Arizona students catch a break with end of AIMS

Schools were already prepared to wind down their relationship with the Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards.

So the only surprise about Friday’s legislative break-up with AIMS was the timing.

Maricopa Unified School District Superintendent Steve Chestnut said they expected the end of AIMS as a graduation requirement to come at the end of next year. Instead, it was immediate.

With Gov. Doug Ducey out of state, Secretary of State Michele Reagan signed Senate Bill 1191 into law removing the requirement to pass AIMS to graduate. Juniors and seniors were scheduled to take “make-up” tests this week across the state.

“I’m sure it’s a great relief to those students who had to do the make-ups,” Chestnut said.

Students who want to take AIMS for scholarship eligibility can still do so this week. AIMS as a graduation requirement was scheduled to end in December 2016.

Arizona students previously had to pass reading, writing and mathematics sections of AIMS to get a diploma.

"I hope this decision relieves much of the stress that parents and their children face when a high-stakes test determines whether or not a student can graduate from high school,” State Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas stated in a release. “High academic standards and tests that provide information and accountability are very important, but placing all the responsibility and stress on individual students for the success of our educational system is unfair."

Schools are still preparing for the new AzMERIT testing this spring.

“But the way the law is written, that won’t be a requirement for graduation either, so it’s a big change,” Chestnut said. “Beginning with this class, it’s not a requirement for graduation.”

***ADVERTISEMENT***AzMERIT was adopted as an assessment tool in November.

“People were pretty much geared up to the fact that this change was coming,” Chestnut said.

Though AzMERIT is not a state-mandated graduation requirement, individual school districts can create their own requirements related to AzMERIT, according to the Arizona Department of Education.