|
AIMS PASSERS OFTEN GET REMEDIAL AID
Arizona Republic
March 17, 2007
Author: Josh Kelley, The Arizona Republic Estimated printed pages: 3
Nearly all Mesa high school students with the necessary credits to graduate pass
the AIMS test, which is required to earn a diploma, but a large percentage who
go on to Maricopa Community Colleges are taking remedial course work,
particularly in math.
It's an apparent dichotomy that raises the question: What exactly does passing
the AIMS test, or Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards, indicate about a
student?
"That doesn't mean you've done everything you need to succeed in college,"
said Tom Horne, state superintendent of public instruction.
Horne wants to see the difficulty of the test raised, but gradually so students
have time to adjust. He said next school year, about 6 percent of high school
students with enough credits to graduate will likely fail AIMS because state law
will no longer allow them to earn bonus points on the test by making good
grades.
Students begin taking the test as sophomores in high school. Court rulings
require that students have the chance to take the test multiple times if they
fail to meet standards. That's why students are tested as sophomores, so they
have time to retake it as juniors and seniors. But that means the test covers
material taught only through their 10th grade year.
"For a lot of the students, they pass it at the end of 10th grade. They've taken
their two required math courses. They don't take any more math for two and a
half years," said Joe O'Reilly, executive director of student achievement
support for Mesa Public Schools.
Students are required to take two years of math to graduate, although state and
Mesa school officials are considering plans to require at least three years.
Some Arizona districts already require three, and Apache Junction is considering
four.
Instead of focusing on making AIMS tougher, Mesa school board member Cindi Hobbs
would like to see end-of-course testing that gives students immediate feedback
about class performance. Such tests, Hobbs said, could be used in 11th and 12th
grades, long after many sophomores pass AIMS.
Jack Jennings is president of the Center on Education Policy, a national,
independent advocate for public education based in Washington. Jennings said the
high percentage of students taking remedial courses raises the question of
whether AIMS is demanding enough, or simply a minimal competency exam.
And he argues that plans to increase the difficulty of high school exit exams,
as Horne wants to do with AIMS, won't be easy based on what has played out in
other states.
"If the exam is not very demanding and it doesn't require a high level of math,
it's going to be difficult to raise the difficulty of the exam later,"
Jennings said.
If AIMS is to be toughened, he suggests Arizona officials follow the lead of
their counterparts in Massachusetts. The difficulty of its exam is going up
while about $1 billion has been allocated to prepare students. "They twinned
demand with assistance," Jennings said.
CAPTION: Ready for college? - Many 2005 Mesa high school graduates took remedial
courses as freshmen in Maricopa Community Colleges. CAPTION: *
CAPTION: Mountain View High School CAPTION: 2005 graduates enrolled in community
colleges 340 CAPTION: Number taking remedial math* 114 CAPTION:
Number taking remedial English** 17 CAPTION: * CAPTION: Skyline High school
CAPTION: 2005 graduates enrolled in community colleges 193 CAPTION: Number
taking remedial math* 96 CAPTION: Number taking remedial English** 21
CAPTION: * CAPTION: Dobson High School CAPTION: 2005 graduates enrolled in
community colleges 278 CAPTION: Number taking remedial math* 121 CAPTION:
Number taking remedial English** 48 CAPTION: * CAPTION: Mesa High School
CAPTION: 2005 graduates enrolled in community colleges 271 CAPTION: Number
taking remedial math* 101 CAPTION: Number taking remedial English** 34
CAPTION: * CAPTION: Red Mountain High School CAPTION: 2005 graduates enrolled in
community colleges 308 CAPTION: Number taking remedial math* 141
CAPTION: Number taking remedial English** 33 CAPTION: * CAPTION: Westwood High
School CAPTION: 2005 graduates enrolled in community colleges 239
CAPTION: Number taking remedial math* 127 CAPTION: Number taking remedial
English** 52 CAPTION: * CAPTION: *Pre-intermediate algebra and intermediate
algebra, which are below the college algebra level. CAPTION: **Pre-freshman
English CAPTION: Maricopa Community Colleges
Edition: Final Chaser
Section: Mesa Republic West
Page: 6
|