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Performance grades for nine Granite School District schools have gone up based on new calculations by the state Office of Education.
The new grades — which lifted four schools out of failing status — include results from the Utah Alternative Assessment, a test given to students with severe disabilities as an alternative to the SAGE test.
School grades are primarily based on the SAGE results. But because so many Granite students take the alternative test, spokesman Ben Horsley said, the district's marks were skewed.
State education managers acknowledged in December that scores from the alternative assessment had been erroneously left out of school grade calculations. And Granite School District administrators at the time predicted that updated grades would reflect favorably on the district's schools.
"There is an impact with respect to testing and special needs students, and we're grateful the state has fixed this," Horsley said.
A total of 55 Granite School District schools got additional school grading points as a result of the recalculation, with the increase at nine schools adding up to enough to earn a higher grade level.
Hartvigsen School, a special eduaction school, had the greatest jump — from an F grade to a B grade. The school had previously gotten no points because the entire school population takes the alternate assessment instead of SAGE.
Pleasant Green Elementary School and Silver Hills Elementary School both increased from an F grade to a C grade.
The remaining six schools increased by a single grade level.
Horsley said school grades, even with the recalculation, only reflect a "slice" of what goes on at an individual school.
The grades are based on test scores and high school graduation rates.
And Horsley said not enough weight is placed on the performance growth made by individual students from year to year.
"When you have a significant amount of high poverty or high diversity students who are at risk, growth is a better indicator of school success than overall performance," he said.
When school grades were released in December, 13 percent of elementary and middle schools in the state received an A grade, 45 percent got a B, 31 percent earned Cs, 8 percent received a D, and 2 percent failed.
At the high school level, 5 percent of Utah schools received an A grade, 45 percent got a B, 30 percent earned a C, 11 percent got Ds, and 9 percent failed.
It was not clear Monday how many other schools in the state had been affected by the recalculation. Schools were closed for the Presidents Day holiday and representatives of the state Office of Education could not be reached for comment.
Updated Granite school grades
Harry S. Truman Elementary School
Old grade • F
New grade • D
Hartvigsen School
Old grade • F
New grade • B
Pleasant Green Elementary School
Old grade • F
New grade • C
Silver Hills Elementary School
Old grade • F
New grade • C
Thomas W Bacchus Elementary School
Old grade • D
New grade • C
Twin Peaks Elementary School
Old grade • D
New grade • C
Upland Terrace Elementary School
Old grade • C
New grade • B
Whittier Elementary School
Old grade • D
New grade • C
Woodstock Elementary School
Old grade • C
New Grade • B