AIMS INFORMATION

The Arizona Instrument to Measure Students, or AIMS, is a standards based assessment required in grades 3-8 and in High School. Scores from the AIMS test are important information to help parents track the progress of their student and school. In addition, federal law requires that districts and schools test 95% of their students each year with AIMS or risk being designated as failing to make Adequate Yearly Progress under NCLB. The state designates when the assessment can be given, therefore there are limited make-up dates are available for the tests; it is vital that all students attend school during these testing periods. There are two types of AIMS tests administered in Arizona, the AIMS DPA (dual-purpose assessment) for elementary students and AIMS HS for high school students.

AIMS DPA Overview
Arizona’s Instrument to Measure Standards-Dual Purpose Assessment (AIMS DPA) is a standards based assessment with embedded TerraNova norm-referenced items in the Reading and Mathematics tests.  AIMS DPA is aligned to the new articulated reading and mathematics standards. The test is administered annually in the Spring to students in grades 3-8.

AIMS HS Overview
AIMS HS is a statewide, standards-based assessment. AIMS HS measures the performance of students, schools, and districts on academic standards in reading, writing, and mathematics and is administered to students beginning the spring of their tenth grade year. High school students have five opportunities to pass all three sections of AIMS HS and are required to pass the test in order to receive a diploma in Arizona.