UBSCT help: Where is everybody?

Thousands of high school seniors are at risk of not receiving a basic diploma at graduation, but few are taking summer classes to prepare for the Utah Basic Skills Competency Test.

That worries school officials, who say they have done all they can — some are going door to door — to entice students to class. Some believe the urgency will set in when school starts.

"I think sometimes students look at it in the sense that, 'I have four more times to take it,' ' said Steven Hirase, Murray District assistant superintendent who oversees curriculum. "I just think . . . the students that are seniors this year know they've only got two more opportunities to take it. It's definitely crunch time for them."

But at least one Utah senior has stopped banking on summer remediation at her school. It's not due to lax attitude, her dad says, but emotional crises caused by what he calls an unfair test.

The UBSCT is Utah's only high-stakes test. By law, students must pass its reading, writing and math portions in order to get a regular high school diploma. Otherwise, they might get an alternative diploma or certificate of completion.

The test aims to give the diploma more credibility and indicate schools are churning out students skilled enough for the workforce.

State education chiefs, who have no foolproof way to track test scores over time (student IDs are coming in the fall, they say), report 3 percent of some 35,700 incoming seniors still haven't passed UBSCT's reading test. Another 17 percent haven't passed math, and 10 percent haven't passed writing after three chances to take the tests.

A Deseret Morning News examination, however, found the numbers of seniors needing help could be closer to 10 percent in reading, 26 percent in math and 17 percent in writing — or greater.

That doesn't count the junior class, where 7 to 8 percent of students never took the test, and 11 percent of those who did failed reading, 28 percent failed math and 22 percent failed writing last spring, according to the state.

Thousands of students need to hone skills measured by the test. But the Legislature filled none of the state school board's $6 million request to help them.