"A test is never valid/invalid. It's valid to a certain degree," Reutzel said. "So we're going to try to make this test a reliable and valid indicator of teacher knowledge."

BYU education professor Richard Sudweeks will do some of the number crunching, including checking the validity of the test.

The researchers will try the samples on Utah teachers the third year and look at students' reading and writing abilities — and how it's tied to their teachers.

"You have to test four to five times as many people as you have items on the test," Reutzel said, adding he does not know how many questions they'll ask or areas they will look at, but the sample could start with 130 teachers.

Reutzel, when applying for the grant, had to show that there were teachers interested in participating in the research. He said many school district officials throughout Utah want to participate; they want to know how well their teachers do and how to tailor professional development.

"We have funding in the grant to pay teachers to take the tests and be observed, so they don't have to do more for nothing, which happens so often to teachers," Reutzel said.

Reutzel is not interested in a particular teacher's knowledge but the results of a pool of teachers.

"This could affect the way teachers are educated, graduated and inserviced in the future," Reutzel said. "That's the upshot."

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E-mail: lhancock@desnews.com