Arizona Education and Schools

arizona education and schools
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When it comes to education and schools, each state takes its own unique approach. For the most part, state governments and local school boards develop educational policies and mandates that shape education and schools within state and local boundaries. Though there is some Federal oversight, most highly debated education regulations are shaped more closely to home. Trending educational topics such as charter schools, standardized testing, school vouchers, teacher evaluations, and state-adopted standards typically align with the controlling political parties philosophy.

These differences have made it difficult to compare education and schools between states accurately. They also ensure that a student living in a particular state will be receiving at least a somewhat different education that a student in a surrounding state. There are many data points that can be used to compare education and schools among states. Though it is a difficult endeavor, you can begin to see differences in educational quality by looking at shared data in regards to education and schools among all states. This profile of education and schools focuses on the state of Arizona.

Arizona Education and Schools

  • Arizona State Department of Education
  • Arizona State Superintendent of Schools: Diane Douglas
  • District/School Information
  • Length of School Year: A minimum of 180 school days is required by Arizona state law.
  • Number of Public School Districts: There are 227 public school districts in Arizona.
  • Number of Public Schools: There are 2421 public schools in Arizona.
  • Number of Students Served in Public Schools: There are 1,080,319 public school students in Arizona.
  • Number of Teachers in Public Schools: There are 50,800 public school teachers in Arizona.
  • Number of Charter Schools: There are 567 charter schools in Arizona.
  • Per Pupil Spending: Arizona spends $7,737 per pupil in public education.
  • Average Class Size: The average class size In Arizona is 21.2 students per 1 teacher.
  • % of Title I Schools: 95.6% of schools in Arizona are Title I Schools.
  • % With Individualized Education Programs (IEP): 11.7% of students in Arizona are on IEP's.
  • % in Limited-English Proficiency Programs: 7.0% of students in Arizona are in limited-English Proficient Programs.
  • % of Student Eligible for Free/Reduced Lunches: 47.4% of students in Arizona schools are eligible for free/reduced lunches.

Ethnic/Racial Student Breakdown

  • White: 42.1%
  • Black: 5.3%
  • Hispanic: 42.8%
  • Asian: 2.7%
  • Pacific Islander: 0.2%
  • American Indian/Alaskan Native: 5.0%

School Assessment Data

Graduation Rate: 74.7% of all students entering high school in Arizona graduate.

Average ACT/SAT score:

  • Average ACT Composite Score: 19.9
  • Average Combined SAT Score: 1552

8th-grade NAEP assessment scores:

  • Math: 283 is the scaled score for 8th-grade students in Arizona. The U.S. average was 281.
  • Reading: 263 is the scaled score for 8th-grade students in Arizona. The U.S. average was 264.

% of Students Who Attend College after High School: 57.9% of students in Arizona go on to attend some level of college.

Private Schools

Number of Private Schools: There are 328 private schools in Arizona.

Number of Students Served in Private Schools: There are 54,084 private school students in Arizona.

Homeschooling

Number of Students Served Through Homeschooling: There were an estimated 33,965 students that were homeschooled in Arizona in 2015.

Teacher Pay

The average teacher pay for the state of Arizona was $49,885 in 2013.##

Each individual district in the state of Arizona negotiates teacher salaries and establishes their own teacher salary schedule.

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Your Citation
Meador, Derrick. "Arizona Education and Schools." ThoughtCo, Aug. 26, 2020, thoughtco.com/arizona-education-3194442. Meador, Derrick. (2020, August 26). Arizona Education and Schools. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/arizona-education-3194442 Meador, Derrick. "Arizona Education and Schools." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/arizona-education-3194442 (accessed March 29, 2024).