The state officially releases the results of its student assessment test — Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards — today.
Here's an overview of the results. The big takeaway
Student achievement inched upward, but bragging rights would be out of line. "Static" would be the operative word for high school.
Statewide, 58 percent of high schoolers were proficient in math, down 2 percentage points from 2008. Reading was roughly on par with the previous year, with 67 percent passing. Writing, too, was steady at 64 percent.
Third-graders saw a slight bump.
Statewide, 73 percent passed math, up 2 percentage points from last year. Reading climbed 4 percentage points, to 72 percent proficient. Writing was up 3 percentage points, to 79 percent.
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Eighth-grade scores also were nudging upward.
Statewide, math and reading scores both went up 2 percentage points from the previous year, at 63 percent and 69 percent, respectively. Science was up 6 percentage points, to 56 percent. And writing was up 10 percentage points.
Still, those numbers aren't really where they need to be when you consider that under federal requirements, 100 percent of students should be proficient by the 2013-14 school year. Chitchat
Tom Horne, state schools chief: "There's been a steady trend up in the scores, even after we stopped changing the standards in 2005. That's a sign that teachers are doing a better job teaching and kids are doing a better job studying. We hope to get to 100 percent proficiency, but it won't happen overnight. At least we're moving in the right direction."
John Wright, president of the state teachers union, the Arizona Education Association: "You won't find any teacher who is going to be satisfied that we've done everything we need to do. We can take some pride that there was incremental progress, but we're still far way from where we need to be."
Robert Medler, government affairs manager, Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce: "It's a positive step to see the younger students starting to do better on this assessment, but I don't think anyone can be satisfied with two-thirds of high school kids passing reading. It's time to expect more out of everyone — not just from teachers but from coaches and students and parents, too." Trends
• Writing. While reading and math showed the most modest of gains, writing scores swooped up 11 percentage points, with 80 percent of students meeting or exceeding the standard.
But take those out-of-the-norm leaps with a grain of salt.
Last year, writing scores plummeted across nearly every grade level, including a jaw-dropping 17 percentage points for seventh-graders and a 9 percent dip for fourth-graders.
Observers said such swings likely have more to do with the subjective nature of scoring essays than an actual measure of students' writing skills.
Horne said the state is working to cut down on the fluctuations by having more graders look at every paper.
• Science. The scores are so bad that it's a relief for many that passage of the test isn't expected to become a high school graduation requirement, as the reading, writing and math sections are.
Statewide, only 39 percent passed the science portion — by far the weakest showing among subjects.
Keep in mind it's still new. The first statewide science tests were administered in April 2008, so this is only the second time students saw the test.
• Dual principals were implemented in some of the Tucson Unified School District's smaller elementary schools to save money, but some of those campuses are showing dips in performance. Counting just reading and math scores, Van Horne dropped 28 percentage points. Manzo dropped 8 over last year. Sewell lost six percentage points, Holladay 5, and Jefferson Park scooted down 3.
It wasn't universal, though. Wrightstown, for example, increased by 15 percentage points. The district already is moving to eliminate dual principals in most schools. How did TUSD schools fare?
As a whole, TUSD lagged a couple of digits behind statewide figures, but like the state, gains were slight.
Among its third-graders, 66 percent passed math, 67 percent passed reading and 81 percent passed writing.
Among its eighth-graders, 53 percent passed math, 60 percent passed reading, 85 percent passed writing and 47 percent passed science.
Among its entire high school body, 54 percent passed math, 61 percent passed reading, 62 percent passed writing and 33 percent passed science. Who were among the big winners locally?
Three of the top gainers in achievement in TUSD were all underperforming elementary schools last year — which indicates schools are doing better using testing data to plug gaps.
Maldonado, Robison and Menlo Park were all underperforming last year.
Taking reading and math gains into account, Maldonado moved the bar 29 percentage points, with Robison at 27 percent and Menlo Park at 25 percent.
And there's even less obvious good news. Not only are more kids passing, but those who aren't are still getting closer. Among third-graders at Maldonado, for example, 24 percent fell far below the math standard last year. This year, that moved to 10 percent.
Mary Mercado, the second-year principal of Maldonado, said teachers set high goals. "I remember telling our staff that if schools on the east side could be excelling, there was no reason Maldonado couldn't be. At the forefront, we all had to believe the students could do it."
Data crunchers in the district pored over weaknesses with principals, giving them information not only on which performance objectives students collectively were missing, but also which students needed help to move scores up.
If third-graders foundered, fourth-grade teachers needed to have a plan to make up those deficits. And those third-grade teachers needed assistance to cut short the cycle.
Robison Principal Robert Pitts said the school put an all-out focus on math, which resulted in an upward swing of 15 percentage points.
The school also focused on building vocabulary of its English learners, who make up 25 percent of the school.
And it focused on making progress in kindergarten through second grade, even though the AIMS test doesn't kick in until third grade. "What we know is that for students who are behind a grade level in third grade, it's much harder to make up that difference in successive years." How did some of TUSD's other struggling schools do?
There are indications there may be some good news, particularly for some challenged middle schools, at the end of the month when labels come out for schools.
Naylor, which is in failing status, made an 11 percent improvement in math — to 52 percent — and a 6 percent increase in reading, to 45 percent.
Hohokam, a failing school that is likewise getting a new principal, had mixed results, nudging some scores up, but not enough to change what's still very low achievement. About 39 percent of its students passed their math tests, while 48 percent passed reading.
Valencia, underperforming two years in a row, moved the needle a tiny bit, up 5 percentage points in math, to 43 percent. Reading was steady at 51 percent.
Meanwhile, Lawrence Intermediate School, which moved out of failing status in 2008 under a new principal, continued to progress, upping its reading and math scores by 11 percentage points among third- through fifth-graders. Which TUSD high school has the best results?
If you factor out University High School, which has an entrance exam and which had 100 percent passing rates in math, reading and writing, Sabino High School, on the far east side, comes out on top. Among its students, 85 percent passed math and writing, 90 percent passed reading and 54 percent passed science.
The only other TUSD high school to beat the state average was Sahuaro, where 75 percent of students passed math, 82 percent passed reading, 83 percent passed writing, and 55 percent passed science.
Pueblo Magnet High School had the most dubious record, with 46 percent of students passing math, 47 percent reading, 48 percent writing and 15 percent science. It was followed closely by Catalina High Magnet School and Cholla High Magnet School. How did other districts rate?
Calvin Baker, superintendent of the Vail School District, said AIMS scores shouldn't be the only criteria for judging a school.
"But certainly, if a school's scores are well above the state average, something good is happening there," he said.
Here's how high school students fared in area districts:
• Amphitheater Public Schools: 67 percent passed math, 77 percent passed reading, 74 percent passed writing and 49 percent passed science.
• Flowing Wells Unified School District: 70 percent passed math and reading, 73 percent passed writing, and 34 percent passed science.
• Marana Unified School District: 69 percent passed math, 76 percent passed reading, 74 percent passed writing, and 42 percent passed science.
• Sunnyside Unified School District: 42 percent passed math, 50 percent passed reading, 54 percent passed writing, and 21 percent passed science.
• Catalina Foothills School District: 90 percent passed math, 94 percent passed reading, 92 percent passed writing, and 79 percent passed science.
• Vail School District: 79 percent passed math, 86 percent passed reading, 80 percent passed writing, and 59 percent passed science.
• Sahuarita Unified Schools: 65 percent passed math, 71 percent passed reading, 71 percent passed writing, and 41 percent passed science.
• Tanque Verde Unified School District: 77 percent passed math, 91 percent passed reading, 84 percent passed writing, and 45 percent passed science.
What's Next?
School labels (excelling, underperforming, etc.) are expected to come out toward the end of the month. AIMS scores are one factor, but other variables also are taken into account, such as the reclassification rate for English learners, dropout rates and how much progress a student makes in a year.
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