New Utah education audit shows performance gap for English language learners

SALT LAKE CITY — Members of the Utah Legislature’s Education Interim Committee heard today that English language learners are more likely than their peers to perform poorly on statewide tests. 

Nicole Luscher, performance auditor with the Office of the Legislative Auditor General, presented the audit to lawmakers Wednesday morning, and announced a new online dashboard where the public can examine performance gaps in K-12 schools for themselves. 

Closing the gap for English language learners 

Luscher said the learning gap for English language learners in Utah exists regardless of whether the students attend traditional public schools or a charter school. 

“They are of particular concern, since this gap or the spread between those who traditionally underperform and those who do not underperform is about 35%,” Luscher said. 

Minority student groups and those considered economically disadvantaged also lagged behind their peers, though English language learners experienced the biggest gap in Utah, according to the audit. 

The audit recommended providing school districts with timely data to help them quickly intervene and close performance gaps.

Auditors shared their full audit here, as well as the slides they used to talk through the findings with lawmakers, here. The new dashboard for performance gaps by district or charter school can be found here. 

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