If an eight-year-old child fails Arizona’s reading test on April 7, Arizona law requires that child to repeat third grade[i]. If 2014 AIMS results are consistent with 2013, then up to four percent of our third grade students will be retained, according to the Arizona Department of Education[ii]. That means about 3,359 children will be told before their ninth birthday that they cannot move on to fourth grade with their friends and peers.
So as a parent or governing board member, how many students in your school are affected? Here are questions to ask:
Parents should be asking the school’s administration:
- Is my child on track to pass the AIMS test this year?
- If not, what interventions are you trying and how do you know they are working?
- What can I do at home to help?
Governing boards and concerned community members should be asking the administration:
- How many students are at risk for failure?
- How many are eligible for “good cause” exemptions?
- How do these data vary by school in our district?
- Which students are most at risk?
- What are we doing to prevent this? How do we know it is working?
- How are we working with parents to communicate this information and support their children?
- What can I do to help?
[i] http://www.azleg.gov/ars/15/00701.htm
[ii] http://www.azed.gov/research-evaluation/aims-assessment-results/
[ii] http://www.azed.gov/research-evaluation/aims-assessment-results/
