Granted, those ethnic groups are far smaller than Caucasians, who numbered nearly 17,000 test-takers versus 801 Hispanics and 694 Asian American/Pacific Islanders, for example. The smaller the group, the more volatile the scores.

Still, it's hard to say why more rigorous course-taking didn't affect those two groups the same way it did Caucasians. But ideas abound.

Core is defined as number of classes, not difficulty, Galvin noted.

Often, ethnic minority students have straight A's but don't do well on the ACT, whose median benchmark rises over time, said Richard Gomez, state educational equity coordinator. They also might not be accessing as many prep courses due to financial constraints and because they're a first-generation college seeker.

Cultural differences in learning and possible biases within the test that disadvantage certain cultures, socioeconomic classes and experiences also could be factors, said Charlene Lui, Granite District director of educational equity.

ACT scores also show Caucasian test-takers are more often deemed college-ready according to their scores than ethnic minorities — even though Utah students as a whole consistently outperform the nation. In math, 45 percent of whites are considered college-ready compared to 16 percent of blacks who took the test. Three-fourths of whites were college-ready in English compared to 39 percent of American Indians/Alaska Natives, 57 percent of Hispanics and 63 percent of Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders.

"The gap is systemic, not something we can take care of right when they get to high school," said Cyndee Miya, chairwoman of the Coalition of Minorities Advisory Committee to the State Board of Education and Davis District elementary staff development coordinator.

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., backed last year by the State Board of Education, says he'll again push for some optional full-day kindergarten programs to close achievement gaps early.

The State Office of Education also is amassing education data to pinpoint and address needs, spokesman Mark Peterson said.

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E-mail: jtcook@desnews.com