Arizona holds schools accountable. Phoenix School District Ratings are rated according to the Arizona LEARNS rating/achievement profiles. These ratings are determined by student performance on the annual AIMS standardized testing. Achievement profile categories include:
Excelling: Grades K-8: 90% of pupils achieved one year of academic progress in all subject areas of the Arizona measure of academic progress and 90 percent passed all subject areas of the AIMS test.
Grades 9-12: 90% of pupils passed all subject areas of the AIMS test the dropout rate is no more than 6 percent and the school’s graduation rate is at least 90 percent.
Highly Performing: Exceeds state performance and state progress goals.
Performing Plus: Informal recognition of schools that have “shown improvement or have sufficient students demonstrating proficiency to earn a Highly Performing or Excelling profile but do not have a sufficient number of students exceeding the standard.”
Performing: Meets state performance goals and needs to meet state progress goals.
Underperforming: Needs to meet state performance and state progress goals.
Failing: Fails to meet academic standards.
Sources: Arizona Department of Education CCSSO District Web sites