PVSchools students outperform state averages, but achievement gaps remain

By Stacy Mantle
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Paradise Valley Unified School District students outperformed statewide averages in English language arts, mathematics and science on spring 2026 assessments, but district leaders acknowledged continued challenges with student proficiency and English language development.

During an Oct. 22 governing board meeting, Director of Assessment Jessica Harrington presented three years of achievement data showing gradual improvement across several grade levels, including gains in mathematics, literacy and college readiness.

Districtwide proficiency in English language arts for grades three through eight increased from 52% to 54% over three years, while mathematics proficiency rose from 47% to 51%.

Those results placed Paradise Valley students 13 percentage points above the statewide average in English language arts and 14 points above in mathematics.

Third-grade students demonstrated some of the district's strongest results, with 55% proficient in English language arts compared with 39% statewide. In mathematics, 57% of third-graders demonstrated proficiency compared with 37% statewide.

Fourth grade recorded the district's highest English language arts proficiency rate at 60%.

Science results also exceeded statewide averages across all tested grade levels. Fifth-grade science proficiency increased from 42% to 51%, while 11th-grade proficiency rose from 27% to 30%. Eighth-grade science proficiency declined slightly from 39% to 38%.

Harrington said the district is using benchmark assessments, teacher collaboration and targeted interventions to identify students who need additional support.

The district also reported 732 perfect scores across spring assessments, including 592 in mathematics, 130 in English language arts, five in science and five perfect ACT composite scores.

High school performance showed improvement as well.

Ninth-grade mathematics proficiency increased from 35% to 43%, while English proficiency rose from 57% to 64%.

The district's average ACT composite score increased from 19.7 to 19.8, compared with Arizona's average of 17.8.

The percentage of 11th-grade students meeting all reported ACT college readiness benchmarks increased from 24% to 32%.

Achievement gaps remain

Despite those improvements, English language development remains a significant challenge.

The percentage of English learners reaching proficiency on Arizona's English Language Learner Assessment increased from 11.2% to 24.6% in 2026.

However, Harrington cautioned that changes to the state's proficiency cut scores contributed to increases statewide.

Paradise Valley's English learner reclassification rate remains approximately six percentage points below the state average.

English learners represent slightly more than 9% of the district's student population, a percentage that Harrington said continues to grow.

Karen Benson, assistant superintendent of curriculum, instruction and assessment said the district is reviewing evidence-based instructional materials specifically designed to support English learners.

The effort includes collaboration among federal programs staff, school administrators and teachers.

"Ensuring meaningful progress toward reclassification will also require ensuring we have high expectations for our English learners and fostering a shared responsibility for their success," Benson said.

Board members questioned whether the district's progress was sufficient.

Board member Sandra Christensen expressed frustration that proficiency rates remained relatively low despite investments in instructional support.

"To celebrate a low 50% proficiency rate in English, math, and in the 30% in sciences is abysmal," Christensen said.

She questioned whether comparing the district with Arizona averages established sufficiently ambitious expectations.

"Comparing to the state average isn't helpful for me," Christensen said. "I would like to see us compare to some of the excellent states around the United States."

Board member Amanda Lim raised concerns about students whose foundational education was disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly those preparing to enter high school.

Harrington said the district has made substantial progress compared with pre-pandemic achievement levels and continues monitoring students through benchmark assessments administered two or three times annually.

"Historically, eighth grade has been a challenge spot," Harrington said.

However, she said eighth-grade mathematics proficiency has increased for three consecutive years, accompanied by reductions in the percentage of students scoring minimally proficient.

"The instruction is working," Harrington said. "The needle moves slowly when you're looking at the whole district average."

District officials said a newly adopted science curriculum and continued emphasis on classroom instruction and targeted interventions are expected to support additional improvements.

Individual school letter grades and further accountability information are scheduled for presentation during the governing board's Nov. 19 study session.

Editor’s note:   A grant from the Arizona Local News Foundation made this story possible. The foundation awarded 15 newsrooms to pay for solutions-focused education reporters for two years. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.

Stacy Mantle
Education Solutions Reporter

smantle@iniusa.org

Meet Stacy
Stacy Mantle is joining the team at Independent Newsmedia, Inc. as an Education Solutions journalist, thanks to a grant from the Arizona Community Collaborative. She has a long history in education that ranges from teaching junior high and middle school to developing curriculum and standards-based assessments.

Community: A longtime advocate for animal welfare, Stacy is deeply involved in rescue efforts and volunteers with several nonprofit organizations.

Random Fact: Once upon a time, she shared her home with a pet coyote and two wolf hybrids. The experiences were wild enough to become the subject of her first book!

Education: She holds a BA in English with a minor in Political Science, a Post-baccalaureate in Secondary Education, and an MBA with a emphasis on Marketing.

Hobbies: In her spare time, Stacy writes fast-paced urban fantasy novels, crafts small-batch artisan soap, and is always up for hiking or off-roading through the Arizona wilderness with her husband of 23 years.