The Arizona State Board of Education has adopted a new testing instrument (Az-MERIT), set to replace AIMS in the coming year with implementation beginning in Spring 2015.

The ASBE held a public meeting earlier this month to discuss the possible adoption of the new assessment.

Arizona’s Measurement of Education Readiness to Inform Teaching, or Az-MERIT, was then adopted, intended to help “ensure every child is on track to be successful upon graduating high school,” according to the meeting’s agenda.

In brief, the new assessment will be administered to students in third grade through high school in the fields of reading, language arts and math. Students at the fourth, eighth and high school level will continue to take the AIMS science exam for the time being.

High school students graduating after Dec. 31, 2016, will no longer be required to pass the AIMS exams to graduate.

The new exam will be first administered starting this school year (Spring 2015). It is unclear if the test will be administered consequence-free for the first couple of years, like with the AIMS test at the turn of the century.

The most unique aspect of Az-MERIT is that the questions will be created as the result of collaboration between Arizona educators and education experts. Questions will be based on Arizona curriculum, though some may be pulled from other states’ similar exams for the sake of comparison.

Designed as an online exam, the test is set to be administered online, though pen and paper versions will be available for districts not yet ready to make that transition.

The Board of Education must still consider how the results of Az-MERIT will be used.

The Arizona Education Association weighed in on the new test, offering support.

“The Arizona Education Association and our members believe this new test aligned to the state standards will provide a good assessment of our students’ academic progress,” reads a press release from the organization following the announcement.

“However, successful implementation of the new test will depend on adequate funding, time, support and funding, and effectively using the test to provide educators with meaningful information to adjust instruction rather than to punish students and teachers.”

The AEA statement goes on to state that lower test scores are expected following the initial implementation as students and teachers adjust to the assessment and establish a baseline for meaningful comparisons.

“AEA will advocate to hold students and teachers harmless for the first two years of the test and to ensure more teachers are included in the decision-making process to ensure fair accountability measures are put in place,” the AEA statement concludes.