How English language students impact state letter grades for Arizona schools

PHOENIX — State education officials are taking a closer look at the impact of English language (EL) learners on A-F letter grades for schools across Arizona.

The Arizona State Board of Education’s review follows the release of the 2025 letter grades in November. The grades are based on multiple categories, including proficiency and graduation, but EL students account for 10% of the grade, whether the school has 10 EL students or 400.

According to officials, this means that even if one student has a different outcome, it could shift the school’s results by a significant amount.

“What would happen if we took away one student who was proficient?… And what you see is that one in four schools would experience a swing in their letter grade of at least a point and a fairly significant amount are going to exceed two and three-point changes,” Sean Smith, the chief accountability officer of the Arizona Department of Education, said during a Nov. 14 meeting.

Why English language learners weigh heavily in Arizona schools’ letter grades

An English language student is one who does not have English as their first or most-spoken language and has not reached proficiency on the EL placement exam. They are placed in EL courses until they reach proficiency and can be moved to a regular classroom.

There were 116,589 EL students in the 2024-25 school year, of whom 12% gained proficiency by the end of the year, according to ADE.

EL students’ impact is mostly positive, as 87% of schools would see a decrease in letter grade percentage if EL students were not contributing to the data. Currently, 36% of schools get an “A” in EL, but only 7% get an “A” in proficiency, according to ADE.

Smith said the reason EL students weigh so heavily in the letter-grade system is to ensure that every student is getting the education they need.

“It can be a big part of the puzzle that often times is based on the results of just a few students in many schools,” he said. “These issues in particular come to the forefront because of those dynamics. We have a lot of schools with a small population and it’s a big chunk of the grade proportionally.”

Funding for this journalism is made possible by the Arizona Local News Foundation.

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