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PHOENIX — Gov. Janet Napolitano said Wednesday she is "not happy" with the latest results of Arizona's high-stakes graduation test, which showed statewide scores improving slightly but more students missing out on a diploma.

"I think maintaining status quo on AIMS, which is a 10th grade test, is shooting way too low," she said. "The question for us ought to be, 'Why isn't every person by 12th grade, absent extraordinary circumstances, able to pass AIMS?'"

Napolitano's comments follow a more positive spin offered by Tom Horne, the state's superintendent of public instruction, who called the results "significant" when they were released to the media Tuesday. On Wednesday, he reiterated that.

"I think the increases need to be seen in the context of the fact that for every one of the past four years we've increased scores in every subject," Horne said in an interview. "It needs to be seen as long-term progress."

Critics of the test say improvements are a product of changes to the exam and the way it's graded.

The political will to continue using AIMS as a graduation determiner will be tested next year, when classroom grades will no longer be used to "augment" scores. Horne says in the short term the number who fail to graduate due to AIMS will increase.

Napolitano, speaking during her weekly briefing with reporters, also said AIMS has cut into other classroom priorities.

"I think from an education basis, we have focused way too much attention, in a way, on AIMS," she said. "We've lost sight of the ultimate goal, which is how do you produce a student who's ready for the 21st century economy?"

Napolitano said that will happen by increasing graduation requirements, which she has called for, and aligning university requirements with high school curriculum.

But Horne maintained that by focusing on AIMS, which tests basic proficiency, students are better prepared for more advanced curriculum.

"The governor is mixing up two different concepts and has lost sight of the fact that by having a minimum requirement for graduation, we have caused students to work much harder than they ever have before," he said.