Summit tackles ways to improve schools

Raise expectations, inject rigor into high schools, pull charter and magnet schools to neighborhoods where student achievement lags — these are among hordes of suggestions to improve public schools tossed out Tuesday at the Governor's Education Summit.

The summit was called "to think outside the box, to not be afraid of change, to say there might be a better mousetrap out there," Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert said, in calling for a "truce" in the back-and-forth between groups on education policy.

"I think this is a step in the right direction. I don't know if we could call this a success today; we probably won't have any success unless we do something . . . something positive."

Utah schools receive the lowest per-student funding in the country, despite a relatively high tax burden. It has the nation's highest birthrate. And it is education minded — census numbers show 91 percent have a high school diploma or more, according to a presentation by governor's education deputy Tim Bridgewater. Students do well overall on tests but are slipping below national peers, when scores are broken down by race, on the National Assessment for Educational Progress.

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. has set up groups to talk about improving student achievement, reading, high school rigor and school choice in Utah's unique demographic context.

• Student achievement inquiries include whether to hold students back or require after- or summer-school classes if they don't pass benchmark tests; incentive pay for teachers raising student achievement; and examining the cost-effectiveness of full-day kindergarten.

• Preliminary data show 40 percent of school districts and 30 percent of charter schools are meeting goals under the $30 million, state-district Reading Achievement Program passed by the 2004 Legislature. Some lawmakers have said they want to know if the program works before funding others like it.

• High school efforts include improving graduation rates, which Bridgewater said could be 78 percent for today's seventh-graders; encouraging districts boost graduation requirements to four years of English and math and three years of science; and strengthening teacher quality and instruction through relevant curriculum, smaller classes and other initiatives.

"Our high schools aren't broken, but there are things that can be reformed on our high school campuses," state associate superintendent Christine Kearl said during a panel discussion on curriculum. "We need to make sure the rigor is there."

E-mail: jtcook@desnews.com