Schools
 
Percentage of Students in Excelling/Highly Performing Schools: 23.5%

INDICATOR DESCRIPTION
 
This indicator uses Arizona Learns and school enrollment data to determine the percentage of Cochise County students enrolled in the Excelling and Highly Performing schools.  
 
AZ LEARNS is a standard assessment tool developed and administered by the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) to compare schools against common criteria in an effort to raise school performance.  There are five categories of school performance; Excelling, Highly Performing, Performing Plus, Performing and Underperforming.  
 
Each school’s rating is made up of students’ AIMS scores based on a rolling average of test scores over the last 2-3 years and depending on the grade level may include factors such as dropout and graduation rates.  Each fall, ADE releases its assessments of public and charter schools with 100 students or more in Arizona .  It does not have authority to assess private schools or home-school environments.  In Cochise County , 74 public and charter schools are assessed by the criteria and progress standards that form Arizona Learns.  
 
At the beginning of the 2005 school year, there were approximately 21,800 students enrolled in Cochise County schools, almost a quarter of them are in highly performing or excelling schools.   

WEIGHT IN THE QOL INDEX  4.24%
 
WHY WE ARE MEASURING THIS
 
Every parent wants his or her child in a good school.  Good education is important to prepare children for the responsibilities for life, citizenship and the workforce.  School quality is a significant factor in where people decide to live.  Quality schools are important to preserve neighborhoods and property values.  School clubs and activities as well as physical assets such as sport fields, meeting rooms and auditoriums, are important to community enrichment. 
 
Private schools are not required to participate in AZ Learns, so their students are not reflected in this indicator.  This indicator also does not include the 5% of Cochise County students who are home schooled.  It does include the 86% of students who are enrolled in public schools and the 8% who are enrolled in qualified charter schools.  
 
FOR MORE INFORMATION
 
For information on Cochise County schools, visit the Superintendent’s website: www.co.cochise.az.us/schools
 
For information on AZ Learns, AIMS and assessments of Arizona ’s schools, visit the website of the Arizona Department of Education: www.ade.state.az.us
 
Data Source: Cochise County School Superintendent Trudy Berry, Arizona Department of Education, Cochise College Center for Economic Research