"There are things I think that matter more ... than the ability to pass a particular test. The ability to be successful in life, to have a good job, to be able to be independent, (have) friends and family and things to do — we're trying to prepare students overall for the life they'll need to face when they're finished with school, and it's hard when they take a test that impacts the way people see their future," said Jennifer Howell, curriculum and assessment director at the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind.

"The biggest concern we have is how employers will view the diploma, and we don't know yet."

Deaf students are diverse, just like any other group, teachers say. Some are motivated, others are not. Some are on an academic path, others prefer vocational classes. Some have additional impairments, some are exceptionally bright.

"You can't lump these kids altogether," Kunde said, or blanketly categorize all of them as bound to struggle on standardized tests, or do poorly in reading or writing. On the contrary, those who struggle in school and those who are profoundly deaf but excelled in reading and writing and taking advanced coursework have passed the exam.

But it is accurate to say deaf and hard-of-hearing students share a language barrier in a speaking, hearing and written world.

Hearing children acquire language just by being around speech, said Andrea Kimball, who teaches in Skyline's Schools for the Deaf program.

But language exposure for a deaf or hard-of-hearing child comes from a person standing directly in front of them, signing. Without signing parents, the child's language exposure could be limited in critical language development years. At worst, said Kunde, "they're not picking up anything."

"For many deaf students ... language was not acquired — it was learned," she said.

The Skyline program serves high school students from throughout the Salt Lake Valley. Other students might attend the Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind the Blind or other satellite programs in public schools statewide, or have other assistance at school.

Program placement often is up to the parent, as is whether the child learns American Sign Language, an English-word-order form of sign language called Pidgin Sign, and whether they learn to speak or read lips. Other forms of communication also exist.

Each of those languages put words in different places and paint different pictures in child's mind.

For example, English speakers might say, "I'm going to the store."

In American Sign Language, it's "Store I go."

In Pidgin Sign, it's "I go store."

Those are big differences when a written test like the UBSCT is measuring subtleties of language and grammar.