A new report from the Utah State Board of Education shows students are beginning to recover from the effects of the pandemic.
State Superintendent Sydnee Dickson said the academic impact of COVID-19 was not as bad as many feared and teachers and students are on the road to recovery. However, it’s clear there’s still work to do.
The new report, that measures the 2021-22 school year, shows K-8 students are doing better in English, math, and science.
The news is not all good. Only 41% of 9th graders are proficient in reading, down from 48% in 2019. And in high schools statewide, scores for math stayed roughly the same, while English and science declined.
It appears fewer students are actually going to school. Attendance among Utah students in grades 9-12 is reported at about 75%, which is a steep fall from 91% in pre-COVID 2019.
The state school board advised against looking too deeply into the 2020-21 numbers, due to the impacts of the pandemic.
All schools in Park City, North Summit, and South Summit school districts received an A or B grade, outside of Ecker Hill Middle School and South Summit Elementary, which were given Cs.
Grades were more mixed in the Wasatch County School District. Four of nine schools received a C: Heber Valley Elementary, J.R. Smith Elementary, Rocky Mountain Middle, and Wasatch Learning Academy
The other five schools in the county were either rated A or B.
Park City High School’s graduation rate increased to 94% from 90% in 2019. In the same time frame, Wasatch High’s graduation rate decreased slightly to roughly 90%.
Utah’s average ACT declined from 20.6 to 19.9. That’s just above the national average of 19.8.
The state pays for all high school juniors to take the exam, and last year the number of students taking the test statewide increased by more than 8%.
Among states with at least 90% of students taking the ACT, Utah had the highest average composite score and the highest percentage of students meeting college benchmarks.
ACT only releases statewide data.
A link to grades for every public K-12 school and charter in the state can be found here.
