PHOENIX — Arizona education leaders have released the letter grades for schools and districts for the last year, a measurement to see how the educational institutions are performing.
Letter grades are determined by a number of factors, including graduation, proficiency, growth rates, and more.
Nearly 1,700 district and charter schools in Arizona received letter grades this year. Here is how the numbers break down:
- A: 719 schools — 42%
- B: 39% of schools
- C: 15% of schools
- D through F: Under 3% of schools
- Ungraded: 8 schools, likely due to score appeals
Is grade inflation a factor?
The share of A-rated schools has grown steadily over the past five years. In the 2021-2022 school year, 30% of schools received an A. That number climbed to 38% by 2023 and now sits at 42%.
Arizona's top-ranked schools
Ten schools rose to the top of this year's rankings. Three are high schools, seven are located in the Phoenix metro area, and three are in Tucson.
Here are the top 10 highest-ranked schools in Arizona:
- Phoenix Union Bioscience High School — the top-ranked school overall, jumping 19 slots this past school year
- Horseshoe Trails Elementary (Cave Creek Unified) — the top-ranked elementary school
- University High School (Tolleson)
- Self Development Charter School — the top-ranked charter school
- Newell Barney College Prep (Queen Creek)
- University High School (Tucson Unified District)
- Innovation Academy (Oro Valley)
- Sky Crossing Elementary School (Phoenix)
- Tanque Verde (Tucson)
- Las Brisas Elementary (Deer Valley)
Click here to search your school.
Do you have a concern in your community or a news tip? We want to hear from you!
Connect with us: share@abc15.com
In North Phoenix, Deer Valley Middle School grew from a D letter grade in the 2022-2023 school year to now a B letter grade.
“I'm very proud of the work we've done, but it wasn't me that did that. It was the students and the staff that did that work,” said Ray Utter, the principal of Deer Valley Middle School.
Utter told ABC15 they did a number of things to help their students. It included using Project Momentum, a framework that the state uses to help the bottom 5% of schools. While doing that, they also worked on changing the culture for staff and students.
Utter said they tried to give more support for their staff as well as the students.
“The teachers are the ones in the trenches with students, day in and day out. Helping them, supporting them, we wouldn’t have gotten where we are now if it wasn’t for the work of our staff and our students,” he said.
Next year, the bar moves. The state updated metrics for the letter grade system and some education leaders say that could mean fewer high grades.
“I don't think it's going to change too much of what we're doing because I feel like we're already doing the right work. It may take us a little bit longer to get where our end goal is but we're still going to get there,” Utter said.
