The superintendent of Salt Lake schools says she was trying to make testing consistent, not bolster scores, by exempting 30 percent of students from the state-mandated Stanford Achievement Test.
And a University of Utah dean and school board chief in a neighboring district agree with the underlying philosophy.
But a state senator who led the charge for greater accountability in Utah schools is outraged at the news. And the state testing chief says Salt Lake's scores skewed the rest of the state's data and probably should be thrown out.
"We've never had noncompliance on this scale before. But I believe their intentions were in the best interest of their students," said Barbara Lawrence, state coordinator of evaluation and assessment.
Lawrence revealed SAT scores Tuesday. The national norm-reference tests are required by state law for all fifth-, eighth- and 11th-graders, plus third-graders for the first time this year. Utah's total battery scores were at or above the national norm of 50 in every grade level and showed slight gains from 1999.
But Lawrence said the data had been compromised.
In Salt Lake City School District, 30 percent of students did not take the test; in some schools, as many as 75 percent of students were exempt, Lawrence reported.
By comparison, statewide participation in the SAT has ranged from 88 percent to 100 percent over the past four years.
The state requires all students be tested who have had English instruction for more than two years. But it exempts any student who "cannot demonstrate his or her knowledge in English without an accommodation that would violate standardization requirements," the state Office of Education reports.
That standard piqued curiosity in the Salt Lake District, where 26 percent of students have limited English skills and not all schools are uniform on exemptions. After calling the state Office of Education to see what to do, Superintendent Darline Robles believed she had room for discretion in determining exemptions.
To determine whether students would need special accommodations in demonstrating their knowledge, the district turned to its Idea Proficiency Test, which it gives every two years to track progress of students learning English. Those proficient in English took the SAT.
This year's total battery test scores went up 8 percentile points in both fifth and eighth grades and 2 percentile points in 11th grade, Robles said. Baseline data was set in third grade, whose test scores counted for the first time under state law.
"We did this because we wanted to respond to student needs and have accurate assessment of children," not learn who can speak English, Robles said. "We didn't do it to be cheered or receive any awards or daggers. We did it looking at our kids and what we could do for Salt Lake to be consistent. . . . I would expect the state Office of Education to give us clear instructions."
Archie Archuleta, minority affairs administrator for the Salt Lake mayor's office, says the state needs to clarify exemptions so testing is fair.
"The proper criteria for having children exempted and having them return to testing needs to be very clear and very carefully looked at. This basically is a statewide problem, not just a Salt Lake City School District problem."
Deputy State Superintendent Gary Carlston says he does not intend to seek sanctions against the Salt Lake District. He believes the district was not flouting the law, because it thought it had room within guidelines to make those exemptions. He said the state will work with the district.
Intentional or not, the district's actions have angered some.
"I find it outrageous that nearly a third of the students in Salt Lake District were systematically excluded from this accountability testing," said Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper and co-chairman of the standards and accountability task force. "These are the very students who we are trying to help and reach in spite of the language barrier. When we exclude them, it makes the school performance look better than it is."
Said task force member Karen Morgan, D-Cottonwood Heights: "It concerns me that that has been done. But if there's a misunderstanding there, that needs to be cleared up and I would give (Salt Lake District) the benefit of the doubt."
Some people back the district in philosophy.
"A test is to be a representative sample of what a student learns. If a student is hampered in learning because his or her English skills are not proficient . . . then the score on the exam might be more representative of their English deficiency than their preparation in the classroom," said Stayner Landward, U. adjunct professor of social work and dean of students.
Adds Granite Board of Education President Lynn Davidson: "The test is being misused (in accountability) and (lawmakers can't) judge Salt Lake City School district based on how ethnically diverse students do on the test because they don't understand the English language."
E-MAIL: jtcook@desnews.com