Students aren't all the white, middle-class children who filled classrooms a couple of decades ago.

School populations now represent numerous cultures, and students often speak languages other than English in their homes.

These and other characteristics pose challenges to their academic success in traditional settings, and ethnic minority students' test scores often fall below those of their more-privileged, white peers.

Scores on the Utah Basic Skills Competency Test, for example, show up to 40 percent more white Utah students pass some portions of the test than other ethnic groups, with the exception of Asian students. Salt Lake City-based Centro de la Familia commissioned the policy paper "Closing Educational Achievement Gaps for Latina/o Students in Utah" to help address the problem.

Co-author Enrique Alemán, an assistant professor in the University of Utah's Department of Educational Leadership and Policy, hopes the paper released Monday will spark conversations throughout the state to address the achievement gaps that exist not only for Latino students, but for students from other ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds as well.

"I want this paper to get legislators, parents and people in general to take the achievement gap seriously," Alemán said. "There are major conversations that have to take place to make systemwide changes."

The paper, co-written by Andrea Rorrer, also a U. assistant professor, compiles statistics chronicling the achievement gap, and Alemán says it's one of the only sources where all the data are accessible in one place.

It also details three areas to focus on in order to fix the achievement gaps: Leadership needs to address the systemic inequities of the educational system, the political culture needs to change to promote equity and a comprehensive and strategic policy reform must follow.

"Some people have said they want more concrete recommendations, but we wanted to provide a framework to start a discussion," Alemán said.

Brett Moulding, Utah State Office of Education director of curriculum, acknowledges an achievement gap exists.

"Some of the achievement gap is a result of [more students who are trying to learn English], and one of the issues is that we need additional resources to help students who don't use English as a primary language," he said.

Alemán says more resources are needed, but adds English language learners aren't nearly as prevalent in schools as most people think.

"Most students are U.S. born," he said. "This is not an immigration problem."

He hopes the paper creates a different mind-set about minority students in the school system.

Alemán says even small wording changes would help change the mind-set of those in the education system. He uses the example of calling minority groups "subgroups" instead of student groups.

"We just want people to look at students as assets instead of deficits," he said. "Being multilingual is a benefit, not a problem."

Maria Farrington, director of education services at Centro de la Familia, hopes the paper will prove the existence of an achievement gap in Utah.

"Many people still say we don't have an achievement gap in Utah," she said. "Now we have the data to make it irrefutable."

She also hopes the paper will have impacts not only on the statewide political level, but down to individual parents at schools.

"This speaks to all stakeholders in education," she said. "This will affect everyone from people with children in schools to Utah businesses."

smcfarland@sltrib.com

Combating achievement gaps

A report commissioned by Salt Lake City-based Centro de la Familia documents academic achievement gaps occurring throughout the state.

Recommendations include:

* Education leaders need to address the systemic inequities of the educational system.

* Political culture needs to change to promote equity.

* Comprehensive and strategic policy reform must follow.