Galileo K-12 Approved for Use with New 2017-18 Exemption to Retention in Move On When Ready Legislation

The Arizona State Board of Education has approved use of the Galileo K-12 Instructional Improvement and Effectiveness System (IIES) in assessing 3^rd grade student reading skills following a new exemption to retention in Move on When Reading (MOWR) legislation. The new exemption states:

“Beginning with the 2017-2018 school year, a new exemption to retention requirement added to A.R.S.§15-701 that states a 3rd grade student who is retained because he/she did not meet the cut score on the reading portion of AzMERIT can still be promoted if he/she has demonstrated or subsequently demonstrates sufficient reading skills or adequate progress towards sufficient reading skills of the 3rd grade reading standards as evidenced through a collection of reading assessments approved by the State Board (SBE), which includes an alternative standardized reading assessment approved by the SBE.”

This change to the MOWR legislation requires augmented reporting within district/charter literacy plans. Galileo K-12 offers the tools and technology educators need to assess and report student mastery or progress toward mastery of Arizona English Language Arts Reading Standards.

About the Arizona’s Move on When Reading: MOWR legislation is designed to provide students with evidence-based reading instruction kindergarten through third grade in order to position them for success as they progress through school, college, and the workforce. The intent of the legislation focuses on early identification and intervention for struggling readers and to provide each student the level of support he/she needs to become a strong reader. 

Any questions about the new exemption or MOWR in general should be directed to the Arizona Department of Education at www.azed.gov/MOWR or moveonwhenreading@azed.gov.

About Galileo K-12: Galileo K-12 IIES is comprehensive, standards-based, research supported, and aligned to Arizona Science, Non-State Tested, and Arizona’s College and Career Ready Standards. Galileo provides an array of curriculum, assessment, instructional effectiveness, reporting, and forecasting tools. Use of the system facilitates advancements in teaching strategies, assessments, and implementation of instructional effectiveness initiatives. Galileo contains multiple patented tools that make it possible to use assessment information to guide differentiated instruction aligned to district/charter pacing guides. Information gathered through Galileo can also inform professional development decisions. For more information contact ATI at 877.442.5453 or GalileoInfo@ati-online.com.

Update on Arizona State Standards Adopted 2016

Assessment Technology Incorporated has begun the transition to the newly adopted, 2016 version of the Arizona State Standards.

 As part of that transition, the version of the standards in Galileo K-12 Online now has annotations indicating new or modified standards, marked with an asterisk, standards that are being phased out, marked with z2010, and standards that have been confirmed to carry over from the last version of the standards. As your district staff works with the standards in preparation for the 2017-18 school year, they will notice these annotations. We wish to reassure everyone that nothing has been removed and all of the academic standards are still in place as test planning and delivery begins.

There has been a statement from the Arizona Department of Education on the role of the old standards and the new standards in the coming year:

"There will be a two year implementation timeline for the newly adopted standards. 2017-2018 is a transitional implementation year, while full implementation will occur in 2018-2019. AzMERIT will be aligned to the new standards beginning with the spring 2019 exam."

With this transitional implementation, Galileo K-12 Online provides teachers and district staff with the information that will help make choices about assessment in the upcoming school year as well as looking at the future plans for assessment once the AzMERIT tests are updated to reflect the additions and removals from the prior version.


There has not been a similar clarification on the math standards. We have requested a clarification from the Arizona Department of Education and will provide an update as soon as we receive a response. 

Written by
Scott Cunningham, Assessment and Instructional Design Director