AIMS Results Show Diverse Outcomes In Ethnic Groups

As of May of last year the district had 2,007 students enrolled. The report provided the Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS) results of the 1,051 students in the third through 10th grades. Of that total, 64 percent were Native American, 21 percent, white; 12 percent, Hispanic; and two percent, black.

The AIMS results showed that in 2014, 762 of the 976 students who took the reading portion of the assessment passed. This equates to an 81 percent passing rate, which is up nine percent from the previous year. This exceeded both the state passing average of 77 percent and Navajo County’s average of 69 percent.

In the report, the different ethnic groups were divided, with their test results noted under categories labeled as Exceeding, Meeting, Approaching or Falling Far Below the standard. While the percentage of students who met the standards were similar for all ethnic groups taking the reading assessment, white, black and Hispanic students exceeded the standards at a greater rate than the Native American students, with both Native American and Hispanic students rated similarly in the Falls Far Below category.

In the math assessment, 590 out of the 989 who took the test passed. This equates to a 60 percent passing rate, up four percent from the previous year, and was slightly below the state average of 63 percent and higher than the county average of 56 percent.

The percentage of students who met the standards in each ethnic group was similar, with white and black students exceeding the standards at a greater rate. Native American, black and Hispanic students all rated similarly in the Falls Far Below category of the math assessment.

The science portion of the AIMS is only given to fourth, eighth and ninth graders, and 182 out of 392 students who took the assessment passed. That equates to a 46 percent passing rate, up 13 percent from the previous year, but still below both the state and county averages of 55 percent. Koerperich noted that this is an area of emphasis during this year.

The percentage of white and black students who passed the AIMS science assessment was considerably higher than the Hispanic and Native American groups, with white students exceeding the standards at a much higher rate. Native American students had a much higher rate of Falls Far Below scores than the other ethnic groups.

In the AIMS writing assessment, provided only to fifth, sixth, seventh and 10th graders, 301 of the 615 students who took the test passed. This equates to a 49 percent passing rate, up six percent from the previous year, but below the state average of 57 percent and the county average of 53 percent.

In the writing assessment, the percentage of white and Hispanic students who passed was similar. Black and Native American student performances were lower, but not significantly, though they did have a much higher rate of Falls Far Below than the other ethnic groups.

According to Koerperich, the report shows that the Native American population is the largest group served by the district and is the overall lowest performing group. A comparison was done against other schools that have predominately Native students with a similar ethnic, socioeconomic and geographic diversity to Holbrook to determine if the outcomes were similar.

Using AIMS data from 10 area schools that are located on the Navajo Nation or in a border town, the data showed the effectiveness of the Holbrook district’s instruction programs and services. The district outperformed all the others except for one, and that exception was only in the area of science.

In math, the Holbrook district showed 60 percent of students passing the test, with the next highest comparison at 57 percent. In reading, the district had 77 percent passing, with the next highest at 75 percent. In science, the district had 45 percent passing, with the highest at 64 percent, one equal and the others lower. In writing, the district was equal to one other, with the others falling below.