AIMS Testing

AIMS Testing Schedule

HS Writing - Feb 26 - Makeup: March 4

HS Reading - Feb 27 - Makeup: March 5

HS Math - April 8 - Makeup: April 15

HS Science - April 9 - No Make-up

For future testing dates, click on AIMS Testing Calendar

What is AIMS

Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS) is a Criterion Referenced Test (CRT) designed to measure each student's progress in learning the Arizona Academic Standards. The Arizona Academic Standards define what students should know and be able to demonstrate at various stages of K-12 education.

Purpose

The purpose of AIMS is to measure the academic achievement of all students throughout the state. AIMS is a state mandated assessment. All Arizona students take AIMS at grades 3 through 8 and in high school. AIMS DPA (Dual Purpose Assessment) contains both AIMS items and TerraNova items. AIMS items are based on the grade specific Arizona Academic Content Standards and TerraNova items are nationally normed items. TerraNova is administered in the Spring to all 2nd and 9th graders. A student guide for each of these grades, containing a description of the content and expectations, as well as sample questions, is sent to each school for dissemination prior to the spring administration of AIMS and is available at http://www.ade.state.az.us/standards/aims/.

Beginning with the class of 2006, high school students must "Meet" the content standards in Reading, Mathematics and Writing in order to receive a diploma. Students in the Williams Unified School District must also meet graduation requirements as specified in the High School Planning guide.

High School students who do not meet or exceed the standard must retake the tests until the standards in that subject area are met. Each student will have five opportunities to take the AIMS. The Arizona Department of Education has created sample tests and has released some items from previous administrations of AIMS. These are available at http://www.ade.state.az.us/standards/.

Arizona Academic Standards
The Arizona Academic Standards are clear and concise statements of what all students are expected to know and be able to do in Reading, Writing and Mathematics at the various levels: Readiness (Kindergarten), Foundations (1-3), Essentials (4-8), Proficiency (9-12) and Distinction (9-12). These standards are listed by content area on the Arizona Department of Education Web site at http://www.ade.state.az.us/standards/contentstandards.asp

Performance Levels
AIMS scores are reported in terms of one of four performance levels, according to the student's test performance. The State Board of Education has set these performance levels as: Falls Far Below the Standard, Approaches the Standard, Meets the Standard, and Exceeds the Standard. A complete description of these Performance Level indicators is available at http://www.ade.state.az.us/standards/AIMS/PerformanceStandards/Default.asp

Performance Level Indicators
The performance level indicators describe how well students demonstrate the knowledge and skills of the standards based upon their performance on the AIMS test. These performance level descriptions describe the knowledge the student demonstrated based upon the performance level achieved by the students. The performance level descriptors are available at http://www.ade.state.az.us/standards/AIMS/PerformanceStandards/Default.asp

Using AIMS Data
AIMS serves many audiences, each of which will use the information from the assessment for different purposes. Parents and students need to know how well the student performed to plan the student's academic needs and schedule. Teachers use AIMS information for instructional planning. School and district administrators use AIMS data to judge how well their curriculum is aligned to the Arizona Academic Standards and where to focus instructional improvement. The Parent Report for students who took AIMS provides scale score information as well as performance level indicators. This information, along with the Performance Level Descriptors, can be used to determine not only what knowledge and skills the student currently demonstrates, but also, by looking at the next higher performance level, what the student needs to know in order to progress to that level.