PHOENIX — Each spring Arizona students from 3rd to 8th grade take state assessments in Math and English Language Arts. Many 11th graders take the ACT for these same subjects.
The data shows a slight improvement across the board in the number of students passing mathematics with 34% last school year compared to 33% in 2022. This still means only a third of students in Arizona passed the math assessment.
There were no changes year over year in ELA, with a 40% pass rate in both 2022 and 2023.
The data by grade level shows the share of passing students in Math consistently falls from 3rd through 8th grade, from 43% to 27%. ELA assessments by grade level are more varied with the highest pass rate occurring in 4th graders, 45%, and the lowest, 37%, happening in 5th and 8th graders.
The number of students passing assessments in the state’s charter schools is higher in both subjects. District schools were the ones showing improvement, a point higher in both math and ELA.
Charter school pass rates by grade suffer a steeper decline than district schools. In Math, 49% of 3rd graders passed the assessment. By the 11th grade ACT, however, that number falls to 28%.
District schools have a lower starting point with 41% of 3rd graders passing. Math assessments fall to 26% by 8th grade, but more 11th-grade students pass their ACT math assessment than their charter school peers.
The pattern remains the same with English Language Arts, which includes both reading and writing skills. Charter schools have a higher pass rate than district schools in 3rd grade but by 11th grade, they are slightly surpassed by district students.
BREAKING DOWN THE DATA BY COUNTY
The share of students passing state assessments varies by which county they live in.
In both Math and English Language Arts Maricopa County has the highest share of passing students; 36% in math and 43% in ELA. Both numbers are higher than the state’s overall pass rates.
Other counties with moderately high pass rates include Greenlee, Yavapai, and Pima counties. The counties with the lowest pass rates are La Paz, Gila, and Apache.
There is a very strong correlation between Math and ELA pass rates in every county. They divide into three clusters with La Paz, Gila, and Apache having similar, but low, pass rates.
Medium-sized counties in both northern and southern Arizona make up the largest cluster. Central counties like Maricopa and Yavapai are at the top.
PASS RATES BY ETHNICITY
On a statewide level, Asian students had the highest pass rate, 70% for both ELA and Math. This is followed by White, Pacific Islander, Hispanic, Black, and Native American. The pass rate for Black students improved the most from the 2021-22 school year. A rise of three percentage points.
All tracked ethnicities followed the same pattern of a decline in pass rates by grade progression. Asian students had the highest starting score in 3rd grade as well as the smallest drop. Pass rates declined 11% by eighth grade. Hispanic, Black, and Native American pass rates declined by half when comparing third graders to eighth graders.
Public School Districts
Assessment pass rates vary greatly in Arizona’s more than 200 public school districts. In Math, the highest pass rate was 60%, and the lowest was 6%.
At least one school district in three of Arizona’s counties; Pima, Maricopa, and Apache, had Math pass rates at or near 60%. Three counties, Pinal, Coconino, and La Paz had no district with pass rates above the state’s overall rate of 34%.
The district with the lowest Math assessment pass rate of 6% is Navajo County. Maricopa County had at least one district with a 9% Math pass rate. Every county except La Paz, Graham, and Greenlee, three of the state’s least populous counties, had at least one district with a Math pass rate below 20%.
Individually, school districts in Pima County generally had higher pass rates than other counties. Maricopa’s Math pass rate is higher because of a handful of large, high-performing districts. More rural school districts in rural counties had pass rates similar to Maricopa County.
The Valley schools with the highest pass rates in Mathematics and English Language Arts are all large, suburban unified school districts.
English Language Arts
1. 61% - Scottsdale Unified
2. 59% - Cave Creek Unified
3. 59% - Chandler Unified
4. 59% - Higley Unified
5. 56% - Deer Valley Unified
6. 56% - Gilbert Unified
Mathematics
1. 58% - Cave Creek Unified
2. 58% - Higley Unified
3. 57% - Scottsdale Unified
4. 52% - Chandler Unified
5. 52% - Deer Valley Unified
On the other end Valley districts with the lowest math assessment pass rates are mostly elementary school districts located close to downtown and have high Hispanic populations.
English Language Arts
- 16% - Balsz Elementary School District
- 17% - Creighton Elementary School District
- 17% - Wilson Elementary School District
- 18% - Isaac Elementary School District
- 19% - Phoenix Union High School District
- 19% - Union Elementary School District
Mathematics
- 9% - Balsz Elementary School District
- 11% Murphy Elementary School District
- 12% - Creighton Elementary School District
- 12% - Fowler Elementary School District
- 12% - Union Elementary School District
- 13% - Phoenix Union High School District
Districts with the most improvement between the 2021-22 and 2022-23 school year.
English Language Arts
1. 34% (+13) - Buckeye Union High School District
2. 54% (+6) - Tempe Union High School District
3. 18% (+4) - Isaac Elementary School District
4. 19% (+4) – Phoenix Union High School District
5. 29% (+4) – Saddle Mountain Unified School District
Mathematics
1. 32% (+9) – Buckeye Union High School District
2. 31% (+6) – Palo Verde Elementary School District
3. 21% (+5) – Alhambra Elementary School District
4. 22% (+4) – Tolleson Elementary School District
HOW DID YOUR SCHOOL DO ON LAST YEAR’S STATE ASSESSMENTS?
Previously ABC 15 performed a deep dive on last school year’s state assessment results by county and district. Find it here.
Most of Arizona’s schools have state assessment pass rates lower than the state’s overall numbers. In English Language Arts, about 58% of elementary schools and 55% of high schools performed below the statewide ELA pass rate of 40%. The same share of elementary schools performed under the state’s Math pass rate of 34%, but more high schools fared worse. Sixty-three percent of high schools in the state had pass rates below 34%.
SCHOOLS WITH THE BEST MATH AND ELA PASS RATES
For elementary schools, all but two of the top performers are in the Valley. Chandler Traditional Academy – Independence topped the list with a combined ELA and Math average pass rate of 85%. Following it were Franklin Brimhall in Mesa, Fireside Elementary in Paradise Valley, Senita Valley Elementary in Vail, Desert Trails in Paradise Valley, and Neely Traditional Academy in Gilbert.
The list of high schools with the top combined average pass rating is dominated by BASIS charter schools. BASIS Chandler was ranked number one with an average of 88% of passing Math and ELA. Arizona College Preparatory High School in Chandler came in second at 87% in Math and is the only district high school to rate above 80%.
SCHOOLS WITH THE LOWEST MATH AND ELA PASS RATES
Overall, middle schools did not fare well on state assessments. Of the five lowest-performing schools, three of them are dedicated middle schools. Casa Grande Middle School had the lowest combined pass rate of 7%. Other elementary/middle schools with the lowest rates include Granada Elementary, Desert Sands Academy, Santa Maria Middle School, and Palomino Intermediate School.
Four of the five high schools with the lowest combined average pass ratings are in the Phoenix Union High School district. Central had the lowest rate of 12% followed by Trevor Browne, Camelback, San Luis in Yuma, and North High School.
CHARTER SCHOOLS TEND TO HAVE HIGHER ASSESSMENT PASS RATES
Arizona’s charter schools generally had higher pass ratings than their district peers. The gap was more pronounced between district and charter public high schools with most charter schools reporting a math assessment score above the state’s 34% total.
A major outlier for charter schools was four large online schools, Arizona Virtual Academy, Primavera, Sequoia Choice Distance Learning, and Arizona Connections Academy. These schools collectively tested more than 7,000 students had had some of the lowest assessment pass ratings in the state.
ABC15 reached out to Arizona Virtual Academy and Primavera for comment but has not heard back.
See how your school did on the 2022-23 state assessment tests below.
