State board wants to cut down on some exams, add another

Sick of tests?

The State Board of Education wants to get rid of a few, but then add another.

Gone, it hopes, will be the end-of-year CRT tests for first-graders. A task force of educators and legislators thinks it's inappropriate for children that age. Class time also would be better spent on instruction, board member Teresa Theurer said.

The board also wants to get rid of half the

norm-reference testing going on under the Iowa skills tests, intended to show how well Utah students stack up nationally. So instead of testing in third, fifth, eighth and 11th grades, the board wants to test just fifth and eighth grades. The four-hour, 11th-grade test has been criticized as too time-consuming, state testing director Judy Park said. That grade level spends 19 hours in statewide testing each year, according to a State Office of Education study reported last January.

• Add intermediate algebra, as Park says teachers request, to the CRTs.

• Give a tutoring voucher to students who fail the Utah Basic Skills Competency Test in high school right away, rather than wait until they've failed up to three times.

• Watch other states to see effects of requiring the ACT college entrance exam.

• Put more focus on regular testing rather than end-of-level tests to better benefit students, and focus teacher training and other funds on that.

• Get more money for computerized testing.

Many of these wishes require changes to state law. Board members indicated at least one lawmaker — three were on a study group examining testing issues — was interested in drafting a bill.

E-mail: jtcook@desnews.com