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Utah State Board Adjusts Reforms
The state Board of Education made preliminary but significant changes Tuesday to its sweeping proposal to revamp Utah's schools, among them, changing the meaning of year-end grades in core high school subjects and some middle school classes.
Those grades would reflect students' knowledge at the end of the course instead of an average of their performance on course work from the beginning. The shift would drastically change the way teachers grade students and is just one of several major modifications the board tentatively made to its Performance Plus proposal during a special meeting Tuesday.
Performance Plus is the game plan for implementing the reforms initiated by the board, Gov. Mike Leavitt and state and federal lawmakers. The most drastic change is a shift toward competency-based education, in which students advance through school based on their skill mastery rather than grade level or the amount of time they spend in class. D grades would be eliminated in high school and some middle school courses.
The board will meet again Oct. 29 for a final vote. Board members said they needed time to digest and possibly address unanticipated ramifications.
Some school district leaders and the state's largest teachers union already are questioning some of the changes made Tuesday, saying they further cloud important issues.
"For every change you make, there are unforeseen consequences down the road," said Utah Education Association President Pat Rusk.
Leavitt applauded the board's decision to move ahead with plans to focus on what kids know and are able to do, a reform he has long endorsed.
"It's bold leadership on the part of the state board," he said. "This is a declaration that we value what [students] learn, not just what's presented to them."
State officials say the plan would enable students to move through school at their own pace and get extra help if they begin to fall behind.
The board refined several components of the plan Tuesday:
* Requiring high school students to demonstrate competency before they can earn course units in 15 subject areas. The board eliminated a provision that would have required high school students to take three focused electives in those subject areas to graduate, saying local school boards should be the ones to impose additional requirements.
A committee of the state board originally intended for students to demonstrate competency in all classes, but the full board backed off such a stringent requirement.
"Do we want to raise the bar so high that there is no room for failure? Are we going to provide intervention for the child getting a D in choir?" board member Laurel Brown asked.
* Requiring middle school students to earn 12 course units but demonstrate competency in only three course units (pre-algebra, eighth-grade science and eighth-grade English).
* Defining competency as a C or better and passing the year-end standardized test for core classes in which a test is available. The course grade will reflect students' final ability in a course so that, for example, academic struggles in the middle of the school year don't penalize a student who "gets it" by the end of the year.
Some board members had reservations about whether such a change could be done. Others said it is unfair to weigh a student's knowledge on Day 30 of the school year the same as his or her knowledge on Day 180.
"You're either competent or you're not," said board member Dixie Allen.
* Eliminating another proposed measure of competency: earning an A in and taking year-end tests for courses in which a test is available.
The board also wants to assign a task force to study larger issues, such as how Performance Plus affects special education students and whether the plan can be implemented and funded incrementally.
A task force also will examine whether the board should establish different diplomas specific to students' intended post-high school paths, such as college or the work force.
At least one district leader said the board should deal with many more looming questions, such as what happens to middle school students who don't earn a C or better in pre-algebra, eighth-grade science or eighth-grade English. Will they move on to high school? Will they remain in middle school?
"There are huge unintended consequences, thinking you're increasing standards when you're increasing consequences for kids who haven't been successful in the system," said Salt Lake City School District Superintendent McKell Withers.
The board also should not use year-end tests to measure competency because they were not designed for that purpose, he said.
State Superintendent Steve Laing said there is a sense of urgency to adopt a plan in time for the 2004 Legislature to consider budget implications.
The state board estimates it will cost $393 million -- $203 million in new funding and $190 million in existing education funds -- to implement changes called for in new state and federal laws. Of the new funding, $150 million would need to be ongoing, and $52 million would be one-time.
Leavitt declined Tuesday to detail his own education budget proposal, expected to be released in December, but said it would consider Performance Plus.
"We're going to be responsive, whether it will be a full extent the first year, time will tell," he said.
— Ronnie Lynn
Board adjusts school reforms
Salt Lake Tribune
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http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Oct/10152003/utah/102022.asp
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