In a July 25, 2007 Arizona Republic article, information is relayed about a national report that ranks Arizona 36th in the nation on ten indicators of child well-being, including education, death rates and poverty.
Specific to education, Children’s Action Alliance executive director, Dana Naimark, notes that “the report also has some real warning signs for the state, such as low scores on national math and science tests, which she said means the state has work to do if it wants to pursue goals of being a technology hub.”
Tom Horne, state superintendent of public instruction, is quoted as saying that “he does not believe the Kids Count report accurately reflects how Arizona schoolchildren are doing. He noted that it uses math and science scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, which measures only a fraction of the state’s student population. And while the report shows improvement in the teen dropout rate, he said other studies show Arizona doing even better, meeting the national average.”