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Changes to AIMS test absurd

On Tuesday, the Arizona Board of Supervisors urged new revisions in the new state-wide AIMS test. Arizona instituted AIMS testing for one reason: to establish a minimum standard for Arizona high school graduates. Now, it seems, the Board of Supervisors has decided that standards are a bad idea and are trying to remove them.

Starting with sophomores this year, Arizona high school students would be required to pass the AIMS test in order to graduate. During the first administration of the test, failure rates approached 90 percent. The success or failure of high school students on the test directly affects the university community, as no high school graduates means no freshmen the following fall.

In the Board of Supervisor's position statement, they contend that the test should be "appropriate for students with career aims that may not include into technical fields or university-level education." Let's think about this statement for a moment. At its base, it is reasonable; not everyone is cut out for higher education, and there's nothing wrong with that. But when the board says that the standards in our state should be appropriate for those who are entering non-technical fields as well, they are going too far. In essence, this means that the Board of Supervisors believes that the role of Arizona high schools is to prepare children for jobs in unskilled labor. What, exactly, are the Supervisors thinking of when they talk about non-technical and non-university level jobs? Retail clerks, perhaps, or unskilled assistants at a construction site or landscaping company. How can we set our standards for these people, when they don't require an education at all!

If not for college entrants, our high schools should at least be preparing our students to enter technical schools, and earn a good living for themselves. If our minimums are going to be below this, why should we bother requiring high school at all?

Also, the supervisors recommended that the test should be administered in both English and Spanish. However, giving the AIMS test in Spanish would defeat the entire purpose of the test: to combat the problem of social promotion by establishing definite standards. It is certain that some students come into the Arizona high school system later in their educational careers, and do not have time to learn the language before taking the test. This does not take away from the fact that people who graduate from Arizona high schools should be able to speak English. If we don't even acknowledge speaking English as a standard, there's no point in testing at all.

Of course, this doesn't mean that there aren't problems with AIMS testing. Because of the disastrous results, schools may be tempted, at least in the short term, to teach students the material that is on the test, rather than teach them what they need to know, and ensure that they are ready for any test. In the short term, the test may become the standard, rather than measuring the attainment of standards.

Many law-makers are troubled by the fact that students from minority groups did poorly on last year's initial round of AIMS testing. As a great deal of our state legislature is comprised of idiots like Jean McGrath, it should come as no surprise that they don't understand what the statistics are telling them. It is true that Hispanic and black students didn't do as well on the test as white students, on average. However, this doesn't mean a thing unless the accounting controls for income level; and few of these studies do. If an analysis were done matching income, it would almost certainly show the same results as similar studies done on the SAT test. Minority students, on average, do not do as well as white students, but minority students do just as well as white students of the same income level.

Moreover, even if it were the case that minorities were doing significantly worse on the test, it shouldn't mean a major change in the overall strategy in preparing students. If Arizona minorities are doing poorly, it means that they aren't getting a good education. The only way to make things better for them is to make things better in our schools in general. As always, a rising tide raises all ships.

Standards are there for a reason. When the AIMS test was commissioned, the Arizona legislature approved the testing for a reason: to establish minimum requirements for high school graduates. Standards are the key; let's show that we have some.

Dan Cassino is a political science junior. He can be reached at editor@wildcat.arizona.edu.