WASHINGTON -- Utah minorities perform worse in school than white youths, according to a new report, and whites aren't doing all that well, either.
That mirrors the situation nationwide, says the Education Trust, a Washington-based research group that aims to promote high academic achievement for children of all backgrounds.In its annual report card on the states, it said Thursday that too few Utah students do math well, read well, take challenging courses, go to college or have teachers qualified in the areas they teach. And it's worse for minorities.
"That is one that is puzzling all of us," Associate State Superintendent Steve Laing said of the academic differences between whites and non-whites.
"It's been a very frustrating thing for all of us, and we're all very concerned about it," said Laing, who will take the state's top educational post in January.
The 1997 Stanford Achievement Test data showed similar discrepancies between whites and non-whites, he said.
The Education Trust made the conclusions in its 250-page report using data from the National Assessment for Educational Progress, American College Test, Scholastic Aptitude Test, college enrollment, high school graduation rates and a variety of government data on socio-economic factors, among other indicators.
"Every American should be outraged and frankly frightened by the fact that only 5 percent of the eighth-graders in high poverty schools (nationally) are proficient in mathematics," said Education Trust director Kati Haycock.
"But the message to these kids and their schools shouldn't be to 'catch up to the more affluent schools,' because only 25 percent of the eighth-graders in more-affluent schools are proficient in mathematics," she said.
She called on schools nationally to follow a four-point plan of improvement: hire highly effective teachers who know their subjects; enroll all students in a rigorous curriculum; hold them to a high standard of performance; and hold schools accountable for high achievement.
Such recommendations are included in a recent proposal by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Scott Bean, who will retire in January. Parts of the proposal will be considered by the 1999 Legislature.
The group's ranking of the states on 21 indicators of educational quality gave Utah generally only mediocre grades.
For example, it said 16 percent -- or one of every six -- secondary school classes in Utah are taught by teachers who majored in other subjects. That ranked Utah in a six-way tie for 15th best among the states.
But Utah Director of Certification Ron Stanfield says he doubts the number is that high. He says the report may be chalking up teachers' assignments that are related to their subject endorsements, such as an English teacher instructing in journalism, speech or drama, as teaching outside their specialty.
"We recognize we do have situations where that is happening in the state. But I'm hesitant to say there are that many," he said, adding the state is concerned about such situations and doing all it can to quell them.
Utah's best finish in any category was second among the states in how many eighth-graders take algebra: 41.7 percent. But the report noted disparities between racial groups: 43.6 percent of whites took algebra; 42.5 percent of Asians; and only 24.5 percent of Hispanics.
By the time they graduate from high school, the report said, 78 percent of Utah students take Algebra II. That includes 81 percent of whites, only 39 percent of Asians and American Indians, 31 percent of Latinos and only 16 percent of blacks.
The number who eventually take chemistry is also low: 47 percent overall, including 49 percent of whites, 47 percent of Asians, 24 percent of American Indians, 19 percent of Latinos and 9 percent of blacks.
The report card said Utah fourth-graders had the 15th highest scores among 38 states with results available for 1996 -- yet only 23 percent scored at or above "proficient" levels.
Again, fourth-grade reading scores showed big differences among racial groups. It said 26 percent of Utah whites reached proficient reading levels but only 10 percent of American Indians and 7 percent of Latinos. (Percentages were not provided for blacks and Asians).
Similar findings came for scores of eighth-graders on math -- where Utahns' scores in 1996 were high enough to finish 12th of 40 states measured.
But only 27 percent of whites reached "proficient" levels, while 24 percent of Asians did and only 6 percent of Latinos. (Results were not provided for American Indians and blacks.)
The State Office of Education is anxious to work with minority advisory committees to tackle the issue, Laing said. It already has distributed a Principles of Equity document and trains educators in equity issues. The document aims to help educators and schools look at policy, materials, testing and themselves to see if they are implementing practices that inadvertently alienate or discriminate against minority groups.
"We feel like it has great potential and if reviewed, and policy and procedures considered in light of the principles stated in it . . . schools will make great strides in being sensitive to the needs of all students and accommodate differences of students in various populations," Laing said.
Utah ranked 41st out of 50 states in "chances for college" among high school graduates. It reported that only 47.2 percent of 1996 high school graduated enrolled in college by age 19. (State officials have said that graduates choosing to serve LDS missions tend to lower the state's score in that area).
The group also ranked Utah in a three-way tie for 21st place among the 50 states for funding effort for education. It said Utahns spend $110 of every $1,000 of personal income on education for kindergarten through grade 12.
But it still raised questions about Utah's funding priorities. It noted that while state funding for elementary and secondary education increased 30.3 percent between 1995 and 1997 -- and higher education spending jumped 14.3 percent -- state funding of prisons jumped even more: 42.3 percent.
The group noted that one year at the University of Utah costs $7,196, compared with a cost of $16,932 for a year in a state prison.