The state released pilot test scores for the core curriculum test Tuesday, but it's hard to say what they mean.
The State Office of Education is working on setting standards to help make sense of the tests. The work will be presented to the state school board next month, state testing coordinator Barbara Lawrence said Tuesday.
The core curriculum tests measure what students learn all year in language, math and science.
This year's data are considered experimental. Not all districts administered the test in the required window last spring, Lawrence has said. A new language arts test also will be administered in the spring. The state is not required to report core test results until spring 2002.
The test scores can't be compared to anything but do show patterns. Scores are typically higher in lower grades and decline as coursework becomes more rigorous or as teachers possibly deviate from the core curriculum, Lawrence said.
Lawrence believes teachers will stick to the core curriculum more often as new tests are required in the statewide accountability system, dubbed the Utah Performance Assessment System for Students, or U-PASS. The program is to be implemented over the next four years.