Education Indicators
Proficiency measures in reading, writing, and mathematics are effective indicators of monitoring educational progress at the Kindergarten through 12th grade levels. AIMS and SAT9/TerraNova are standardized instruments used to measure Arizona's progress in these areas. Additionally, AZLearns, AYP: Adequate Yearly Progress (based mainly on student achievement in mathematics and reading), enrollment, and drop out rates are all used to measure Arizona's educational progress. In addition to these state wide measures, NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress), also provides uniform and standardized assessments that are comparable to educational progress in other states. Competitiveness requires building high human and intellectual capital which is acquired through strong educational skills. Furthermore, in a competitive environment knowledge workers are expected to perform at a high level in the areas of reading, writing, and mathematics, which are the foundations of higher order thinking skills such as analysis, synthesis and evaluation.
