- Legislative audit concludes school districts and charter schools should reevaluate the effectiveness of their intervention programs for Utah’s struggling students.
- Audit report includes recommendations gleaned from Utah school districts executing successful interventions.
- Post-pandemic absenteeism in Utah schools is concerning, particularly with students who are learning English.
Utah
How to elevate Utah's low-performing students?: Data-driven, timely interventions
Utah students underperforming in math, language arts or science require timely interventions guided by accurate data to elevate them to proficient levels.
That was the conclusion in an audit report presented Monday to Utah’s Legislative Audit Subcommittee that includes ranking lawmakers from both sides of the aisle.
The audit also revealed a “statewide gap between the performance of students who are in a group that traditionally struggles with academic proficiency, and those who aren’t.”
The report classified “underperforming student groups” as those who have a higher than typical chance of performing below proficiency “and who are economically disadvantaged, learning English, or racial or ethnic minorities.”
Such “underperforming student groups” frequently need the most growth and support, the report added.
Needed: Data-driven ‘intervention adjustments’
Auditors reviewed five years of data showing how many Utah students moved from “below proficient” to “proficient,” and vice versa.
“Looking at the net percentage proficiency change each for five years, the percent of students who changed their proficiency status remained problematically low,” their report noted. “Both state and Local Education Agency (LEA) level observations create a case for school districts and charter schools to reevaluate the effectiveness of their student intervention programs.”
LEAs such as school districts and charter schools, the report recommended, should make an effort to identify students in need “and intervene quickly at the first signs of difficulty.”
The audit staff also recommended that the Utah State Board of Education (USBE) should first review the cycle of student assessment data it collects — and then identify ways to expedite the process to improve turnaround times for local education agencies.
Auditors recognized that possibilities of “internal and external complexities” that might affect a student’s academic performance that can’t be quantified by data, such as the level of support a student receives at home.
A question for top-performing districts: ‘What’s working?’
Top-performing LEAs, according to the report, are executing timely and consistent interventions based on internal student data.
Such high-performing districts and charter schools gather and analyze data in a variety of ways. The auditors noted that some successful LEAs are utilizing internal data to drive their decisions and interventions. Others are utilizing designated data analysis teams.
For example, two high-performing Utah school districts highlighted in the audit provided a shared dashboard allowing individual schools to have visible, usable student data. “To provide this dashboard, these LEAs complete their own internal analysis prior to USBE data becoming available,” the report said.
Another high-performing school district is training school principals each month on how to use data “to conduct root cause analysis for various low performing student groups.”
And finally, another high-performing school district formed data analysis teams that meet every four weeks to review internal student data and reevaluate student placements.
“According to the district, internal student data has the capability to drill down to individual students’ skill sets to ensure timely, targeted interventions,” the report said.
Conversely, low performing school districts report lacking access to timely data even while trying to manage disparate data software programs and insufficient resources.
“Although there have been improvements, multiple LEAs mentioned that student data received from Utah’s State Board of Education (USBE) has not been timely,” the report noted. “For example, one school district reports building in lag time for state-owned program data, which could prolong introducing or adjusting targeted student interventions.”
Repeatedly, the audit emphasized the importance of executing timely decisions based on accurate data.
Such crucial elements “provide quality information for administrators to evaluate the success of implemented initiatives based on student achievement.”
As a caveat, auditors added a statewide “one-size-fits-all approach” to improving interventions is impractical.
“We recognize that implementation methods will depend on the LEA,” the report said, noting that each district has different resources, student populations and geographical regions.
While acknowledging differences between Utah’s LEAs, the audit report attached several recommendations of “Best Practices”:
• Standards-Based Instruction: One school district reports systematizing the Utah Core Standards to create learning rubrics.
“The standards identify basic knowledge, skills, and competencies — teachers create lesson plans based on the standards and instruct their students on core content.”
• Peer Learning: Another LEA understands the value of peer learning. The district spends “significant time” compiling data to identify other LEAs throughout the state that they can learn from.
“Schools within the district meet regularly to learn where they can improve.”
• Early and Consistent Intervention: New students in one LEA are immediately tested to determine appropriate placements.
“Pairing new students needing intervention with the appropriate intervention program is key for student development. For consistency, students needing intervention remain with the same advisory teacher and/or instructional coach.”
5-year study: Stagnating student proficiency levels
Auditors asserted that student performances on previous statewide assessments are considered a “good indicator of future performance.”
Working under that premise, the audit report noted that five years of data reveals that the statewide movement between student proficiency groups “appears to balance out to stagnation.”
“Some of this may be explained by recovery efforts from the COVID-19 pandemic; however, these conclusions remain true over time,” according to the report. “The average net percentage proficiency changes for pre- and post-pandemic school years is below 2%.”
Observations of student proficiency measures between the post-pandemic 2022-2023 school years “appear largely unchanged.”
Poor attendance in the pandemic’s aftermath could be a factor in proficiency drops.
In the years since the pandemic, absenteeism rates in one school district have nearly doubled.
“The largest gap in attendance was for English-language learners, which increased from 19% in 2018 to 38% in 2023,” according to the report.
“This is something that we really need to look into because we need to make sure that we’re providing everyone with a proper education and making sure that they have the tools necessary to be proficient — regardless of whether they are English-learners or whether they’re students who have some struggles,” said House Minority Leader Angela Romero, D-Salt Lake City, following the auditors’ Monday report.
The report noted that Utah’s legislature has responded to chronic absenteeism, passing a law in 2023 directing LEAs to create and implement “evidence-based strategies” to reduce student absenteeism.
Now’s the time, the report concluded, for school districts and charter schools to take a hard look at the effectiveness of their student intervention programs.
“Student interventions should aim to link the root cause of the problem to a specific, targeted intervention that directly addresses the underlying issue,” the report noted.
“Additionally, timely and consistent interventions can significantly reduce the student proficiency gap by providing targeted support when students first show signs of difficulty.”
Senate Minority Leader Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City, said that the “large group” of “below-proficient” Utah students reflected in the audit is alarming.
“We’re missing the huge gap when we say that we have a good education system,” she said. “Well, it’s failing on average 30 to 40% of our kids when they’re not meeting that minimum criteria.”
Darin Nielsen, Utah State Board of Education Assistant Superintendent of Student Learning, reported to the subcommittee that the state has increased the speed of its data reporting system to Utah’s LEAs.
“We recognize that we play a key role in helping our education community understand how to use results to make instructional decisions about students and student groups,” said Nielsen. “We’ve made a commitment to put more energy around assessment literacy for our leaders.”
Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz concluded the meeting by thanking the state’s education community, noting a U.S. News & World Report ranking the Beehive State as #2 in education in the United States.
SALT LAKE CITY — A controversial Utah proposal to crack down on the presence of immigrants in the country illegally that had seemed stalled gained new life Friday, passing muster in new form in a relatively narrow vote.
In a 39-33 vote, the Utah House approved HB386 — amended with portions of HB88, which stalled in the House on Monday — and the revamped measure now goes to the Utah Senate for consideration.
The reworked version of HB386, originally meant just to repeal outdated immigration legislation, now also contains provisions prohibiting immigrants in the country illegally from being able to tap into in-state university tuition, certain home loan programs and certain professional licensing.
The new HB386 isn’t as far-reaching as HB88, which also would have prohibited immigrants in the country illegally from being able to access certain public benefits like food at food pantries, immunizations for communicable diseases and emergency housing.
Moreover, Rep. Trevor Lee, R-Layton and the HB88 sponsor, stressed that the new provisions in HB386 wouldn’t impact immigrants in the country legally. He touted HB88 as a means of making sure taxpayer money isn’t funneled to programming that immigrants in the country illegally can tap.
Rep. Lisa Shepherd, R-Provo, the HB386 sponsor, sounded a similar message, referencing, with chagrin, the provision allowing certain students in the country illegally to access lower in-state tuition rates at Utah’s public universities. Because of such provisions “we’re taking care of other countries’ children first, and I want to take care of Utahns first. In my campaign I ran and said Utahns first and this bill will put Utahns first,” she said.
If we stop young folks who have lived here much of their life from going to school and getting an education, it is really clear to me that we have hurt that person. It’s not clear to me at all that we have benefitted the rest of us.
–Rep. Ray Ward, R-Bountiful
The relatively narrow 39-33 vote, atypical in the GOP-dominated Utah Legislature, followed several other narrow, hotly contested procedural votes to formally amend HB386. Foes, including both Democrats and Republicans, took particular umbrage with provisions prohibiting immigrants in the country illegally from being able to pay in-state tuition and access certain scholarships.
As is, students in the country illegally who have attended high school for at least three years in Utah and meet other guidelines may pay lower in-state tuition, but if they have to pay out-of-state tuition instead, they could no longer afford to go to college.
“If we stop young folks who have lived here much of their life from going to school and getting an education, it is really clear to me that we have hurt that person. It’s not clear to me at all that we have benefitted the rest of us,” said Rep. Ray Ward, R-Bountiful.
Rep. Hoang Nguyen, D-Salt Lake City, noted her own hardscrabble upbringing as an immigrant from Vietnam and said the changes outlined in the reworked version of HB386 run counter to what she believes Utah stands for.
“I fear that what we’re doing here in Utah is we are eroding what truly makes Utah special, the Utah way. We are starting to adopt policies that are regressive and don’t take care of people. Utahns are one thing. Citizens are one thing. People is the first thing,” she said.
Rep. John Arthur, D-Cottonwood Heights, said the measure sends a negative message to the immigrant students impacted.
“If we pass this bill today, colleagues, we will be telling these young people — again, who have graduated from our high schools, these kids who have gone to at least three years of school here — that you’re no longer a Utahn,” he said.
If we are compassionate to those who come the legal way and we are compassionate to those who already live here, that does not mean that we lack compassion for others in other ways.
–Rep. Kristen Chevrier, R-Highland
Rep. Kristen Chevrier, R-Highland, said the debate underscores a “fallacy” about compassion. She backed the reworked version of HB386, saying Utah resources should be first spend on those in the country legally.
“If we are compassionate to those who come the legal way and we are compassionate to those who already live here, that does not mean that we lack compassion for others in other ways,” she said.
The original version of HB386 calls for repeal of immigration laws on the books that are outdated because other triggering requirements have not been met or they run counter to federal law.
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — A man died after he was caught in an avalanche in Big Cottonwood Canyon over the weekend.
A spokesperson for the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office confirmed on Thursday that Kevin Williams, 57, had died.
He, along with one other person, was hospitalized in critical condition after Saturday’s avalanche in the backcountry.
MORE | Big Cottonwood Canyon Avalanche
In an interview with 2News earlier this week, one of Williams’ close friends, Nate Burbidge, described him as a loving family man.
“Kevin’s an amazing guy. He’s always serving, looking for ways that he can connect with others,” Burbidge said.
A GoFundMe was set up to help support Williams’ family.
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CONTENT WARNING: This report discusses suicide and includes descriptions of audio from 911 calls that some viewers may find disturbing.
LAS VEGAS — Exclusively obtained 911 recordings detail the hours leading up to the discovery of an 11-year-old Utah girl and her mother dead inside a Las Vegas hotel room in an apparent murder-suicide.
Addi Smith and her mother, Tawnia McGeehan, lived in West Jordan and had traveled to Nevada for the JAMZ cheerleading competition.
The calls show a growing sense of urgency from family members and coaches, and several hours passing before relatives learned what happened.
MORE | Murder-Suicide
Below is a timeline of the key moments, according to dispatch records. All times are Pacific Time.
10:33 a.m. — Call 1
After Addi and her mother failed to appear at the cheerleading competition, Addi’s father and stepmother called dispatch for a welfare check.
Addi and her mother were staying at the Rio hotel. The father told dispatch that hotel security had already attempted contact.
“Security went up and knocked on the door. There’s no answer or response it doesn’t look like they checked out or anything…”
11:18 a.m. and 11:27 a.m. — Calls 2 and 3
As concern grew, Addi’s coach contacted the police two times within minutes.
“We think the child possibly is in imminent danger…”
11:26 a.m. — Call 4
Addi’s stepmother placed another call to dispatch, expressing escalating concern.
“We are extremely concerned we believe that something might have seriously happened.”
She said that Tawnia’s car was still at the hotel.
Police indicated officers were on the way.
2:26 p.m. — Call 5
Nearly three hours after the initial welfare check request, fire personnel were en route to the scene. It appeared they had been in contact with hotel security.
Fire told police that they were responding to a possible suicide.
“They found a note on the door.”
2:35 p.m. — Call 6
Emergency medical personnel at the scene told police they had located two victims.
“It’s going to be gunshot wound to the head for both patients with notes”
A dispatcher responded:
“Oh my goodness that’s not okay.”
2:36 p.m. — Call 7
Moments later, fire personnel relayed their assessment to law enforcement:
“It’s going to be a murder suicide, a juvenile and a mother.”
2:39 p.m. — Call 8
Unaware of what had been discovered, Addi’s father called dispatch again.
“I’m trying to file a missing persons report for my daughter.”
He repeats the details he knows for the second time.
3:13 p.m. — Call 9
Father and stepmother call again seeking information and continue to press for answers.
“We just need some information. There was a room check done around 3:00 we really don’t know where to start with all of this Can we have them call us back immediately?”
Dispatch responded:
“As soon as there’s a free officer, we’ll have them reach out to you.”
4:05 p.m. — Call 10
More than an hour later, Addi’s father was put in contact with the police on the scene. He pleaded for immediate action.
“I need someone there I need someone there looking in that room”
The officer confirmed that they had officers currently in the room.
Addi’s father asks again what they found, if Addi and her mother are there, and if their things were missing.
The officer, who was not on scene, said he had received limited information.
5:23 p.m. — Call 11
Nearly seven hours after the first welfare check request, Addi’s grandmother contacted police, describing conflicting information circulating within the family.
“Some people are telling us that they were able to get in, and they were not in the hotel room, and other people saying they were not able to get in the hotel room, and we need to know”
She repeated the details of the case. Dispatch said officers will call her back once they have more information.
Around 8:00 p.m. — Press Conference
Later that evening, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police held a news conference confirming that Addi and her mother, Tawnia McGeehan, were found dead inside the hotel room.
The investigation remains ongoing.
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