Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Utah educational policy has been given a C-plus grade, the same as the average state received in a national study.
Utah education leaders said the study highlighted some areas for potential improvement but did not paint a completely accurate picture.
"It shines a light on places where we could do better and gives us a sense of direction of what we should pay attention to in order to move in a positive direction," said Ray Timothy, associate superintendent for the state Office of Education.
Education Week released the report, "Quality Counts 2006," on Wednesday. It graded states based on their education policymaking and student achievement. The study was made by the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center.
It analyzed results of National Assessment of Educational Progress tests between 1992 and 2005 and focused on how each state improved over the past decade compared to the nation as a whole.
Utah was awarded a B-plus and was ranked fourth in the nation in the area of resource equity. It was cited for having higher per-pupil funding in poorer districts than in wealthier districts.
Utah schools get much of their funding from state income tax instead of relying mainly on property taxes. and the state also indexes the amount of money it awards to schools for each student.
For example, special-education students get more money.
"The money goes where it is needed," said Mark Peterson, director of public relations for the state Office of Education.
Utah ranked below the average state in efforts to improve teacher quality, standards and accountability and school climate.
In the area of improving teacher quality, it was criticized for being one of one of three states that did not require teachers to pass a written test to earn an initial license.
However, Timothy said that no longer is the case. A new law requires all teachers to take a rigorous test to prove that they are highly qualified in the subject they are teaching.
He said Utah institutions had been giving the test voluntarily on their own, but the state did not have it as a requirement until this year.
The new law is expected to improve Utah's rating in this area near year.
The study also concluded that Utah was falling behind in holding schools and teacher-training programs accountable for teacher quality.
"I disagree with that because all of our teacher preparation programs have to meet accreditation standards -- they are specific standards that they have to adhere to and they all meet those standards," Timothy said.
The study contended that Utah tests rely too much on multiple-choice questions.
"They don't like us doing as much with multiple-choice questions but when you are resource-starved, as Utah is, that is how testing is going to get done," Peterson said.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
