Students who cannot pass AIMS tests may qualify for alternate graduation requirements

By Christyl Buckles

Winslow Mail

With the holiday season passing, students are returning to classes and things are getting back on track. From elementary to high school grade levels, students are now focusing on the second semester and everything that will include prom and graduation. This year seniors must pass the AIMS test before graduation, or qualify for alternate requirements.

The senior class of 2006 is the first group to be required to pass the AIMS test in order to graduate. Many students do well on both the reading and writing portion, but when it comes to the math, it's a different story. That, however, is a statewide issue.

A students who fails to achieve a passing score on the AIMS assessment for high school graduation during the 2005­06 or 2006­07 school years may now graduate if the student meets the alternative graduation requirements approved by lawmakers.

A school district or charter school is not required to comply if it is determined that augmenting the student's score on any section of the AIMS assessment by twenty-five percent would not meet or exceed the "Meets the Standard" threshold.

Students are eligible for the alternative graduation requirement if all of the following apply:

1. The student has completed all course work and credits prescribed for graduation by the district's governing board with a passing grade.

2. The student has taken the AIMS assessment each time the test was offered when that student was eligible to take the test after August 12, 2005.

3. The student has participated in any academic remediation program available at their school in the subject areas where the student failed to achieve a passing score on AIMS.

D. If a student is not eligible for the AIMS augmentation due to a failure to meet the requirements noted in section two or three, the student may appeal this decision to the local governing board.

The governing board may then delegate these appeals to another school district's or charter school's officials.

All appeals must comply with the following requirements:

1. The governing board shall adopt a form for a petition that a student, or a student's parent or legal guardian, must complete to initiate an appeal. The petition must indicate what requirement is being appealed and the basis for the appeal. The petition must also include a written explanation of the appeal procedures used by the school district or charter school.

2. The student, or the student's representative, shall have the burden of demonstrating what circumstances prevented compliance with the requirements in sections two and/or three.

3. An appeal for failing to meet the requirement in section two should be granted only upon presentation of credible evidence that extreme circumstances made the student ineligible for each AIMS assessment administration the student did not attend.

4. An appeal for failing to meet the requirement in section three should be granted only upon presentation of credible evidence that the student has participated in at least one state or school sanctioned remediation program in those subject areas where the student failed to achieve a passing score on the AIMS assessment.

5. School district or charter school officials must provide adequate notice to the student and the student's parents or legal guardians regarding the date, time and place of the appeal. A student, or a student's representative, may participate in the appeal either personally, by telephone, or by providing written documentation.

6. All other procedures regarding these appeals will be determined by the local school district or charter school governing board. Every school district or charter school that graduates students from high school must determine whether the students that have failed to achieve a passing score on any section of the AIMS assessment meet the alternative graduation requirements.

In making this determination the school or school district must augment the score of each section of the AIMS assessment where a student failed to achieve a passing score with additional points derived from classroom performance.

These points shall represent a potential percentage augmentation from a student's original score. The number of additional points will be calculated with only classes that satisfy the eleven and one-half credits.

The credits include four credits of English or English as a Second Language; one and one-half credits in instruction in the essentials, sources and history of the constitutions of the United States and Arizona and instruction in American institutions and ideals and in the history of Arizona; one credit of world history/geography; two credits of mathematics; two credits of science; and one credit of fine arts or vocational education.

All school districts and charter schools will have to report the number of students that meet alternative graduation to the Arizona Department of Education by June 30.

To help students with the AIMS tests, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne has created a toll-free number for tutoring.

Students can call 1-866-688-AIMS for help, or they can log on to www.azed.gov, for sample tests.

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