Section R7-2-302.09. AIMS, Additional Credit; Beginning with the Graduation Class of 2013

A.      Beginning with the graduation class of 2013 a pupil who fails to achieve a passing score on the AIMS assessment for high school graduation may graduate if the pupil meets the alterna- tive graduation requirements established pursuant to this Sec- tion.

B.       A school district or charter school is not required to comply with this Section if it is determined that augmenting the pupil’s score on any section of the AIMS assessment by five percent would not meet or exceed the “Meets the Standard” threshold.

appeal. The petition shall also include a written explana- tion of the appeal procedures used by the school district or charter school.

2.        The pupil, or the pupil’s representative, shall have the burden of demonstrating what circumstances prevented compliance with the requirements in subsections (C)(2) and/or (3).

3.        An appeal for failing to meet the requirement in subsec- tion (C)(2) should be granted only upon presentation of credible evidence that extreme circumstances made the pupil ineligible for each AIMS assessment administration the student did not attend.

4.        An appeal for failing to meet the requirement in subsec- tion (C)(3) should be granted only upon presentation of credible evidence that the pupil has participated in at least one state or school sanctioned remediation program in those subject areas where the pupil failed to achieve a passing score on the AIMS assessment.

5.        School district or charter school officials shall provide adequate notice to the pupil and the pupil’s parents or legal guardians regarding the date, time and place of the appeal. A pupil, or a pupil’s representative, may partici- pate in the appeal either personally, by telephone, or by providing written documentation.

6.        All other procedures regarding these appeals shall be determined by the local school district or charter school governing board.

E.       Every school district or charter school that graduates pupils from high school shall determine whether the pupils that have failed to achieve a passing score on any section of the AIMS assessment meet the alternative graduation requirements established by this Section. In making this determination the school or school district shall adhere to the following require- ments:

1.        The school district or charter school shall augment the score of each section of the AIMS assessment where a pupil failed to achieve a passing score with additional points derived from classroom performance. These points shall represent a potential percentage augmentation from a pupil’s original score. The number of additional points shall be calculated as follows:

a.         Only classes that satisfy the following 15 credits shall be included in the calculation:

i.         Four credits of English or English as a Second Language, which shall include but not be lim- ited to the following: grammar, writing, and reading skills, advanced grammar, composi- tion, American literature, advanced composi- tion, research methods and skills and literature. One-half credit of the English requirement shall include the principles of speech and debate but not be limited to those principles.

ii.        Three credits in social studies to include the following:

(1)     One credit of American history, including Arizona history;

(2)     One credit of world history/geography;

(3)     One-half credit of American government, including Arizona government; and

(4)     One-half credit of economics.

iii.      Four credits of mathematics to minimally include the following:

(1)     Two credits containing course content covering the following areas in prepara- tion for proficiency on the AIMS test: Number Sense and Operations; Data Anal- ysis, Probability and Discrete Mathemat- ics; Patterns, Algebra and Functions; Geometry and Measurement; and Struc- ture and Logic. These credits shall be taken consecutively beginning with the ninth grade unless a student meets these requirements prior to the ninth grade pur- suant to R7-2-302.02(1)(c)(iv).

(2)     One credit covering Algebra II or course content equivalent to Algebra II. Courses meeting this requirement may include but are not limited to, career and technical education and vocational education, eco- nomics, science, and arts courses as deter- mined    by   the    local   school    district

i.         A letter grade of “A,” or its equivalent, shall receive additional points equal to five times the amount of credit for that class.

ii.        A letter grade of “B,” or its equivalent, shall receive additional points equal to four times the amount of credit for that class.

iii.      A letter grade of “C,” or its equivalent, shall receive additional points towards the average augmentation equal to three times the amount of credit for that class.

iv.       A letter grade of “D” or “F,” or its equivalent, shall receive zero points towards the average.

c.         All other eligible grades, up to the 15 credits pre- scribed in this Section, shall receive additional points as follows:

i.         A letter grade of “A,” or its equivalent, shall receive additional points towards the average augmentation equal to four times the amount of credit for that class.

ii.        A letter grade of “B,” or its equivalent, shall receive additional points towards the average augmentation equal to three times the amount of credit for that class.

iii.      A letter grade of “C,” or its equivalent, shall receive additional points towards the average augmentation equal to two times the amount of credit for that class.

iv.       Letter grades of “D” or “F,” or their equivalent, shall receive zero points towards the average.

d.        Pupils that have earned additional credits in any of the areas prescribed in this Section may apply the grade that would award the highest augmentation.

e.         After determining a pupil’s additional points the school district or charter school shall calculate the average number of points awarded  per credit  by dividing the sum of additional points earned by 15.

f.         The pupil’s augmentation shall be calculated by applying the following formula:

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matics content as determined by the local

school district governing board or charter school.

(4)     Courses successfully completed prior to the ninth grade that meet the high school mathematics credit requirement may be applied toward satisfying those require- ments.

(5)     Mathematics credits earned using a per- sonal curriculum pursuant to R7-2-302.03 may substituted for the credit in subsec- tion R7-2-302.10(E)(1)(a)(iii)(2).

iv.       Three credits of science in preparation for pro- ficiency at the high school level on the AIMS test.

v.        One credit of fine arts or career and technical education and vocational education.

b.        Each eligible grade in an advanced placement class, or a school district or charter school designated “honors” class, up to the 11 1/2 credits prescribed in this Section, shall receive additional points as fol- lows:

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2.        The augmentation points shall be added to the pupil’s highest achieved score on each section of the AIMS assessment where the student failed to achieve a passing score. If a pupil’s augmented score exceeds the passing score for the applicable section of the AIMS assessment, the pupil shall be considered to have passed that section of the assessment for graduation purposes.

3.        The school district or charter school shall augment the highest achieved score of each section of the AIMS assessment where a pupil failed to achieve a passing score separately and concurrently.

F.        A pupil’s augmented score shall be used only for the purpose of determining whether the pupil meets the competency test requirement for graduation from high school.

G.       All school districts and charter schools shall report to the Ari- zona Department of Education the number of students in their schools that met the alternative graduation requirement pre- scribed in this Section. School districts and charter schools shall also report disaggregated data showing the number of students whose augmented scores met or exceeded the passing scores for the reading, writing and math sections of the AIMS assessment respectively. These reports shall be made annually

and shall be received by the Arizona Department of Education by June 30.

Historical Note

New Section made by exempt rulemaking at 15 A.A.R.

1602, effective August 24, 2009 (Supp. 09-3).