EDUCATION

Mesa Public Schools may tie Arizona test scores to 'grade enhancement'

Lily Altavena
The Republic | azcentral.com
Cristian Hernandez (left) and Pierre McNeal work on a problem in their geometry class at Dobson High School in Mesa on Nov. 20, 2017.

Mesa Public Schools may link student performance on Arizona exams to their class grades in an effort to motivate them to try harder.

School officials say such motivators are necessary after the state stripped the requirement that students pass state tests to graduate high school.

Students who score "proficient" or "highly proficient" on AzMERIT exams, or "meets" or "exceeds" on science AIMS tests could increase each semester's grade by a full letter grade.The grade enhancement plan would apply to students in junior high and high school in the largest district in the state. No grades would ever be lowered.

MORE:Search for your school's 2016-17 AzMERIT scores

Andi Fourlis, the assistant superintendent for teaching and learning, is the architect of Mesa's grade-enhancement plan. She said boosting grades might compel students to aim for higher scores on the exam.

"This enhancement plan can only help kids; there’s no way it can ever harm a student," she said.

Fourlis introduced the plan to the school board during a study session on Nov. 14. She hopes to get approval in time to start marketing the concept to students in the second semester before they take the tests in the spring.

MORE:Will schools be graded fairly using AzMERIT scores?

Results from AzMERIT assessments are one of the predominant factors the state uses to calculate school letter grades from the state.  

Highly proficient? Students may go from B to A

Christian Graziano (left) and Fernando Aquirre work on a problem in geometry class at Dobson High School in Mesa on Nov. 20, 2017.

Here's how the proposed plan works: 

  • A student in junior high or high school takes a district course that coincides with an AzMERIT or AIMS exam.
  • If they earn a "proficient" grade on the AzMERIT assessment, their semester grade in that course would be bumped by one letter grade, up to a B. 
  • If they score "highly proficient" on the AzMERIT test, the student could increase their grade that semester by one letter grade, up to an A. 
  • The plan works similarly for AIMS scores: students who earn the "meets" rating can go up a letter grade to a B, and students who earn the "exceeds" rating can go up to an A. 

Research in the district shows that some Mesa students earning low grades in class did well on state exams and vice versa, Fourlis said. Take 11th-grade English, for example: 302 A students scored "minimally proficient" on the AzMERIT test in 2017 and 52 D students earned "proficient" marks.

INTERACTIVE GRAPHIC:Mesa Public School AzMERIT scores vs. course grades

"I think we’re going to have kids understand that these tests are an opportunity for them — yet one more way for them to demonstrate what they know," she said.

Two other districts — Agua Fria Union High School District in the West Valley and the Vail School District in southern Arizona — have adopted similar programs, according to Fourlis.

'High stakes for the schools, but not for the kids'

The need for this kind of incentive was born out of a 2015 law stripping the requirement that students pass a standardized test to graduate from high school.

Ethan Hurley, the director of college and career readiness for Vail's school district, said once students didn't need to pass an AIMS test to graduate, many stopped caring.

But that didn't mean standardized tests weren't still significant for school districts, where high-performing schools can now score funding. Plus, AzMERIT scores count for half of a high school's letter grade, according to a new state system.

MORE:Arizona school letter grades under review as board digs into issues

ALLHANDS:No wonder Mesa is considering 'grade enhancement'

"Once they made it not part of the graduation requirement, it still feels high stakes for the schools, but not for the kids," he said.

So Vail, south of Tucson with nearly 13,000 students, tried grade boosting a few years ago. Its plan was a little more modest than Mesa's: students earning "highly proficient" marks could up their class grades by 5 percent, according to Hurley. Students with "proficient" marks could get a 3-percent boost.

Hurley said that scores on AzMERIT tests in Vail went up, but it's hard to attribute the rise just to grade enhancement. Students may have been adjusting to the relatively new tests. 

And the district didn't just try boosting grades. Officials gave away T-shirts and hats. They even held assemblies to try to rally support, Hurley said.

But ultimately, motivation never manifests itself in quite the same way. 

"Districts are letting kids out of their finals, districts (are) giving kids pizza parties or having raffles," Hurley said. "Everyone around the state is trying to figure out how to motivate kids to take this test."

Which tests apply? 

Jason Redd (right) works with Anthony Prestigiacomo in a geometry class at Dobson High School in Mesa on Nov. 20, 2017.

In Mesa's proposed plan, eligible tests include: 

  • AzMERIT high school and junior high English tests.
  • AzMERIT high school and junior high math tests.
  • The AzMERIT honors American history and literature test.
  • Junior high and high school science AIMS tests.

The conversation in Mesa is just beginning. Joshua Buckley, a teacher and the president of the district's teachers union, said the plan could help get more students in their chairs on testing day. Some, he said, don't feel the need to show up.

"I don’t know that it changes the way that teachers teach in their classroom, but how students perceive the test," he said.

But the effort to improve AzMERIT scores may speak to a larger issue dogging educators: the role standardized test scores should play in Arizona.

"Whenever there’s state funding tied to a test, you’re forcing teachers to teach to a standardized test and that’s an issue we’ve had since No Child Left Behind," Buckley said.

READ MORE:

Arizona school letter-grades controversy: What we know

Arizona charter school linked to top education lawmaker gets an 'F'

Arizona AzMERIT scores show incremental gains ahead of new school letter grades

Arizona special-ed funding benefits schools with fewest special-ed students

Oversight of Arizona ESA school-voucher program 'almost a sham'

Many Arizona schools hire underqualified, inexperienced teachers to fill gaps