The results of the AzMERIT (Arizona’s Measurement of Educational Readiness to Inform Teaching) assessment are out and they show that more than half of Arizona students have failed the state’s Common Core-based standardized test. Although disappointing by appearance, the Arizona Department of Education notes that this assessment is more rigorous than the AIMS (Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards) assessment, and should not be compared to results of previous years.
With this assessment parents will no longer be seeing whether their children “exceed,” “meet,” “approach” or “fall below” mastering the state’s learning standards. Rather, they will now see whether their children are ”highly proficient,” “proficient,” “partially proficient” or “minimally proficient” in learning Arizona’s math and reading standards.
Each student in third through 12th grades were administered the AzMERIT and while parents should have received their individual child’s results last month, the overall results revealed for the state show that just 34 percent passed the English Language Arts assessment. Of those, 42 percent ranked minimally proficient, 23 percent ranked partially proficient, 28 percent ranked proficient and seven percent ranked highly proficient. In the Math assessment, 35 percent of the students passed. Of those, 38 percent ranked minimally proficient, 27 percent ranked partially proficient, 36 percent ranked proficient and 10 percent ranked highly proficient.
The Snowflake School District beat the state average for overall number of students who passed the assessments, followed by the Joseph City School District, which fell slightly below state average, then the Holbrook and Winslow school districts.
The results show that at Holbrook School District, 20 percent of the students passed the English Language Arts assessment. Of those, 54 percent of those ranked minimally proficient, 25 percent ranked partially proficient, 17 percent ranked as proficient and four percent ranked as highly proficient. In the Math assessment, 25 percent passed the test. Of those, 44 percent ranked minimally proficient, 31 percent ranked partially proficient, 20 percent ranked proficient and five percent ranked highly proficient.
In the Winslow School District, 19 percent passed the English Language Arts assessment. Of those, 56 percent of those ranked minimally proficient, 25 percent ranked partially proficient, 17 percent ranked proficient and two percent ranked highly proficient. In the Math assessment, 22 percent of the students passed the assessment. Of those, 51 percent ranked minimally proficient, 28 percent ranked partially proficient, 18 percent ranked proficient and three percent ranked highly proficient.
In the Joseph City School District, 32 percent of the students passed the English Language Arts assessment. Of those, 42 percent ranked minimally proficient, 26 percent ranked partially proficient, 24 percent ranked proficient and eight percent ranked highly proficient. In the Math assessment, 32 percent passed. Of those, 34 percent ranked minimally proficient, 34 percent ranked partially proficient, 23 percent ranked proficient and nine percent ranked highly proficient.
In the Snowflake School District, 46 percent of the students passed the English Language Arts assessment. Of those, 27 percent ranked minimally proficient, 27 percent ranked partially proficient, 36 percent ranked proficient and 10 percent ranked highly proficient. In the Math assessment, 52 percent passed. Of those, 21 percent ranked minimally proficient, 27 percent ranked partially proficient, 36 percent ranked proficient and 16 percent ranked highly proficient.
Although the outcomes may sound discouraging, they are valuable benchmarks for future outcomes and the beginning of what Holbrook School District Superintendent Robbie Koerperich believes is an exciting new era in education.
He explained that the students will need to adjust to the new rigor, which involves not only choosing the right answer, but validating why it’s correct. “It involves more critical thinking skills. It’s a new environment, so it’s expected that the results will be less than what we’d like at first. We know we’re going to get better,” said Dr. Koerperich, who added that the disadvantage to the AzMERIT at this time is that it really doesn’t provide information on how to adjust concepts, whereas the AIMS test provided more information on where the students need to focus.
The AzMERIT is different from the AIMS in that it is a college career readiness assessment, not a high school graduation assessment, so passing the test is not a requirement for graduation. “About 20 to 30 percent of our students go on from graduation to college, which is similar to our results on the assessment,” he said.
According to Koerperich, the assessment is geared to promote better thinkers with a better knowledge base. “Kids will need to read at a higher, vaster level and have the vocabulary to be able to apply it to higher thinking. They will need to analyze the information and come up with an answer. This means the complexity of learning will have to take place at an earlier age. Instead of the third or fifth grade, concepts will start in kindergarten,” he noted.
Koerperich explained that a heavy emphasis is being placed on pre-school education and parent involvement. “By the age of 5, kids have had their foundation years and we’re just building upon that. Parents need to talk and read to their children at an early age, and teach them at a more worldly level and include the value of being healthy. The complexity of the world is changing and our kids need to be a part of that,” he said.
Like other schools in the area, Holbrook is working with kids as soon as they come into the school system to explore aspirations and the things that are important to them, something Koerperich called the “happiness factor.”
“If kids aren’t taught early on to think about where they want to be, then by the time they’re in the fourth or sixth grade and that concept is introduced, they are set back. Of course those concepts will change over the years, but those patterns of thinking become solidified over time,” he said.
Koerperich emphasized that parents play a key roll in their child’s future planning and their belief in their abilities. He concluded by saying, “We have too many people in our community that have underachieved, but have so much potential. What people have to realize is the free availability of education. We’re not just taking care of kids all day, we’re using our tax dollars to build a society, but it has to be within our system and we need parents to help.”
