For the second year, the majority of Arizona students failed the AzMERIT
Jun 27, 2016, 5:55 PM | Updated: Jun 28, 2016, 11:15 am

PHOENIX — For the second year, the majority of Arizona students failed the AzMERIT, Arizona’s statewide test on English and Mathematics proficiency.
AzMERIT, short for Arizona’s Measurement of Educational Readiness to Inform Teaching, measures the state’s new teaching standards, commonly known as Common Core. The test was first administered in 2015 to public school students grades three through high school.
More than 60 percent of students in those grade levels failed, according to preliminary results released by the Arizona Department of Education Monday.
“The good news is that we’re seeing slight improvements across almost every grade in Math, except in grade-eight,” said Erin Hart, COO of Expect More Arizona.
In Language Arts, 54 percent of Arizona 10th graders were graded minimally proficient, according to the results. That’s worse than last year when 47 percent scored that low.
For 11th graders, 53 percent scored minimally proficient, a slight jump from 2015.
“Overall, students are doing better,” Hart said. “I think this is a testament to the great work our teachers and students are doing. We should really celebrate their progress and see what we can do to help continue that progress.”
For more information on AzMERIT, click here.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
2015-16 AzMERIT Preliminary Passing and Proficiency Rates
Mathematics
Test Level | % Passing | % Minimally Proficient | % Partially Proficient | % Proficient | % Highly Proficient | |||||
2015 | 2016 | 2015 | 2016 | 2015 | 2016 | 2015 | 2016 | 2015 | 2016 | |
Grade 3 | 42 | 46 | 27 | 25 | 31 | 30 | 29 | 29 | 13 | 17 |
Grade 4 | 42 | 44 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 26 | 32 | 34 | 10 | 10 |
Grade 5 | 40 | 46 | 29 | 27 | 31 | 27 | 28 | 31 | 12 | 15 |
Grade 6 | 33 | 39 | 37 | 37 | 30 | 24 | 22 | 24 | 11 | 15 |
Grade 7 | 31 | 32 | 47 | 46 | 22 | 23 | 18 | 22 | 13 | 10 |
Grade 8 | 34 | 26 | 41 | 51 | 25 | 23 | 20 | 17 | 14 | 9 |
Algebra I | 32 | 36 | 45 | 44 | 23 | 20 | 23 | 27 | 9 | 9 |
Geometry | 31 | 34 | 42 | 41 | 27 | 24 | 25 | 27 | 6 | 7 |
Algebra II | 30 | 30 | 46 | 46 | 25 | 25 | 23 | 23 | 7 | 7 |
English Language Arts (ELA)
Test Level | % Passing | % Minimally Proficient | % Partially Proficient | % Proficient | % Highly Proficient | |||||
2015 | 2016 | 2015 | 2016 | 2015 | 2016 | 2015 | 2016 | 2015 | 2016 | |
Grade 3 | 41 | 41 | 43 | 45 | 16 | 14 | 30 | 29 | 11 | 12 |
Grade 4 | 42 | 46 | 41 | 40 | 17 | 14 | 36 | 34 | 6 | 12 |
Grade 5 | 32 | 45 | 36 | 31 | 31 | 23 | 28 | 32 | 4 | 13 |
Grade 6 | 36 | 37 | 39 | 41 | 25 | 22 | 32 | 31 | 4 | 6 |
Grade 7 | 33 | 38 | 42 | 38 | 25 | 21 | 29 | 35 | 5 | 3 |
Grade 8 | 35 | 34 | 39 | 44 | 26 | 23 | 27 | 26 | 8 | 8 |
ELA 9 | 27 | 34 | 44 | 38 | 29 | 28 | 22 | 25 | 5 | 9 |
ELA 10 | 32 | 29 | 47 | 54 | 21 | 17 | 22 | 20 | 10 | 9 |
ELA 11 | 31 | 29 | 51 | 53 | 19 | 17 | 20 | 19 | 11 | 10 |
Tables are from the Arizona Department of Education.