The Arizona State Board of Education (ASBE) unanimously voted Monday, Aug. 24 on the first of an expected series of changes to the state’s school accountability system.
To date, the system has operated on an A-F scale, essentially functioning as a report card that assigns each public school a letter grade based on measures like academic performance, English learner progress and graduation rates.
It also contains a Bonus Points category, which critics — like Matt Beienburg, director of education policy for the Goldwater Institute — have argued inflates schools' grades.
“We have this entire accountability system; we have these kids go into all this testing, then we turn around and we tell parents that your school is excelling when it's not," he said.
The Arizona Auditor General recently raised similar concerns in an audit of the A-F system, recommending that the category be eliminated.
After two years reviewing the system, the state's A-F Technical Advisory Committee also recommended its removal.
ASBE's Monday vote did that, noting that Bonus Points aren't required by statute and that Arizona's the only state whose A-F system includes a bonus points category.
“The Board’s goal is to ensure Arizona’s A-F School Accountability System gives families, educators and communities a clear and meaningful picture of how schools are performing,” said ASBE Executive Director Sean Ross. “These changes are designed to provide greater transparency while recognizing both student achievement and the progress schools make in helping students succeed.”
Now that Bonus Points will be removed, ASBE will need to decide whether any of the elements that currently fall under the category should be folded into other parts of the grading formula.
According to ASBE, the distribution of A and B grades may change because of the revisions, but every school will continue to have the opportunity to earn an A rating.
The public can expect to see the effects of this change and any others in this process as soon as October 2027, when the state releases letter grades for the 2026-2027 school year.
—
This reporting is supported by a grant from the Arizona Local News Foundation.
