Curriculum & Testing

Curriculum & Testing

Mardi Read – Curriculum/Testing Coordinator
Mardi.Read@prescottschools.com
928-445-5400

Jean Wadsworth – Administrative Assistant
Jean.Wadsworth@prescottschools.com
928-445-5400

Along with basic academic curriculum, PUSD offers strong special education, gifted education, and career and technical education programs. For further information about these programs, go to our Special Programs page.

Curriculum

Prescott Unified School District teachers work hard to align our curriculum to the Arizona Academic Standards and offer effective instruction for each student. Every year committees of teachers from kindergarten through high school review and update the scope and sequence of a specific subject-area curriculum, verifying that state standards, concepts, and objectives are taught throughout the grade levels. They also review and select textbooks and materials to ensure the teaching of important concepts and skills at each grade level. PUSD offers standards-based instruction in Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Health & Physical Education, Foreign Language, Fine Arts, Music, and Computer Literacy.

Detailed Instructional Guides may be found by clicking on the following links. Currently Instructional Guides are available for Elementary Reading and High School core subjects and some electives. We will be adding additional guides as they become available.

Move on When Reading

You may remember hearing on the news about some changes in State Law regarding reading achievement. It  was commonly referred to as “Move On When Reading”. It is our responsibility to inform you that in 2010, the Arizona Legislature enacted some changes to our State Statutes that will impact your child. Arizona Revised Statue 15-701 states in order for your child to be eligible for promotion from third grade to fourth grade, he/she must not fail the State reading test (currently it is called AIMS) at the end of third grade. There are provisions in the law for some students who are unable to pass the reading exam, and you may view the full text of the law by visiting the Arizona Legislature website.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS

Testing

Achievement test scores in PUSD reflect the hard-working efforts of our teachers and students. We are proud that our students’ scores in the following statewide assessments are consistently above the state and county averages. (For a more complete breakdown of student achievement scores, go to the Arizona Department of Education web pages.)

  • The TerraNova Achievement Test is given to second and ninth grade students. Reading, language, and mathematics are tested.
  • AIMS DPA, Arizona’s Instrument to Measure Standards Dual Purpose Assessment, is given to third through eighth grade students. This exam combines AIMS with TerraNova Achievement Test items in reading and mathematics. Writing is assessed by AIMS, using the 6-Trait Scoring Guide.
  • High school students are required to “Meet the Standards” on AIMS exams in reading, writing, and mathematics in order to graduate. They begin taking AIMS in their 10th grade year.
  • High school students who take the SAT and ACT college entrance exams regularly score above the state and national averages.