Did the 'old fogies' pass high school exam?
After six hours on the hot seat and three weeks to sweat about it, all nine adults who took the Utah Basic Skills Competency Test this past month made the grade.
Many of us couldn't be more relieved. We're worthy of high school diplomas.
"Yay! I passed!" said Davis Superintendent Brian Bowles.
"I can hold my head high," State Associate Superintendent Ray Timothy said.
"I was excited," said Rep. Jim Ferrin, R-Orem. "It was kind of like being in school again and getting a report card."
Utah students, beginning with this year's seniors, have to pass the UBSCT to receive a basic high school diploma. Three test attempts will net an alternative diploma; anything less could bring a certificate of completion.
The idea is to show high school graduates have basic skills in reading, writing and math, the skills a group of employers a few years ago said graduates seriously lacked.
The UBSCT is well known among Utah students, some of whom have taken it three times. But legislators have questioned whether it's too easy, too hard, or really measures basic skills.
Last spring, Ferrin asked to take the test to find out for himself. He challenged colleagues to join him.
Only Ferrin showed from the Capitol crew.
But three superintendents — Timothy at the state level, plus Bowles and South Summit Superintendent Timothy Smith — took the tests. So did State Board of Education Chairman Kim Burningham, American Preparatory Academy charter school's outreach services director Kevin McVicar, and Deseret Morning News reporters Laura Hancock and Jennifer Toomer-Cook and editor Mary Finch.
Educators said they wanted to know what their students are going through.
"I took the test to try and help my kids in the district," Smith said. "It was good that I passed the test, because I can say . . . 'Look, if this old fogy can pass it, you can pass it.' "
We journalists wanted to broaden our understanding of the UBSCT, which we've been writing about since the competency exam requirement hit the lawbooks in 1999. We paid our own way, at $25 per test. We promised to publish our results — we do it for everyone else, so fair is fair.
Most everyone else agreed to divulge their results, too. Smith said he consistently scored in the highest achievement levels possible (there are four categories, minimal and partial, which do not pass, sufficient and substantial), but he wouldn't share his scores.
"I don't think (scores are) that important, anyway," he said. "Comparison — that's not the point."
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