Overview
Our mission is to serve the public by providing measurable information about Utah
students' core knowledge, skills, and abilities; acquired through high quality valid
and reliable assessments. We strive to:
- positively impact student learning and the public's understanding through quality
assessment
- provide meaningful assessment that is essential to assess the extent of student progress
toward proficiency
- provide accurate, understandable reporting that is essential so that all stakeholders
in Utah education have the data needed for making effective decisions concerning school
policies, programs and curricula
- provide knowledge about use of accountability measures, resources/tools to support
best practices in the area of assessment and support broad understandings
- utilize innovative technologies that support valid and cost-effective indicators of
student proficiency
- accomplish all tasks through positive collaborative partnerships with districts and
state agencies
Utah Academic Recovery Report - 2023
The COVID-19 pandemic brought significant disruptions to education across the United
States, critically impacting student learning. This period witnessed an unprecedented decline in educational attainment, both in
Utah and nationwide. This study is designed to provide Utah’s educational stakeholders
with actionable insights into the pandemic’s academic repercussions and recovery.
It aims to offer a deeper understanding of student performance during this period
by identifying the specific groups of students affected, the content areas where the
impact was most significant, and the magnitude of its impact as well as the recovery
from those impacts. This study provides a detailed analysis of the academic impact
and recovery patterns in Utah, utilizing data from the Readiness Improvement Success
Empowerment (RISE), and Utah Aspire Plus (UA+) assessments. Growth analyses for the
2022-2023 period in Utah assessed whether learning rates in the education system have
rebounded to pre-pandemic levels, a crucial factor for recovering from the pandemic-induced
educational losses.
Utah Academic Recovery Report 2023
Next Generation School Accountability
In the Summer of 2021, the Utah State Board of Education engaged in work to consider
changes to the school accountability system. The result of this work is contained
in the Utah School Accountability Redesign report and offers recommendations for the
redesign of Utah’s School Accountability System. The overarching goal of this work
is to create a school accountability system that is more aligned with Personalized,
Competency-Based Learning practices and Utah’s Portrait of a Graduate competencies
while maintaining an easy to compare, simple, and transparent school accountability
system. Included in this work is a consideration of an accountability system that
is balanced and holistic to the nature of learning, drives improvements and stimulates
local accountability efforts.
Next Generation School Accountability in Utah: A Report of the Utah Accountability
Redesign Advisory Committee to the Utah State Board of Education
Strategic Assessment Plan
In 2020, the Utah State Board of Education, through a group of key education stakeholders,
engaged in the work of creating an Assessment Strategic Plan for the purpose of reimagining
and developing a framework for state assessment that is aligned with the Board’s Strategic
Direction.
The Future of Utah’s State Assessment System: Recommendations from the Utah Assessment
Strategic Plan Work Group
R277-404: Requirements for Assessments of Student Achievement
Utah State Board of Education Administrative Rules
Assessment and Accountability YouTube Channel
YouTube
Assessment and Accountability Policy Advisory Committee (AAPAC)
The Utah State Board of Education has established the Assessment and Accountability
Policy Advisory Committee. This committee was formally known as the Policy Advisory
Committee (PAC). The purpose of this committee is to review current assessment and
accountability policies, business rules, pending test administrations decisions and
detailed accountability rules and implementation decisions. The committee will also
assist the Board's Assessment and Accountability section to represent and inform the
education communities about the Board's policies, programs, rules, and procedures.
We will also be consulting on the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Federal Education Law and how it pertains to Utah's students. The meetings will be
held quarterly beginning in September and usually last 2-3 hours.