Thanks to a new School Report Cards website that was launched by the Arizona Department of Education, the general public will now have the ability to learn more about the schools. 

The education resource will also provide a level of accountability for schools as the A-F letter grades will be listed. Also included will be all federal and state reports and catalogs other individualized school details in one centralized place.

With the information listed alphabetically, users can also search by school, district and zip code.

Website visitors can also view the grade by grade student enrollment numbers, teacher experience and student diversity. High school graduation rates and student dropout rates will also be listed.

The system also monitors student academic growth on a year to year basis, in addition to proficiency in English, language arts, math and science. A proficiency and academic growth system will help inform people on whether or not a student is ready for the next step in their academic journey.

“I am very proud of both our Accountability and IT departments for developing another wonderful tool that helps parents find the best education for their children,” Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas said. “I am thrilled that parents will have all of this information at their fingertips, allowing them to make the most informed decision about schools for their children. As a vocal proponent of school choice, as well as someone who does not believe in a one-size-fits-all approach to education, this gives parents the ability to see what opportunities are available for their child’s specific needs.”

“Arizona schools need to improve,” said state Department of Education spokesman Stefan Swiat. “I certainly would like to see the under-performing schools move upwards, and go from D to F to B’s and C’s and A’s, that would be fantastic.”

The new website will equip parents with so much more than the information of letter grades.

“Look beyond the grade and look at all of the things list here on the site,” he said.

“That’s really problematic, to reduce everything you do until 5, 6, 7 at night down to one letter,” Noah Karvelis, Teacher and “Red for Ed” leader said. He suggested prospective parents visit their schools of choice, instead, and talk with teachers and administrators.

The Arizona school system is made up of 1,983 public schools, 1,424 district schools and 559 charter schools.

In order to develop the best website possible, input was collected from stakeholder groups throughout the state by means of ADE focus groups. 

The future of the website will include an Early Childhood and preschool section and a section on school “highlights.” The “highlights” section will give schools the opportunity to build separation through the promotion of features and traits specific to their school or district.

The School Report Cards website also fulfills the federal requirement of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) to “include a clear and concise description of the State accountability system.” Sixteen basic requirements for the report card have now been met before the January 1, 2019 deadline for ESSA compliance.  

To learn more about Arizona schools or to check out the new website, visit https://azreportcards.azed.gov.