The results are in!
Let us celebrate the one singular sensation of the Michigan EAA, Detroit Public Schools and the Elected Ones!
Let us celebrate the one singular sensation of the Michigan EAA, Detroit Public Schools and the Elected Ones!
Here is a fun little historical fact for the 2015-2016 school year for DPS.
When school commenced, the Special Needs Department of DPS re-routed its calls to Transportation because it would not be in for another two weeks.
So, in the mean time, kids were just...well...just left...sitting...sometimes in an auditorium, sometimes in a desk, the entire day.
But fear not!
Some of the Elected Ones have a plan for balancing the Detroit School District's budget woes, I just wish the other Elected Ones had a plan to better care for the kids of Michigan.
I just do not understand why it is so difficult to understand that a state cannot treat its kids like this.
M-STEP results: Just 1 EAA 4th-grader passed math
Detailed results from Michigan's tough new standardized exam paint a worrisome picture for many schools in Detroit and will likely boost state efforts to fix what many see as a broken educational system in the city.
Just one fourth-grader in schools run by the Education Achievement Authority — a state district created to turn around the worst-performing schools in the state — passed the math portion of the exam, according to results released this morning. Overall, only 1.2% of the students in the district passed in math and 5.6% passed in English language arts. In some grades and subjects, not one student passed.
The EAA includes 15 schools, 12 of which are directly run by the district. The three operated as charters did better, with 6% passing in math and 11.6% passing in English language arts.
In Detroit Public Schools, 7.9% of students passed in math while 14.56% passed in English language arts.
Across metro Detroit, performance varied. Oakland County schools performed above the state average in both English language arts and math, while Macomb and Wayne county schools performed below state averages.
The new test — called the Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress (M-STEP) — was given for the first time in spring 2015 in English language arts, math, science and social studies. The Michigan Department of Education released a breakdown of individual school and district results Thursday.
Demographic results showed the gap in achievement between white and minority students persists. There was a gap of 32 percentage points in proficiency between black and white students in English, 30 percentage points in math, 27 percentage points in social studies and 21 percentage points in science. The gap between Hispanic and white students was largest on the English and math portion, at 19 percentage points.
More than a month ago, state results were released. Thursday's data provides a more detailed picture of just how well students did on the exam, which is largely based on the ambitious Common Core State Standards. Those standards, adopted by Michigan and more than 40 other states, spell out what students must learn to be prepared for college and careers.
Statewide, 50% of third-graders passed the English language arts exam — the best result among the grades. Elsewhere, the results ranged from 45% proficient for sixth-graders to 49% proficient for fifth- and 11th-graders.
In math, results ranged from 28% of 11th-graders passing to 49% of third-graders passing.
The standards didn't change for science and social studies, but those results also were cause for concern. Just 12% of the fourth-graders who took the science test passed it. And only 22% of the fifth-graders who took the social studies exam passed it. The State Board of Education approved tougher standards for science last month and the same likely will happen for social studies next year.
Because the exam was far more difficult than the state exam it replaced, fewer students passed the M-STEP than previous assessments. The same occurred in other states that adopted tests based on the Common Core standards.
But it wasn't just the more rigorous standards that made M-STEP harder. It was given online to about 80% of the students who took it. And it was interactive, requiring students to do far more than fill in multiple choice bubbles. For instance, students had to type in answers to some questions, plot data on a graph, listen to a presentation and then answer questions, and draw shapes.
The test also included a performance task in math and English language arts, which required students to complete an in-depth project during the course of the exam that demonstrates their analytical and problem-solving skills.
Robert Floden, codirector of the Education Policy Center at Michigan State University, said the poor performance overall isn't cause for panic.
"It’s a new exam and so any time you have a new exam, there’s always a dropoff in the first year and things pick up in two to three years," Floden said.
But he said there is reason for concern about results in Detroit.
"With results that low, things aren’t going well. You can’t expect kids performing at those levels to leap ahead and be ready for career or college when they finish high school."
Because the M-STEP is new, the results can't be compared to results from the Michigan Educational Assessment Program, the 44-year-old exam that was retired in 2013. The exam starts a new trend line as students try to reach state expectations that by 2025 require 85% of Michigan students to be proficient in English language arts and math.
EAA Chancellor Veronica Conforme said Thursday that while the scores provide a baseline "for where our students stand academically and the educational gap we urgently need to address, it does not represent the future of our schools, the ability of our students, or the dedication they and our staff demonstrate on a daily basis."
Conforme said the district has made progress in other areas, including in developing teachers and leaders, implementing a quality curriculum and providing social and emotional support services for students and families.
Michelle Zdrodowski, spokeswoman for DPS, said the district's performance is "fairly consistent with the lower outcomes achieved by school districts across the state."
"While we know that there remains work for us to continue to do to help our students improve their academic outcomes, we must keep in mind that this is a new test that was designed to be a much more rigorous measurement tool, raising the bar on content in all subject areas and that scores were expected to dip."
She said improving academic achievement is at the center of efforts now under way in the district.
The gaps in achievement between white and minority students were described as "deeply troubling" by Education Trust-Midwest, an education research and advocacy group.
"These results reinforce the need for strong leadership in Michigan to provide strategic action and investments to help all Michigan students, no matter where they live or who they are," said Amber Arellano, executive director of the group.
The best results were posted by suburban schools created with a focus on rigorous, world-class standards — like those that have adopted the rigorous International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum. Performance was also predictably high for schools that educate gifted and talented students and those in suburban, wealthier school districts.
At the Washtenaw International Academy and the International Academy of Macomb, both of which use the IB curriculum, every student passed the English language arts exam, and at the Crestwood Accelerated Program, a gifted and talented school, all of the students passed the math exam.
But those holding up the rear? They're located in high-poverty, economically distressed areas and include a number of alternative schools and many schools that have consistently been among the worst-performing in the state.
Gov. Rick Snyder has been promoting his plan for fixing the financial and academic problems facing DPS, the EAA and the dozens of charter schools in the city — a plan that would involve splitting the district into two and having an education commission provide oversight. But his plan has yet to result in legislation.
These are the 10 public schools in the state with the highest passing rates in math and English language arts on the Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress:
English language arts
• Washtenaw International Academy, Ypsilanti, 100% passing
• International Academy of Macomb, Clinton Township, 100%
• International Academy, Bloomfield Hills, 98.84%
• Crestwood Accelerated Program, Dearborn Heights, 97.87%
• Webster Elementary School, Livonia, 97.36%
• Dearborn 6/7 STEM School, 94.83%
• Musson Elementary School, Rochester Hills, 92.77%
• Handley School, Saginaw, 92.7%
• Brown Elementary School, Byron Center, 92.65%
• Schroeder Elementary School, Troy, 91.95%
Math
• Crestwood Accelerated Program, Dearborn Heights, 100%
• Webster Elementary, Livonia, 98.68%
• International Academy, Bloomfield Hills, 98.26
• Martin Luther King Elementary School, Ann Arbor, 92.06%
• Brown Elementary School, Byron Center, 90.69%
• Savage Road Elementary School, Belleville, 90.4%
• Hemmeter Elementary School, Saginaw Township, 89.71%
• Angell School, Ann Arbor, 88.19%
• Musson Elementary School, Rochester Hills, 88.09%
• Dearborn 6/7 STEM School, 87.93%
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