Assessment and Accountability

Welcome to Assessment and Accountability

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.