Education bid is left behind

Utah has lost its federal bid to use students' academic growth to satisfy No Child Left Behind rules, the U.S. Department of Education reported Friday.

The state's growth model petition didn't meet federal criteria in three areas, including holding schools accountable for how each group of students do on tests.

"It's pretty stark in terms of how they're handling those 'bright lines' (principles of the law)," State Superintendent of Public Instruction Patti Harrington said.

"Our relationship with the department is not what I would consider strained . . . we just consider this another step in this whole process of No Child Left Behind," she said. "My own perspective is the department's made their decision and we move forward."

Harrington does not believe the state's lackluster performance on a No Child Left Behind audit played into the decision.

"They didn't cite that, so no," it had no bearing, she said. "We think we can be compliant with all those issues."

No Child Left Behind seeks to have all children score as proficient on reading and math tests by 2014.

The Utah Legislature and state education leaders have challenged that goal as unrealistic and the law as intrusive on state education rights. But advocates for ethnic minority and low-income students believe the law shines a needed spotlight on historically underperforming groups, who can only be helped by its glare.

Last November, the education department announced up to 10 states could pilot a different way of judging whether students make progress on tests. Rather than comparing this year's third-grade scores to last year's third-grade scores, for example — essentially comparing different groups of students — states could propose longitudinal compari- sons.

The state submitted the Utah Performance Assessment System for Students (U-PASS) accountability plan, which awards schools points for bringing up struggling students, even if they're still below grade level.

It didn't make the first cut.

Of 20 proposals, Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, Delaware, Florida, North Carolina, Oregon and Tennessee were forwarded for peer review, the department reported on its Web site.

Utah's was turned down for three reasons, Harrington said: