Jordan School District scores tie or exceed state averages on the 2002 core curriculum test, but several schools are working to notch up junior high and high school math.
In Jordan, 81 percent of students taking language arts tests scored at mastery or near-mastery levels, meaning they are proficient in the subject and ready to move on to the next grade. The same goes for 77 percent of students statewide.
In science, 73 percent of Jordan students achieved proficient levels, compared to 71 percent of Utah test-takers.
In math, 71 percent of both Jordan and statewide test-takers scored at proficient levels.
The scores are pleasing, but the district is eyeing improvement.
"We're never satisfied," Jordan evaluation director Frank Shaw said. "We want to have every student reach the mastery or near-mastery level, and we're always working to do that . . . it's why every one of us went into education in the first place."
The core curriculum tests measure what students are supposed to be learning in class all year. The springtime tests are part of the Utah Performance Assessment System for Students, or U-PASS, a series of exams intended to hold schools accountable for student achievement.
Under state law, test scores next year will be released before the school year ends. For the 2002 scores, the State Office of Education collected and worked through mounds of testing data and new legal requirements until last month. The state office hopes to turn the scores around more quickly this year.
The core curriculum tests are being watched by the federal government under the No Child Left Behind Act. The act requires test scores to rise annually through 2014, when all students must score at proficient levels.
The federal act is using the 2002 test scores as the base for how much scores need to grow each year. They cannot be compared to 2001's scores because students with disabilities who took accommodated tests were included in overall scores for the first time in 2002.
Still, despite comparisons, patterns have emerged.
Typically, Jordan middle schools' language arts scores are higher than those in math and science, with math scores needing the most attention. The same goes for high schools, where between 59 percent and 74 percent of students scored below proficient in math.
Broken down, the district showed some improvement in math 7 and pre-algebra and outperforms the state, Shaw said.
Nevertheless, schools will have to work to bring those scores up under the federal law.
A few factors are at work here. In high school, the highest math level tested is geometry, which more advanced math students typically take in ninth or 10th grades.
The state this spring will give new math tests for secondary school students. Also, it is working to set up a grade-specific math test to comply with the federal act.
Deseret News graphic
Jordan Test Scores
Requires Adobe Acrobat.
"For the most part, we continue to be proud of what our kids are doing," said Brenda Hales, district executive director of curriculum and staff development.
Many schools used preliminary test score data last fall to target students who need help and examine how far improvement efforts have taken them, Hales said. In many schools, students increasingly are lifting themselves from the lowest scoring levels.
"Even though they're not where we'd like them to be, they are making progress," Hales said.
Also, scores on the school level are not simple to interpret.
For instance, Alta View Elementary is a Title I school, meaning it receives special money from the federal government because of high poverty, a factor research shows puts students at risk for academic difficulties.
A look at Alta View's scores shows an exceptionally high 82 to 87 percent of students scoring at proficient levels in all three subjects.
The school, however, houses a program that pulls gifted children from outside its boundaries to its classrooms, naturally boosting its scores.
Other schools with such programs are Monte Vista, Peruvian Park and Westland elementaries and Midvale Middle School.
Perhaps the situation drives home district testing directors' point: You can't judge a school by its test scores.
Instead, the public should look deeper into the school's student body, from students who move repeatedly during the school year to those who are just learning to speak English, and discover what programs are set up to work with those groups, Shaw indicated.
Jordan teachers and principals train in how to use testing data to change their emphasis or better teach the core curriculum, Shaw said. Some schools have examined altering class schedules to emphasize core academics.
It's those programs that could make all the difference in the long run, he said.
E-MAIL: jtcook@desnews.com