The state of Arizona’s 2010 adoption of the Arizona College and Career Readiness Standards, and their subsequent implementation, revealed concerns, particularly in the subject area of mathematics: Teachers would require professional development to address the new standards in their classrooms, and administrators would need instruction in how teachers should be evaluated according to those standards.
Arizona students are at significant risk for low academic achievement. According to the 2017 National Assessment of Educational Progress, only 30 percent of Arizona fourth-grade students are reading-proficient.
Young people in the Arizona criminal justice system face major challenges when they are released into the community; foremost among them, obtaining stable employment. And because the link between unemployment and recidivism is well known, the chances of success for youth on the outside can be significantly improved by the availability of high-quality, relevant career and technical education within the system. Similarly, transition services after release could allow youth to continue their career and technical education and ultimately obtain and maintain employment.