the system because of Utah's transition from the criterion-reference test to SAGE, Utah's current year-end assessment. Student scores changed dramatically with the adoption of SAGE, which included a more rigorous standard of proficiency.
As a result, the Legislature lowered the grade distribution for the school grading system. Currently, elementary schools must score between 64 percent and 100 percent to earn an A; 51 percent and 63 percent to earn a B; 39 percent and 50 percent to earn a C; 30 percent and 38 percent to earn a D; and 30 percent or less for an F.
When the grades were released for the second time late last year, 13 percent of elementary schools received an A, 45 percent received a B, 31 percent received a C, 8 percent received a D, and 2 percent received an F.
This year's changes will go before the full board Friday for final approval.
