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Arizona's Instrument to Measure
Standards
Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS) is
a Criterion Referenced Test (CRT) designed
to measure each student's progress in learning the Arizona Academic Standards.
The Arizona Academic Standards define what students should know and be
able to demonstrate at various stages of K-12 education.
Purpose
The purpose of AIMS is to measure the academic
achievement of all students throughout the state. AIMS is a state
mandated assessment. All Arizona students take AIMS at grades 3,
5 and 8, and in high school. A student guide for each of these grades,
containing a description of the content and expectations, as well as
sample questions, is sent to each school for dissemination prior
to the spring administration of AIMS and is available at http://www.ade.state.az.us/standards/aims/.
Beginning with the class of 2006, high school students
must "Meet" the content standards in Reading, Mathematics and
Writing in order to receive a diploma. Students in the Scottsdale Unified
Schools must also meet graduation requirements as specified in the High
School Planning guide.
High School students who do not meet or exceed
the standard must retake the tests until the standards in that subject
area are met. Each student will have five opportunities to take
the AIMS. The Arizona Department of Education has created sample
tests and has released some items from previous administrations
of AIMS. These are available at http://www.ade.state.az.us/standards/.
Arizona Academic Standards
The Arizona Academic Standards are clear and concise statements of what
all students are expected to know and be able to do in Reading, Writing
and Mathematics at the various levels: Readiness (Kindergarten), Foundations
(1-3), Essentials (4-8), Proficiency (9-12) and Distinction (9-12). These
standards are listed by content area on the Arizona Department of Education
Web site at http://www.ade.state.az.us/standards/contentstandards.asp
Performance Levels
AIMS scores are reported in terms of one of four performance levels, according
to the student's test performance. The State Board of Education has set
these performance levels as: Falls Far Below the Standard, Approaches
the Standard, Meets the Standard, and Exceeds the Standard. A complete
description of these Performance Level indicators, is available at http://www.ade.state.az.us/standards/AIMS/PerformanceStandards/Default.asp
Performance Level Indicators
The performance level indicators describe how well students demonstrate
the knowledge and skills of the standards based upon their performance
on the AIMS test. These performance level descriptions describe the knowledge
the student demonstrated based upon the performance level achieved by
the students. The performance level descriptors are available at http://www.ade.state.az.us/standards/AIMS/PerformanceStandards/Default.asp
Using AIMS Data
AIMS serves many audiences, each of which will use the information from
the assessment for different purposes. Parents and students need to know
how well the student performed to plan the student's academic needs
and schedule. Teachers use AIMS information for instructional planning.
School and district administrators use AIMS data to judge how well their
curriculum is aligned to the Arizona Academic Standards and where to focus
instructional improvement. The Parent Report for students who took AIMS
provides scale score information as well as performance level indicators.
This information, along with the Performance Level Descriptors, can be
used to determine not only what knowledge and skills the student currently
demonstrates, but also, by looking at the next higher performance level,
what the student needs to know in order to progress to that level.
AIMS Results for Scottsdale
Unified School District
AIMS
Results for the State of Arizona
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