Utah students likely will take fewer types of tests in years to come.

The governor has signed one bill, SB16, that eliminates the requirement for Utah third-, fifth- and eighth-graders to take the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. Another bill, HB166, which puts the Utah Basic Skills Competency Test (UBSCT) on hold for two years and eliminates a state test for second-graders, has passed the House and earned preliminary Senate approval.

"This is a move in the right direction," said Sen. Pat Jones, D-Holladay, of HB166. "This is one of the biggest issues with parents and with teachers. Testing requires so much time."

Now, Utah high school students must take the UBSCT before graduating, but HB166 would suspend the test for two years, meaning students now in grades eight through 11 wouldn't have to take it before graduation. And it would eliminate Criterion Referenced Tests (CRTs), the state's main achievement test, for second-graders.

Sen. Wayne Niederhauser, R-Sandy, who sponsored the bill on the Senate floor, said it will give the state a chance to save money and evaluate whether the tests are worth continuing.

"We'll be able to at least evaluate these in the next couple years and see if they've been effective," Niederhauser said.

The bill must pass the Senate one more time and then would move on to the governor.

SB16, which the governor signed Monday, is intended to modernize Utah's school testing system. In addition to removing the requirement to give the Iowa test, it will allow more schools to participate in a pilot program where, among other things, students take computer-adaptive tests several times a year and the ACT instead of the Iowa and the Utah Basic Skills Competency Test. It would also extend the pilot program for five more years.

Computer-adaptive tests change difficulty as students take them and provide more immediate results to teachers and students, proponents argue.

So far, the U.S. Department of Education has refused to allow the state to give computer-adaptive tests instead of CRTs to fulfill the requirements of No Child Left Behind.

That means the few districts now giving computer-adaptive tests must also give CRTs, or the state risks losing federal money. The feds penalized the state nearly $60,000 in August for skipping the CRTs in Juab and Sevier.