Clarkston school administrators are participating in a practice long embraced by students: arguing about the accuracy of their grades.
The Michigan School Report Cards, released Friday, Jan. 30, gave nine Clarkston schools a composite grade of ‘B.? Within that, however, are three elementary schools receving ‘F? grades in the category of ‘achievement change? and two secondary schools ruled to have fallen short in ‘adequate yearly progress.?
Officials appealed those five rulings and say the AYP measurements, especially, are based on inaccurate state record-keeping.
‘I am pleased by the performance of our youngsters and disgusted by a process that permits inaccurate data, inadequate comparisons and faulty testing strategies to dominate the headlines,? Superintendent Al Roberts said Monday.
While continuing to support the concept of accountability, Roberts said the federal No Child Left Behind legislation and Michigan’s Education YES plan lack accountability for the facts.
For example, the high school AYP was computed using names of foreign exchange students, pupils placed in the wrong subgroups, duplicated names and names of already-graduated students, Roberts said. That is the basis of the appeal for Clarkston Middle School and Clarkston High School.
AYP is a specific measurement of students? proficiency in math and language arts which requires 95 percent of all students to be tested, as a whole and in nine subgroups (designated by factors such as race and disability).
The state report card and the Education YES standards are Michigan’s attempt to enforce the No Child Left Behind requirements to have all students proficient in basic academic subjects by 2014. In addition to the AYP, the report card issues ‘grades? in three areas:
? Achievement status ? This score reflects the achievement of a school’s students in the previous year’s MEAP tests.
? Achievement change ? This score evaluates how well a school is progressing from its previous years? MEAP scores toward the goal of 100 percent ‘proficiency.?
? Indicators of School Peformance ? This self-assessment required schools to issue a written report on how they perform in 11 state-established categories to progress toward the proficiency goal.
It is the second area, ‘achievement change,? in which Bailey Lake, Clarkston and Springfield Plains elementaries ‘failed,? and officials said it is the inequity of the system which sets up high performing schools to fail.
Geri Moore, executive director for elementary education, said the relatively low ‘achievement change? scores come precisely because Clarkston schools are already at a high level in the ‘achievement status? category.
The program establishes a ‘target rate? for the progress toward the 2014 goal, and ‘weighted grades? giving lower testscores more impact against a school’s progress. The result, Moore said, is to give high performing schools a ‘smaller margin of error? in year-to-year progress.
Schools beginning at a lower level have a better chance of scoring a better rate of ‘change? from year to year, but officials predict problems for all schools as 2014 gets closer.
Moore also noted the oft-repeated criticism that MEAP reports compare different children using different tests rather than tracking the same children to gauge their academic progress over time.
A recent parent advisory committee meeting revealed a growing concern among elementary and middle school parents, Roberts said.
‘Parents are becoming alarmed about the amount of pressure their children are feeling,? Roberts said. ‘They are concerned that, despite very good achievement scores, some of our schools earned a ‘B? on the report card.?
The problems are ongoing, Roberts said, illustrated by the delivery of this year’s MEAP testing materials to the Whitmore Lake school district.
‘That does little to convince me that the process is improving,? he said.
The good news for Clarkston is that no local schools have been put on ‘alert? under the Education YES standards. State and federal mandates include potential loss of Title I funds (currently only Andersonville, North Sashabaw, Pine Knob and Springfield Plains elementaries accept Title I funds) and potential loss of state accreditation.
Independence Elementary School did not receive a composite grade, since the report card tracks scores over a five-year period to compute ‘achievement change.? A similar lack of data led to ‘no grade? for the Renaissance High School and Clarkston’s special education program.