PRESS RELEASE
November 1, 2007

Contact: Stephen Kroes, Utah Foundation President
(801) 355-1400, ext. 5
(801) 573-8824 (mobile)

UTAH SCHOOL TEST SCORES FALL FAR BEHIND ITS DEMOGRAPHIC PEER STATES

Utah Foundation today released a research report examining Utah’s standardized school test scores. The report, entitled “School Testing Results, 2006 & 2007: How Utah Compares to Other States,” is attached to this release and is also available at www.utahfoundation.org. An executive summary is also attached and available on the website.

In addition to providing a listing of scores on the Iowa Tests for each public school in Utah, the report examines other national tests that allow for direct comparison between states. In these tests, Utah Foundation selected states that are “demographic peers” to Utah – those states with similar levels of student poverty, similar education levels of students’ parents, and similar ethnic profiles.

Utah Foundation President Steve Kroes said, “It’s not enough to merely look at national averages and say that Utah is doing fine because we’re close to the national average. Utah’s school population has a lot of educational advantages, including low poverty rates and a high percent of parents who have graduated from college. With these advantages, a state like Utah is expected to score much higher than national averages.”

The report finds that Utah is scoring well below what would be expected for a state with its demographic profile. In math, reading, and science tests for 8th graders, Utah ranked 30th (math), 29th (reading), and 18th (science). But if Utah were in the middle of its demographic peers, it would score in the top 10 in science and in the top 15 states for math and reading. Utah’s closest overall peer states are South Dakota, Montana, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Nebraska. These are generally high-scoring states.

Kroes added, “We suspected that the states most like Utah would be high performers, since research shows that as much as 80% of a student’s academic performance is related to demographic factors. But we were startled to see how wide the differences are between Utah and other states that have very similar demographic profiles. Therefore, it seems likely that Utah’s academic performance is being limited by school-based factors, which may well include our low levels of funding and high class sizes.”

The report is freely available to the public on the web at www.utahfoundation.org.

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The mission of Utah Foundation is to promote a thriving economy, a well-prepared workforce, and a high quality of life for Utahns by performing thorough, well-supported research that helps policymakers, business and community leaders, and citizens better understand complex issues and providing practical, well-reasoned recommendations for policy change.