Arizona considers overhaul of A-F school grading system

By Stacy Mantle
Mail

Arizona parents could soon see a different kind of school report card as state education leaders consider significant changes to the state's A-F accountability system.

It's a move supporters say will make letter grades better reflect student achievement while providing a clearer picture of school performance.

The proposed changes come after a performance audit by the Arizona Auditor General found the current accountability system often awards high grades to schools where relatively few students are proficient in reading and math.

Auditors concluded the system's emphasis on student growth and bonus points can make it difficult for parents to determine how well students are performing academically.

The Arizona State Board of Education is reviewing the accountability model, while Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne said his department had begun work to improve the system before the audit was released.

"We appreciate the auditors' recognition of the extensive work ADE has done," Horne said in the department's official response to the audit. "My staff and I are grateful for the opportunity to collaborate ... on ways to enhance accountability measures for Arizona schools."

In the department's written response, Horne added that when he took office in 2023, he identified shortcomings in the accountability system and directed staff to begin developing changes well before the Auditor General's review.

Why the system is changing

Arizona's A-F accountability system measures schools using multiple indicators, including student proficiency, academic growth, English learner progress, graduation rates and college and career readiness.

According to the audit, however, the current formula places enough weight on student growth and bonus points that schools can receive an A or B even when student proficiency remains below statewide averages.

During the 2024-25 school year, nearly 78% of Arizona traditional public schools received an A or B.

The Auditor General concluded the current grading scale may not provide parents with an accurate understanding of overall academic performance.

What could change

The recommendations include:

• Raising the number of points required to earn an A or B.
• Eliminating or reducing bonus points that can increase a school's overall grade.
• Revising academic growth calculations so they better reflect progress toward proficiency.
• Providing letter grades for individual performance categories, allowing parents to see where schools excel and where improvement is needed.
• Updating descriptions of each letter grade so they better match what families expect an A, B, C, D or F to represent.

If implemented, fewer schools would receive the state's highest grades, even if student performance remained unchanged.

Board says review underway

The Arizona Board of Education greed many of the recommendations align with work already in progress.

"The Board ... is receptive to the formal recommendations made in the report, as they align with the Board's current extensive, transparent, and methodical revision of the A-F School Accountability System begun over a year ago," board officials wrote in their response to the audit.

Board members have directed technical advisory committees to examine portions of the model, including graduation-rate calculations and other indicators. Additional recommendations are expected to come before the board during future meetings.

What it means for parents

The proposed changes would not immediately affect student learning or school funding, but they could change how schools are evaluated.

A school that currently earns an A could receive a B under revised grading standards, even if student performance remained the same. Likewise, schools may receive more detailed information showing strengths in areas such as academic growth while highlighting weaknesses in student proficiency.

Whether Arizona adopts the recommendations will depend on future action by the Arizona Board of Education following additional public discussion and technical review.

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. 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.