This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

A popular criticism of public schools is that they do not innovate; they are so mired in "the way we already do it" that they fail to search for better methods, try them out and adopt the best.

Utah lawmakers frequently lodge that complaint against traditional public schools and have provided a process for like-minded parents to create charter schools that aren't hobbled by tradition.

But certainly not all traditional public schools are guilty of being change-averse. And it's especially difficult to level that criticism honestly against Utah's newest school district.

The Canyons District Superintendent David Doty is trying to make his district better and his students more successful by looking at everything from curriculum to teacher conduct in a new light. For example, in outlining his proposed curriculum changes for the Canyons Technical Education Center, Doty said, "Our middle school students need to be spending much more time on core academics, especially science and mathematics. I do not see the benefit of requiring them to spend multiple days sewing dish-towel aprons and pajama pants."

But Doty's affinity for change has met some resistance. The latest is coming from the State Office of Education, which took Doty to the metaphorical woodshed over his district's use of a particular test to assess students' progress. The problem is that The Canyons' test is not the same one being used by other school districts in the state.

The state education office says all districts must use the DIBELS Oral Reading Fluency test to determine whether students are reading at grade level. Instead, The Canyons is administering the AIMSweb test to do the same thing. The state, which collects scores from the districts and makes them available to the public, erased The Canyons' results after it learned the district had used a different test.

State education officials have a point. Parents should know how their children's progress is being evaluated. And there are benefits to consistency among districts. But those objections can be overcome. And, on balance, it seems The Canyons' determination to find the best method should be emulated, not discouraged in favor of conformity.

The Canyons' arguments for using AIMSweb are convincing. It assesses performance in both reading and math and simplifies the database, which makes it easier for the district to chart progress and report to parents. The state office, on the other hand, apparently chose DIBELS simply because some districts were already using it and it's free.

Doty 1, state office 0.