Arizona State Board of Education Approves A-F Accountability System, Lowers Standards For More “A” Schools

On Monday, the Arizona State Board of Education finalized the A-F Accountability System, choosing to lower standards in order to increase the number of “A” schools by approximately 60. Under the new system, schools must can earn as little as 86 percent of the total points possible, in order to earn an “A” letter grade.

Later this week, the Arizona Department of Education will award letter grades to schools based almost solely on students’ performance on the AzMERIT test.

The system quantitatively measures student proficiency and annual growth in key areas, as well as student readiness. Specifically, schools earn letter grades based on a range of  measures including:

• Proficiency in English Language Arts, Math and Science

• Growth in English Language Arts and Math

• Proficiency and Growth of English Language Learners

• Graduation Rate

• Acceleration and Readiness Measures, which consists of several measures including chronic absenteeism and the improved growth of subgroups

• College and Career Readiness Indicators, which include several indicators of a school’s ability to prepare students for college and career including the number of
students passing the ACT or SAT or earning an industry credential, certificate or license.

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