State report gives A's to GPS, Higley
Nov. 4—Gilbert Public Schools and Higley Unified School District have maintained their districts' letter grade of A from the Arizona Department of Education.
The letter grades for the schools cover the 2023-24 school year and measure the performance of each public school, school district and charter across Arizona.
GPS, which has 38 schools serving 32,000 students, saw A grades awarded to 82% of its schools, the rest securing B grades. Many of the districts' schools improved their assessment from the 2022-23 school year, moving up from a C grade.
All but two of Higley Unified's 16 schools earned an "A" with two getting a "B" and the district's online academy handed a "C."
Both Higley and GPS hailed the grades.
GPS Supt. Dr. Shane McCord said, "In Gilbert Public Schools, we appreciate the effort that goes into these assessments and recognize the letter grades as a useful measure of academic progress and achievement."
"Our goal is to deliver opportunities for academic excellence for all students, and I am extremely proud that this year our district has increased scores K-12, with all schools achieving either A or B letter grades and our district being awarded an A letter grade."
HUSD, with 13,500 students under its wing, saw B's for Cooley Middle and Gateway Pointe Elementary schools.
Higley noted in a release that Coronado, Bridges, San Tan, Cortina, Centennial, Chaparral elementary schools and Higley Traditional Academy are all in the top 15% of K-8 schools in the state for total points earned.
Higley and Williams Field high schools are both in the top 25% of traditional 9-12 schools, not including scores from schools that serve grades 7 to 12, the district said.
"This rating acknowledges the teamwork that goes into educating our students and preparing learners for limitless opportunities," Higley Superintendent Sherry Richards said.
"We have exceptional educators at all of our schools, and this speaks to the dedication and commitment of our teachers, administrators and staff, as well as the hard work and effort of our students."
Higley Virtual Academy, however, dropped to a C grade from an A last year.
Marcus Berkshire, Higley's director of Assessment and Student Information explained that the state uses a hybrid model to determine the online academy's grade because it includes K-12 students.
"In 2022-23, our K-8 scores were derived from students in grades 3-6, and, due to the lack of demand, we discontinued enrolling students in those grades for the 2023-24 school year. HVA is a 7-12 program. Those factors could have contributed to the difference between the 2022-23 grade and the 2023-24 grade," he said.
State law requires the Arizona Department of Education, subject to final adoption by the state Board of Education, to develop an annual achievement profile for every public and charter school based on an A-rough F scale.
The system measures year to year student academic growth; proficiency on English language arts, math and science; the proficiency and academic growth of English language learners; indicators that an elementary student is ready for success in high school and that high school students are ready to succeed in a career or higher education and high school graduation rates.
An "A" stands for "excellent" and represents "distinguished performance on the statewide assessment, significant student growth, high four-year graduation rates, students on track to proficiency; overall performance is significantly higher than the state average."
"B" stands for "highly performing" and represents "high performance on statewide assessment and/or significant student growth and/or higher four-year graduation rates and/or moving students to proficiency at a higher rate than the state average."
"C" stands for "performing" and is an indicator of "adequate performance but needs improvement on some indicators, such as proficiency, growth or graduation rate."
In a release, the state board noted that letter grades "are just one component to consider when evaluating a school" and that they "provide general information about the performance of a school."
The Arizona School Report Cards offer additional information, including programs and extracurriculars schools offer, at azreportcards.azed.gov .
"The letter grades measure critical quantitative areas key to students' success in school and career: Mastery of math and language arts and readiness for the next educational level or career," the board said. "These are important considerations when choosing a school, but they are not the only indicators of a school's performance.
"Qualitative measures, which will vary in importance from family to family, should also be considered. Some students thrive in a small school, while others seek the wide range of options a larger school offers.
"If art or music programs are important to a family, they should consider those factors when choosing a school. Parents and families are encouraged to have letter grade conversations with their student's school administrator and staff members."
The board said that 479 K-8 schools scored A's and 525 got B's while C's were handed out to 289 K-8 schools, 62 got D's and five flunked. Among high schools, 112 got A's, 95 B's, 23 got C's and four got D's. None got an F.
Schools can appeal their grade to the Board of Education till Nov. 15, 2024.
