A Phoenix nonprofit aiming to open 25 A-rated charter schools serving students in the city’s urban core by 2020 is well on its way to meeting its goal.

The Arizona State Board of Education violated federal student privacy law by disclosing the names of more than 1,000 Arizona students, in some cases along with their birthdays, and their scores on the AzMERIT exams in response to a public records request filed by AZCIR.

The new A-F grades have been roundly criticized from all parts of the education advocacy spectrum. Nearly everyone has found something to hate in the grades.

AzMERIT scores are in, and schools are being issued grades based on how their students performed on a test taken six months ago that measured math and English language skills. Teachers across the state are running for cover, hoping and praying their students fared well on these high stakes tests. Some will celebrate while others will wonder if they will lose their jobs. But all still must teach.

Gov. Doug Ducey’s signature results-based funding plan for excelling schools still has districts questioning when they will receive money and how exactly it must be spent.

The exclusion of nearly 20 percent of eighth graders from the state’s public schools achievement test drove down math results in 2016, according to the Arizona Charter Schools Association.

One in five Arizona eighth-graders is not included in state reported figures of the AzMERIT math exam, a required test for all public school students – district and charter, according to newly released data analysis by the Center for Student Achievement.

The Arizona Department of Education released scores for the state's new standardized test Monday, showing what many already expected: a very low percentage of students passed English and math subjects.

Poor reading results from third-graders’ first round with the state’s new AzMERIT test aren’t bad news to one education advocate.

It was a week of disarray at the Arizona Department of Education, and the conflict that spawned it may not be over yet.