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When the Fox is in Charge of the Hen House
Every parent in the state wanted it to be true, especially Arizona schools chief Jaime Molera.

Molera sent out a press release crowing that in a study released Tuesday, the Princeton Review ranked the state fifth in the country for its AIMS assessment test. The state received mostly "A's" and "B's" for its efforts, including its program to aid schools labeled "failing."
"This validates that we're moving in the right direction," Molera said.
Well, maybe.
The first thing you need to know is that the Princeton Review has nothing to do with the prestigious university. It is a publicly traded New York company that makes money by preparing kids for tests, including the AIMS and the SAT.
Next, it graded Arizona's testing program on what state law and the now-defunct contract with the AIMS test developer said should have happened, not on reality. "We didn't do the investigative piece to determine whether or not it was actually being done," saidi Steven Hodas, executive vice president of the Princeton Review. For example, since the state contract with the testmaker says the AIMS test should be given in the spring and the results back by Aug. 1, Arizona was given the highest score for "Timely Score Release." Here's what Princeton Review didn't know [or chose to ignore]: 1999 AIMS scores arrived in November, 2000 scores in September, and 2001 scores in October. Worse, 2000 and 2001 scores were wrong and were re-released just this past March and April. "There's always a story behind the numbers," Hodas said.
Ohanian Comment: In the case of high stakes standards and testing, there's always a lie behind the numbers.

— Pat Kossan
AIMS Rating Doesn't Pass Test
The Arizona Republic
June 19, 2002
http://www.arizonarepublic.com/arizona/articles/0619AIMS19.html

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