Best High Schools in Arizona for Special Education Students

Check out our new feature available only on SchoolDigger: rankings for different groups of students in Arizona!

Every year, the Arizona Department of Education shares test results for various student groups in each school. We use these results to find out which schools do best for each group and list them from the best to the worst.

Additionally, we also compare the performance of the subgroup to the performance of the school as a whole. This makes it easy to see if, for example, Special Education students are overperforming or underperforming their peers in each school.

Year after year, SchoolDigger is always the first to publish Arizona test scores and rankings. Other sites use stale test score data that are several years old! Be in the know with the very latest performance metrics.

The list is updated annually upon the release of the AASA and AzSCI test scores by the Arizona Department of Education. The most recent update was on Wednesday, September 25, 2024.

Be the first to know when we post new test scores and rankings!

School															Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2022)							Ranking (Special Education vs All Students - 2023)
ID	Rank (of 172)	School	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Disc Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Per Pupil Expenditures: Total	Personnel from Federal Funds	Non-Personnel from Federal Funds	Total from Federal Funds	Personnel from State and Local Funds	Non-Personnel from State and Local Funds	Total from State and Local Funds	Statewide Rank Percentile (Special Education)	Statewide Rank Percentile (All Students)	Rank Percentile Difference from All Students	SchoolDigger Rating (Special Education)	SchoolDigger Rating (All Students)
040097603624	1	Think Through Academy	Public, Charter	9-12	3232 W Thomas Rd	Phoenix	85017	Maricopa County	Think Through Academy	Yes	(n/a)	No	Yes	(623) 233-4523	45			86.7%	8 (17.8%)	11 (24.4%)	23 (51.1%)	1 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (2.2%)	1 (2.2%)		$00			$00			99.4%	34.3%	65.09%
040052003063	2	Ajo High School	Public	9-12	111 N Well Rd	Ajo	85321	Pima County	Ajo Unified District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(520) 387-5618	135	4	38.5	68.1%	19 (14.1%)	1 (0.7%)	103 (76.3%)	1 (0.7%)	7 (5.2%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (3.0%)		$00			$00			98.8%	53.3%	45.53%
040061002056	2	Desert Heights Charter School	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	5821 W Beverly Ln	Glendale	85306	Maricopa County	Desert Heights Charter Schools	Yes	(n/a)	No	Yes	(602) 896-2900	907			29.9%	478 (52.7%)	44 (4.9%)	270 (29.8%)	19 (2.1%)	16 (1.8%)	7 (0.8%)	73 (8.0%)	$10,891	$1,199	$773	$3,171	$6,647	$2,272	$8,919	98.8%	75.3%	23.57%
040885003214	4	Vail Innovation Center	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	10775 E Mary Ann Cleveland Way	Tucson	85747	Pima County	Vail Unified District	No	(n/a)	Yes	No	(520) 879-1300	107	13	8.4		53 (49.5%)	2 (1.9%)	43 (40.2%)	1 (0.9%)	1 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (6.5%)	$7,594	$04	$78	$87	$7,303	$209	$7,512	97.7%	90.6%	7.06%
040096903543	5	Arizona Agribusiness & Equine Center Inc. - Mesa	Public, Charter	9-12	1440 S Longmore	Mesa	85202	Maricopa County	Arizona Agribusiness & Equine Center INC.	Yes	(n/a)	No	No	(480) 222-3999	103				64 (62.1%)	7 (6.8%)	26 (25.2%)	3 (2.9%)	1 (1.0%)	1 (1.0%)	1 (1.0%)		$00			$00			97.1%	74.2%	22.89%
040042302525	5	East Valley High School	Public, Charter	9-12	7420 E Main St	Mesa	85207	Maricopa County	Legacy Education Group	Yes	(n/a)	No	Yes	(480) 981-2008	155			24.5%	48 (31.0%)	10 (6.5%)	81 (52.3%)	1 (0.6%)	4 (2.6%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (7.1%)		$00			$00			97.1%	24.5%	72.57%
040428002538	5	Havasuonline	Public, Virtual	6-12	2200 Havasupai Blvd	Lake Havasu City	86403	Mohave County	Lake Havasu Unified District	No	(n/a)	Yes	No	(928) 505-6900	124				91 (73.4%)	0 (0.0%)	27 (21.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.8%)	5 (4.0%)	$1,790	$38		$75	$1,743	$09	$1,752	97.1%	33.9%	63.19%
040096503556	8	ASU Preparatory Academy Digital	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	1130 E University Dr STE 230	Tempe	85281	Maricopa County	ASU Preparatory Academy Digital	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	No	(844) 692-3372	3,455				1,612 (46.7%)	210 (6.1%)	1,081 (31.3%)	141 (4.1%)	177 (5.1%)	14 (0.4%)	220 (6.4%)		$00			$00			95.3%	88.1%	7.29%
040593001313	9	Roadrunner School	Public, Alternative	PK, KG-12	16428 N 21st St.	Phoenix	85022	Maricopa County	Paradise Valley Unified District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(602) 449-2600	243	56	4.3	31.7%	109 (44.9%)	12 (4.9%)	86 (35.4%)	17 (7.0%)	5 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (5.8%)		$00			$00			94.8%	72.7%	22.06%
040031502217	10	Yavapai County High School	Public	9-12	6325 Baja Cir	Prescott Valley	86314	Yavapai County	Yavapai Accommodation School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(928) 759-8126	27	3	9		21 (77.8%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (22.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$24,867	$1,439	$379	$3,256	$18,043	$5,006	$23,049	94.2%	62.7%	31.50%

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for Arizona

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for AZ student subgroups:

Female Students Male Students Asian Students African American Students Hispanic Students Native American Students Pacific Islander Students White Students Multi-racial Students English Language Learner Students Low Socio Economic Status Students Homeless Students Foster Care Students Military Connected Students

About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on AzSCI Science, AASA English Language Arts, AASA Mathematics test scores released by the Arizona Department of Education.
These rankings were last updated on September 25, 2024, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the Arizona Department of Education, usually on a yearly basis.
Our sources of data include the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the Arizona Department of Education.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

Educational resources:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Arizona Department of Education.