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Policymakers debating whether smaller classes or higher salaries will solve Utah's looming teacher shortage got some new ammunition Monday.

A research report deemed class-size reduction and across-the-board raises unlikely solutions. Instead, the report from the nonpartisan Utah Foundation recommends mentoring programs for new teachers and differential pay for high-demand positions.

The report marks the first time the foundation has used its analysis to make policy recommendations. "We felt the issue was well-researched enough that some recommendations could be justified," said Steve Kroes, the foundation's executive director. He will present the findings to the Legislature's Education Interim Committee meeting Wednesday.

The report explored likely causes and solutions for high rates of teacher attrition, which can undermine educational quality and drive teacher shortages in growing areas. Researchers evaluated the feasibility of four possible solutions: higher or differentiated salaries, smaller class sizes and mentoring programs.

For each policy, the report gauged cost-effectiveness, administrative feasibility and fairness to teachers and students. Mentoring programs for new teachers ranked high in most categories. But smaller class sizes were judged less cost-efficient, difficult to implement and impractical during an enrollment boom.

The report called class-size reduction "a notoriously expensive educational reform" because it demands new teachers and buildings. The Utah State Office of Education estimated a more than $330 million price tag to reduce kindergarten through sixth grade and secondary core classes by just one student.

Also, California's ambitious class-size reduction efforts "resulted in a dramatic increase in the percentage of unqualified teachers, who were concentrated in high-minority, high-poverty schools," the report found.

Kroes called the findings "surprising but not counterintuitive."

The report's recommendations validated state education office priorities, which emphasized mentoring and differential pay during the 2007 legislative session.

"We're not surprised to see the Utah Foundation arrive at the same conclusions we have," said Larry Shumway, associate state superintendent for law, legislation and education services. "We'd like to see smaller class sizes but we recognize that it's an unlikely policy direction for us."

Instead, the office recognizes that mentor programs and higher salaries for hard-to-fill positions might soothe conditions driving teachers out of the profession or the state.

The foundation report explored factors underlying an exodus of young teachers and unwillingness to enter the profession. But because state and district data were "neither consistent nor particularly informative," the report's conclusions were limited.

However, low salaries and unfavorable working conditions (such as large class sizes) were cited as significant factors. Yet the report found several caveats to Utah's low teacher wages, including a younger work force, lower cost of living and more generous benefits.

The Utah Education Association - the state's largest teacher advocate - favors across-the-board teacher raises over differential pay. Yet it applauds the Utah Foundation report for bringing attention to the problem of high teacher attrition.

"The solution is simple: better pay and working conditions," President Kim Campbell said. "We have to pay teachers commensurate with other college degrees and create working conditions that make them feel successful and want to stay."

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* NICOLE STRICKER can be contacted at nstricker@sltrib.com or 801-257-8999.

* Read the Utah Foundation report on teacher attrition at http://www.utahfoundation.org