Across all subjects and grade levels, Utah students are not improving, state auditors warned in a new report.
They’re not getting worse, either — at least not at the state level, the new audit found. But overall gains have flatlined as schools struggle to move students from “not proficient” into the “proficient” category on statewide assessments, according to the report from the Legislative Auditor General.
Proficiency levels have largely been stagnant for the last five years, according to auditors, who analyzed “proficiency movement” — the percentage of students who moved from “below proficient” to “proficient” and vice versa — between 2018 and 2023. (Data for the 2019-20 school year was omitted because of COVID-19 disruptions.)
They found that students performing below grade level rarely achieved proficiency.
“Some of this may be explained by recovery efforts from the COVID-19 pandemic; however, these conclusions remain true over time,” the report states.
This means that while the pandemic caused initial learning loss, particularly for the 2020-21 school year, statewide proficiency movement remained similar to years before the pandemic hit.
Specifically, both the 2018-19 and 2022-23 school years saw about a 2% net decrease in the percent change of proficient students compared to the year before.
Auditors called the lack of momentum “problematic.”
“In other words, students who are proficient will likely remain proficient the following year, and students who are not proficient will likely remain not proficient,” the audit stated.
Underserved students most at risk
While overall proficiency movement has stalled, there remains a statewide achievement gap between underperforming student groups and their peers.
Students of color, English language learners and economically disadvantaged students are at a higher risk of falling below proficiency, the audit states, and they frequently need some of the most support.
Auditors raised particular concerns with English language learners, referred to as “multi-language learners” in the report, where there is a proficiency gap of more than 30% in the subject of English language arts.
The report also noted that, over the past five years, three out of four school districts saw more than 10% of their “proficient” students drop to “not proficient.”
The report described this trend as “arguably more concerning” than the stagnation of student groups at the state level, emphasizing the urgent need for increased focus on “underperforming minority student groups.”
This is partly because the extent of these disparities varies widely across school districts, meaning more local intervention is needed.
To help illustrate the difference in these achievement gaps between districts, the Legislative Auditor General developed an interactive dashboard that lets users explore proficiency gaps by district or charter school.
The data can be filtered by underperforming group, assessment, grade level and subject area.
Auditors recommend schools reevaluate intervention strategies
Auditors offered several recommendations, highlighting successful practices from districts that have improved student proficiency and closed gaps.
These districts had dedicated data analysis teams, prioritized funding data analytics software and provided consistent training to staff.
Districts with larger student proficiency gaps cited limited access to data analytics software or a lack of prioritization in funding for such tools. They also used the same intervention methods on all students regardless if the student was part of an at-risk group, the report found.
While the Utah State Board of Education provides individual student scores to schools almost immediately, cleaning and aggregating the data takes time. One school district acknowledged to auditors that they had “built in” this lag time, potentially prolonging targeted interventions.
Auditors recommend that schools regularly collect and analyze proficiency data and reevaluate whether interventions have been effective.
They also recommended that USBE “review the cycle of student assessment data” to determine if the process can be sped up, allowing schools to access the information more quickly.
However, in a Nov. 21 email responding to the audit, State Superintendent Sydnee Dickson wrote that rather than working to expedite the process, which the state has already done, “it would be more prudent for USBE to increase efforts to help educators understand appropriate uses of various assessments to assist in improving outcomes for all students.”
USBE plans to provide more resources and training to school staff by Sept. 1, 2025.
