Standards: Mathematics
Introduction to the Arizona Mathematics Standards Glossary AzMERIT will be aligned to the new standards beginning with the spring 2019 exam.
What the Arizona Mathematics Standards Are
The Arizona Mathematics Standards define the knowledge, understanding, and skills that need to be taught and learned so all students are ready to succeed in credit-bearing, college-entry courses and/or in the workplace. The Arizona Mathematics Standards are the foundation to guide the construction and evaluation of mathematics programs in Arizona K-12 schools and the broader Arizona community. These standards were adopted by the Arizona State Board of Education in December of 2016.
Arizona Mathematics Standards
(Adopted December 2016) *New Updates to the Standards Documents – July 2018
Grades K-5 Standards
Grades 6-8 and High School Standards
Standards Placemats – Grades K-8
Summary of Revisions & Planning Documents
Content Emphasis Documents
Mathematics Content Emphasis Documents
The Arizona Department of Education K-12 Standards Section is providing planning guidance regarding the major and supporting clusters found within the Arizona Mathematics Standards, Adopted 2016. The Math Workgroup has made changes to the content emphasis documents based on what we have learned since 2010. Please consider the following designations when planning an instructional scope for the school year. The ADE is suggesting instructional time encompass 70% for Major Clusters at each grade level/course.
Implementation Support Resources
The Arizona Department of Education, with the support from schools and district offers some exemplar curriculum maps for mathematics. We are truly thankful to the districts that have provided their maps as resources for others to learn from and ask questions about. Please consider contacting one of the district contacts if you have any questions about why certain content was given the amount of time it was or what was the rationale around the content sequence across the scope of the year.
**When creating math standards documents make sure to use the content emphasis documents to align instructional time with major and supporting math content across the scope of the school year.

Scottsdale Unified School District – Kindergarten – 5th grade curriculum maps
Each year, Scottsdale Unified School District works collaboratively with teachers and leaders across its district to revisit and revise, if necessary, its standards maps. The K-5 files linked below align to the Arizona Mathematics Standards adopted in 2016. Planning guides have also been developed for each unit of student at each grade level.
If you would like additional information on the standards maps or the process that Scottsdale Unified utilized to develop their resources, please contact their elementary lead.
Michael Richards, Director, Elementary Curriculum and Instruction
The Chandler Unified School District worked collaboratively with teachers and leaders last year to revise and refine their K-12 mathematics standards maps. These maps are aligned to the Arizona Mathematics Standards adopted in 2016. If you would like additional information on their standards maps or the process that Chandler Unified School District utilized, please contact their team.
Amy McCarthy
Renee Sweeden
Fourth Credit High School Guidance and Standards
The development of the fourth credit guidance and standards began in January 2017 under the guidance of the Arizona Department of Education. A statewide committee of high school mathematics teachers, district Mathematics Specialists and Professors and Mathematicians from Institutes of Higher Education reviewed research and other state standards to create the general guidance and standards related to fourth-credit mathematics. The Quantitative Reasoning and Precalculus Standards are also aligned to the high school Plus Standards.
Standards outline what a student needs to know, understand, and be able to do by the end of each grade. Standards build across grade levels in a progression of increasing understanding and through a range of cognitive demand levels. Standards are adopted at the state level by the State Board of Education (A.R.S. §§15-701 and 15-701.01). Arizona retains authority to approve and modify academic standards; there is no federal law requiring the adoption of specific standards.
The fourth-credit standards for Quantitative Reasoning and Precalculus are not board adopted since fourth credit mathematics courses are a local control decision.
These documents represent guidance only for schools and districts. It is a local control decision what courses are offered in a four-credit mathematics pathway.
Fourth Credit Math General Guidance (September 2018)
Arizona Precalculus Standards (September 2018)
Arizona Quantitative Reasoning Standards (September 2018)
The Arizona Mathematics Standards are:
• Focused in coherent progressions across grades K-12
• Aligned with college and workforce expectations.
• Inclusive of rigorous content and applications of knowledge through higher-order thinking.
• Research and evidence based.
Understanding in Mathematics
When a student understands a mathematical concept, they move fluidly between the concrete and abstract. There is evidence they are able to make sense of and justify mathematical connections.
Evidence of understanding includes connections among:
♦Verbal or written reasoning
♦Pictorial representations
♦Real-world application
♦Procedures/Computation
15-708 Provisions of New Law:
Instructs LEAs to provide notice by the first-half of the second quarter of the school year to parents of students in grades 6-8 who have not demonstrated proficiency in mathematics on the statewide assessment from the previous school year.
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House Bill 2477
– Notify Parents if students were not proficient on AzMERIT Math
HB 2477 requires LEAs to provide parents with written notice that includes;
1. What the student’s mathematics deficiencies were on the spring 2018 AzMERIT Math exam and;
2. How those deficiencies are being addressed through services provided to the student which could include supplemental instruction and any supporting programs designed to address the student’s specific mathematics deficiencies.
LEAs are required to provide notice to parents regarding the Spring 2018 AzMERIT results by the first-half of the second quarter of this school year if students scored in the minimally proficient or partially proficient range on AzMERIT Math assessment. LEA’s can identify how below mastery on the scoring category is being addressed through Tier 1 (first instruction), Tier 2 (supplemental instruction) and possibly through supporting programs which could include but is not limited to after school tutoring.
The ADE Assessment and K-12 Standards Team have created a sample letter than you can customize with your school letter head and site specific supplemental instruction and/or supporting programs specific to the individual student.
Contacts
Suzi Mast
Director of K-12 Mathematics, MSP Grants, and Educational Technology
Phone: (602) 364-4030