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Tonya Papanikolas reporting Test results are in, comparing Utah students to those across the country. Even though Utah falls above the national norm, state educators say the scores are a lot lower than they'd like.
The scores we're talking about are from the Iowa Tests. They are national tests given to third-, fifth- and eighth-grade students in the fall.
The students are tested in three core subjects: reading, language and math. They're also tested on social studies and science. The scores are then used to measure a child's performance against other students across the nation.
In the core subjects, Utah third-grade students rank at the 50th percentile, which means they're right at the national average. When you add in the other subjects, they fall in the 57th percentile.
Fifth-grade Utah students ranked in the 54th percentile for core subjects and 58th for all subjects. The eighth-grade students ranked in the 55th and 56th percentile for core subjects and all subjects, respectively.
State education officials say they're disappointed. "We always know that kids can perform better with the kind of support we have from parents and great schools in the state of Utah. We'd expect better performance from our kids. We should be pushing the 70th percentile," said Patti Harrington, state superintendent of public instruction.
The tests also show what other state tests have achievement gaps with minority groups. If you look at African-American, American-Indian and Hispanic students; their scores are up to 25 percentile ranks lower than the state average.
That's something the Utah Board of Education wants to change. "The board has just created an achievement-gap plan addressing the very problem we have, and it does call for differentiated resources according to a child's performance," Harrington said.
Meanwhile, the state's education program isn't fairing very well in other reports, either. Utah ranks in the bottom eight according to the "Quality Counts" report released by Education Week magazine.
Utah is criticized for poor early-education programs, low per-pupil spending, and a lack of college readiness among students. However, the report also recognizes that Utah has the highest rate of high school graduates in the country.
Overall, Utah was given a grade of C- in the "Quality Counts" report.
