Test averaging allowed

Utah schools didn't particularly like learning they failed to meet No Child Left Behind standards last fall.

But the label was especially painful for 85 Utah schools that missed the mark only because too few kids took tests.

A new federal rule, however, could prevent that from happening in schools with a good track record.

Schools now can average test participation over two or three years, the U.S. Department of Education announced Monday. If the average shows 95 percent of students took tests, schools will be all right.

Also, kids who can't take tests because of an emergency, such as a car accident, no longer will count against a school's participation.

The announcement, which came at the National School Boards Association conference in Orlando, Fla., follows other No Child Left Behind alterations regarding special-education testing and qualifications for teachers in rural schools.

It is a welcome surprise for state testing director Louise Moulding. But, she adds, "I don't know if it would drastically change our outcome."

No Child Left Behind requires schools to test all children in reading and math and for all, regardless of race, income or disability, to perform on grade level by 2014.

The federal government uses "adequate yearly progress" (AYP) to measure movement toward that goal.

States create their own progress plans. Utah's is based on three things: academic achievement, test participation and attendance rates. All account for improvement — except participation.

Schools must have at least 95 percent of kids taking language and math tests. The same rate applies also to groups of students, broken down for ethnicity, income and students with disabilities.

If any group doesn't have 95 percent of the students taking tests — which could come down to just two kids in less-diverse Utah schools — the whole school fails to make AYP.

The rule is aimed at ensuring schools don't excuse students from tests to hide low achievement.

"However, we recognized that there were circumstances whereby a few absent students prevented an otherwise successful school from meeting the 95 percent participation rate requirement," U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige said in a prepared statement. "This practical examination of the law allows for those schools still to meet their AYP requirements."