District presents preliminary 2025 AASA results; math shows districtwide gains, some ELA grade-level concerns

District assessment staff presented a preliminary summary of the 2025 Arizona Academic Standards Assessment (AASA) district results to the Glendale Elementary School District Governing Board on June 12, noting the data are incomplete pending three missing state data points.

Dr. Jerry Peterson, presenting the AASA overview, told the board that the presentation was a “very high level show of our data” and that three data points from the state were still missing, so the district could not yet produce final grade predictions or letter grades. The district compared 2024 and 2025 results in ELA and math by grade, using the state’s four-color display for ELA.

Peterson said ELA trends were mixed: some grade levels showed decreases in the proportion of students categorized as minimally proficient and increases in higher performance categories, while other grades showed declines that the district said will need targeted review. He flagged a possible cohort effect in one grade group, noting that those students were “the year of COVID” as kindergartners; he explicitly said the district cannot conclude causation from that observation but will consider the cohort when creating K–3 plans.

Math results showed improvement across grade levels, Peterson said: every grade reported a reduction in the share of students who were minimally proficient and increases in the proficient and highly proficient categories. Peterson and district staff described the trend as “a great trend to see.”

District staff said they held a district “data dig” the same day to review academic and department data and celebrated staff and program results. The presentation also referenced the Arizona Department of Education’s updated Arizona Essential Standards, which the presenters said were returned this year to a vertically aligned model that identifies standards to be taught and those that must be mastered; the district said it used teacher committee feedback to create new Glendale Elementary School District pacing guides and will focus on targeted instructional strategies and monitoring implementation.

Board members asked a brief question about the Essential Standards alignment and praised the reported trends. Superintendent Segata Jones and assessment presenters said the district will return with disaggregated and final data once the remaining state data arrive.

The presentation, by the district’s assessment staff, was explicitly framed as preliminary; no policy action or vote was taken on the assessment results at the June 12 meeting.