Alternate exam sought

Maybe it's time, now that some 3,700 high school graduates have diplomas saying they failed the high school exit exam, for some alternatives to the Utah Basic Skills Competency Test, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. said Tuesday.

"We need to figure out ways for measuring competency beyond that measured by a single test," Huntsman told about 350 school officials, parents, teachers, legislators and higher education bosses gathered at his education summit. "We need to do something about it" and not give students diplomas that will "embarrass them for the rest of their lives."

The basic skills test was one of many ideas aired at the summit, aimed at sharing ideas to help identify commonalities and possibly, shape policy. It also aimed to share the governor's goals, partly shaped by his summer visits to Utah's school districts, with educators and interested parties.

Huntsman spoke of his education initiatives, including voluntary full-day kindergarten programs, shrinking class sizes and boosting literacy in kindergarten through third grade, and improving math education in fourth through sixth grades.

Education bosses and teachers on two panels also talked about what they'd like to see in public schools — more emphasis on student growth instead of one-size-fits-all testing, more money, more rigor and recruiting the best teachers and making sure there's a way to keep them.

Utah System of Higher Education Commissioner Rich Kendell suggested bagging what he called Utah's outdated school calendar — "we're not a sugar beet industry anymore" — and offering students of all ages year-round school to keep them on target educationally, and competitive globally. He also suggested teachers could have varying contracts, giving more incentive to enter and stay with the profession. He says that kind of model works great for colleges and universities.

"There are professors here who make more than a university president, and they're worth every nickel of it," Kendell said.

Still, Huntsman said his office receives more public outcry about the Utah Basic Skills Competency Test than any other issue.

Starting with last spring's graduating class, every Utah student has to pass the test — they have up to five tries — or get a diploma specifying they didn't pass it, or, if they tried it fewer than three times, a certificate of completion.

Right now, 24 states have high school exit exams of some kind; Utah is one of three that measure basic skills of potential high school graduates, said Jean Hill, an attorney at the State Office of Education.