Arizona State Board of Education releases school letter grades for 2022-23. How to check your school
The Arizona State Board of Education has released preliminary school letter grades for the 2022-23 school year.
A majority of Arizona's public schools received A's or B's. About 34% received A's, while 15 schools — less than 1% — received F's. About 40% of schools received B's.
In the Avondale Elementary School District, Michael Anderson School received its first-ever "A" grade. The school has come within one-half of one percentage point from the "A" cutoff in previous years, according to Superintendent Betsy Hargrove.
"They were not discouraged," Hargrove said in a statement. "Rather, they worked harder and made incremental improvements each year."
Lori Goslar, the principal of Michael Anderson, praised the school's staff.
"We are grateful ... for their diligence and comprehensive focus in building relationships, supporting the steady academic growth along with the social and emotional well-being of our students," Goslar said in a statement.
The letter grades are released annually as an indicator of school performance, with schools receiving "A" grades described as excellent, "B" schools described as highly performing, "C" schools described as adequately performing, "D" schools described as minimally performing and "F" schools described as failing, according to the board.
Federal law requires states to measure school performance. The A-F letter grading system is mandated by Arizona law.
What do school letter grades measure?
The grades measure five factors: student growth from year to year, proficiency on statewide assessments, English language proficiency and growth, preparedness for high school among elementary students, preparedness for post-secondary settings among high school students, and high school graduation rates.
Those measures are submitted to the Arizona Department of Education, and the State Board of Education sets "cut scores" — the number of points required for each letter grade.
Are these school letter grades final?
The grades released on Friday are not yet set in stone. Schools can appeal their grades until Nov. 15.
Appeals can be made based on factors including incorrect data, adverse testing conditions, and school or community emergencies, according to the board. The board plans to make decisions on appeals during its Dec. 4 meeting.
What's new this year with school letter grades?
Because a statewide assessment used to measure high school achievement was recently replaced, for the 2022-23 school year, individual student growth could not be calculated, according to the board.
Instead of individual student growth, the improvement of student subgroups was used. That measure took into account proficiency, graduation rates and dropout rates and accounted for 20% of a high school's letter grade.
The board plans to return to using a growth metric for the 2023-24 high school letter grades.
Proficiency and graduation rates: Phoenix-area school boards are shifting focus toward student outcomes
Which schools received F's?
Fifteen schools received F's, described by the State Board of Education as having systematic failures in proficiency, growth and graduation rates and performance in the bottom 5% of Arizona schools.
Nine of the schools that received F's were alternative schools, defined by the Arizona Department of Education as schools with the sole and clearly stated mission "to serve specific populations of at-risk students."
The remaining schools that received F's were a charter school in Maricopa County that specializes in serving autistic students, a high school in Maricopa County in the Gila Bend Unified School District, a high school in Gila County in the San Carlos Unified District, an elementary school in Apache County in the Red Mesa Unified District, an elementary school in Mohave County in Valentine Elementary School District and STAR Charter School in Flagstaff. STAR Charter School did not offer a writing test in the spring because of personnel issues, according to a school official who spoke at the October meeting of the State Board for Charter Schools.
Where can I find a school's letter grade?
The board notes that while letter grades are "important considerations" for parents when selecting a school, they're not the only indicators of a school's performance. Things like school programs and extracurriculars, as well as school characteristics like size, should also be considered, according to the board. Additional information about schools can be found at https://azreportcards.azed.gov/.
Letter grades can be found at https://azsbe.az.gov/parents/a-f-school-letter-grades.
Madeleine Parrish covers K-12 education. Reach her at mparrish@arizonarepublic.com and follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter: @maddieparrish61.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona school letter grades released for 2022-23. Check your school
