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Utah schools will be graded on a modified curve this year under an agreement reached by legislative leaders and state education managers.
But some lawmakers on Wednesday questioned whether the change in the calculation of school grades, made to mitigate the effects of a new year-end testing system, will paint an accurate picture of school performance.
"Are we letting the schools know where they truly fall, or is this judgment giving them a false sense?" asked Rep. Francis Gibson, R-Mapleton. "What type of adjustment would there be and how is the true score, the true measure of their students, being articulated?"
Gibson's questions came during a meeting of the Education Interim Committee, where Associate State Superintendent Judy Park explained the adjusted school grading calculation.
Park said the grades will follow the same distribution as last year, meaning roughly 12 percent of Utah schools will receive an "A" grade, 46 percent will get a "B" grade, 30 percent will receive a "C" grade, 10 percent will earn a "D" grade and 2 percent will get an "F" grade.
School grades are not typically calculated with a pre-determined distribution, Park said. But school leaders decided to repeat last year's breakdown because the state's new year-end test, the computer adaptive SAGE test, resulted in low scores that would have left most schools with either a "D" or "F" grade.
Park said issuing failing grades would have given the false impression that school performance had dramatically changed in one year, when the reality is that students are now asked to meet higher testing expectations. The grading methodology, she said, is meant to keep schools and students "held harmless."
Brad Smith, who was recently appointed as state superintendent, said the changes a school makes in response to its grade are more important than the specific grade a school receives.
"The more important question is how does anything change in the classroom in response to the data?" he said.
School grades are expected to be released in mid-December and Park said a great amount of work remains to be done before those grades will be released.
"We are busily calculating the grades as we speak," she said.
The new calculation method is intended to be used only for the current year while the state transitions to using the SAGE test. Park said other adjustments may need to be made during the legislative session to address future grade calculations.