By Claire Newfeld
Every public school and school district in Arizona is evaluated for the A-F Letter Grade Accountability System and receives a score of A-F based on the abilities of the students in reading, language arts, and mathematics. To assign these scores, the Arizona Department of Education evaluates schools’ AIMS Scores (among other factors) and compares them to other schools around the state. The system, according to the Arizona Department of Education website, is “designed to place equal value on current year achievement and longitudinal academic growth, specifically the growth of all students as well as a school’s lowest achieving students.”
Tempe Prep has been a highly reputable school since its inception. With highly-motivated students, an outstanding curriculum that spawned the Great Hearts school system, and passionate educators, Tempe Preparatory Academy has received A’s every year for its entire 18-year existence. However, after two consecutive years of receiving A’s, the relatively new Tempe Preparatory Junior Academy received a B score for the 2013-14 academic school year. This resulted from the sixth grade receiving a C grade, while eighth graders performed consistently with the high school students and earned an A, which averaged to an overall B grade for the junior high. The root of the issue, according to the score report, is the math scores.
Dr. David Baum, new headmaster, knows that this assessment is not consistent with the school’s abilities. He says that the score “has got to become an A, because that’s an accurate representation of what we are.” He has already begun to institute his plans to remedy this issue. He plans to target sixth grade math education specifically, by using tests at the beginning of the year to discern which students need a bit of extra help and developing an extensive math tutoring program to address students’ shortcomings. The school will then use various assessments throughout the year to monitor student progress.
What contributed to the B grade TPJA received? Dr. Baum explains: “We have a surprise package every sixth grade … if their preparation isn’t what we’d like it to be, they probably won’t be able to perform on standardized tests.” As the eighth grade received an A, TPJA is obviously doing its job to prepare students for high school.
“We’ve taken a long view,” says Dr. Baum, “but we haven’t taken it seriously from Day 1.” The new math programs he plans to institute will hopefully boost sixth grade math levels up to par with Tempe Prep. Of course, both TPA and TPJA are still incredible institutions academically, athletically, and in so many more ways that the Department of Education can’t slap a score on.