SALT LAKE CITY – Final results from last spring’s first-ever computer-adaptive Student Assessment of Growth and Excellence, or SAGE, tests showed 41.7 percent of Utah’s public school students are on track to be college and career ready in language arts, 38.7 percent in math, and 43.7 percent in science when they graduate from high school, according to data released today by the Utah State Office of Education.
Spring 2014 marked the first time Utah students took computer-adaptive tests that were based on the more rigorous Utah Core Standards in language arts and math. Though students also took computer-adaptive science assessments, the science standards have not been updated within the past five years as have the language arts and math standards.
“There will be those who will look at these scores and compare them to last year’s results,” state Superintendent of Public Instruction Joel Coleman said. “They aren’t comparable. This is a new era. The Utah State Board of Education increased the rigor and expectations in math and language arts, and the new computer-adaptive tests more precisely measure student performance than did the old fill-in-the-bubble tests. Our new standard is ‘on track for college and careers;’ it is no longer ‘has mastered course content.’
“This is not to say we don’t have hard work ahead of us,” Coleman said. “We do. But now we more accurately know where we stand and where we have to go. I believe Utah students and teachers will rise to these new expectations moving forward and consequently will be better prepared to meet the challenges of life in our rapidly changing world.”
SAGE language arts, math and science results for individual grade-levels, individual school districts and individual schools as well as statewide results are all available on the Data Gateway link on the Utah State Office of Education website, or from your local school.
Individual student results are only available to parents or guardians and can only be obtained from a student’s teacher.
The Utah State Office of Education will use detailed SAGE results in cooperative work with districts and charter schools throughout the state to improve results. Training tests for students, teachers and parents interested in learning more about the assessments are available on the SAGE website.
2014 Utah State SAGE Tests Results by Subject:
|
Subject |
% Proficient |
| 3rd Grade Language Arts | 44.4% |
| 4th Grade Language Arts | 41.9% |
| 5th Grade Language Arts | 42.0% |
| 6th Grade Language Arts | 43.1% |
| 7th Grade Language Arts | 42.5% |
| 8th Grade Language Arts | 41.2% |
| 9th Grade Language Arts | 39.9% |
| 10th Grade Language Arts | 40.6% |
| 11th Grade Language Arts | 38.4% |
| 3rd Grade Math | 44.3% |
| 4th Grade Math | 47.5% |
| 5th Grade Math | 43.8% |
| 6th Grade Math | 35.2% |
| 7th Grade Math | 43.1% |
| 8th Grade Math | 37.3% |
| Secondary Math I | 31.4% |
| Secondary Math II | 27.3% |
| Secondary Math III | 30.1% |
| 4th Grade Science | 43.0% |
| 5th Grade Science | 45.6% |
| 6th Grade Science | 45.6% |
| 7th Grade Science | 42.5% |
| 8th Grade Science | 46.3% |
| Biology | 38.1% |
| Chemistry | 45.3% |
| Earth Science | 42.7% |
| Physics | 44.5% |
Submitted by Utah State Office of Education
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