The AYP report focuses on every individual student group, broken out by race, income, disability and English language acquisition. If one group misses the mark, the whole school fails.

That's been a thorn in the side of the state, which has unsuccessfully petitioned the U.S. Department of Education to let it use a model like U-PASS's for AYP.

"We think U-PASS is a more accurate reflection of student progress," said Rick Nielsen, elementary education director in Nebo District, where 30 of 32 schools met U-PASS goals.

Some critics, however, say U-PASS's two-group system hides students who historically have been left behind. Indeed, Utah's achievement gap between whites and ethnic minorities, the haves and have nots, is wide.

Perhaps a better way to look at the reports is what can be learned from them, Salt Lake District Superintendent McKell Withers said.

"These tools, when used in a complementary way, can help a school identify bright spots and spots where they need to focus more work," he said. "But neither provides a complete picture with which to reach a conclusion about the components of the school overall."

Detailed school reports are online at www.schools.utah.gov.

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E-mail: jtcook@desnews.com

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