Arizona students struggle on 1st science AIMS test

September 18, 2008

By hammersmith

[Source: Ofelia Madrid, Arizona Republic] — The first round of statewide science testing shows Arizona students’ science knowledge lags far behind their achievement in math, reading, and writing.  The state’s first science AIMS test was administered in the spring.  Statewide results, released today, show that more than 60 percent of high-school students failed.  Numbers were slightly better in the earlier grades, where about half of fourth- and eighth-grade students passed the exam.  The results of the exam officially known as Arizona’s Instrument to Measure Standards are used by the federal government to measure whether schools are achieving under the No Child Left Behind Act.

In high school, 38 percent of students passed the new science portion of the test.  Students did better in the test’s other areas: 67 percent passed math, 68 percent passed writing and 73 percent passed reading on their first try this spring.  “This shows that schools need to be teaching our students more science,” said Tom Horne, Arizona superintendent of public instruction. [Note: To read the full article, click here.]