Nearly 30 percent of Utah high schools that have been issued a U-PASS report card are being fingered as needing assistance, according to a Deseret Morning News analysis of State Office of Education data reported Friday.

The Morning News found 108 of 190 high schools and high school programs met the mark on the Utah Performance Assessment System for students, aimed at holding schools accountable for student achievement.

Forty-five high schools were identified as needing assistance.

However, 37 high schools did not receive a U-PASS report card because "there is not enough data provided to generate a U-PASS report," according to the State Office of Education's Web site.

That said 70.5 percent of the schools that actually received a report card made the grade.

The State Office of Education's analysis of this data — delivered to the State Board of Education on Friday and apparently posted online Thursday — differs.

A Morning News analysis found the state counted schools with no report card as passing U-PASS. It also misidentified a handful of schools' actual standing in its report.

The result: an inflated pass rate.

The state's report to the board showed that 138 Utah high schools, or 73 percent, achieved U-PASS's "acceptable level of performance." It also identified 52 schools as needing assistance.

State associate superintendent Judy Park acknowledged that latter tally was in error in a late Friday afternoon interview with the newspaper. She said she would pass the information to the person responsible for the report.

The reports are the first of their kind for Utah high schools.

Every high school in 24 school districts — including Alpine, the state's fourth-largest — made the grade. While several of those districts have one or two high schools, Alpine has nine high schools and programs.

"We think it's so terrific," said John Jesse, Alpine's research and evaluation director. "U-PASS is a much more accurate reflection of what is happening academically in schools. It's not perfect, but compared to (the federal government's No Child Left Behind benchmarks), it can be much better utility for school improvement."

On the other hand, 45 high schools in 16 school districts — including the charter schools — were identified as needing assistance. In two districts, Salt Lake and Nebo, no high schools made the grade.

The U-PASS reports weigh attendance, graduation rates, and student performance on math, language arts and science CRTs and the Utah Basic Skills Competency Test required for high school graduation. Schools also must have 95 percent of students taking the exam to clear the bar.