And the results are in — finally.
Oxford Area Community Schools received their official MEAP results late last week, with the numbers being posted on the web for parent access shortly after.
“These are very, very late,” said Director of Curriculum Karen Eckert. “And we don’t even have all the complete data yet. There were several problems this year.”
Some of the problems with releasing the results included students being separated into incorrect demographic categories and several student tests being placed with the wrong district or lost all together. Eckert confirmed that there are some districts still without all their individual student results.
“So far we are okay though, at least I haven’t heard anything from the individual schools yet,” she added. “Everything’s matched up pretty close.”
According to state results, 59 percent of fourth graders met Michigan standards or higher on the English Language Arts (ELA), a new examination for this year. Previously, students were tested only in reading; now reading and writing have been combined into the one test. For math, 65 percent were proficient.
In Oxford, 65.6 percent of fourth graders were proficient on the ELA and 72.7 percent on the math. This is down slightly from the 67.8 percent proficient in reading and 77.4 in math for 2002.
For fifth graders, social studies was still the hardest assessment of the year. Statewide only 28 percent of the students were proficient in the skill. However, Oxford Schools saw drastic improvements going from 19.8 percent in 2002 to 32.9 percent this year. In science, the state average was 77, and Oxford once again came out above with 86.8.
“We were pleased with a good gain in some areas,” said Eckert. “Reading improved (when the ELA score is broken down), and reading and math pretty much stayed the same.”
Following is a breakdown of the results for the individual elementary schools:
n Clear Lake Elementary – In the fourth grade, 75.8 met or exceeded Michigan standards in the ELA and 78.6 in the math. Last year, 88.6 percent were proficient in reading and 93.3 percent in math. In the fifth grade, 96.7 percent were proficient in science and 42.4 percent in social studies. In 2002, the numbers were 98.9 percent and 27.5 percent respectively.
n Lakeville Elementary – In the fourth grade, 48.6 percent were proficient on the ELA and 76.2 percent in math. In 2002, 37.6 percent met Michigan’s standards in reading and 57.1 percent in math. In the fifth grade, 77.1 percent met Michigan’s standards in science, up from 75.0 percent, and 25.3 percent in social studies, up form 15.1 percent.
n Leonard Elementary – In the fourth grade, 60.9 percent met Michigan standards in ELA, down from 63 percent in reading for 2002, and 56.6 percent were proficient in math, down from 74.1 percent. In the fifth grade, 89.6 percent were proficient in ELA, an increase from 85.7 percent in 2002, and 27.6 percent in social studies, a drastic and impressive improvement from 6.1 percent.
n Oxford Elementary – In the fourth grade, 81.3 percent of the students were proficient in ELA and 81.3 percent were proficient in math. The ELA count is much higher than last year’s 67.6 percent in reading alone; however, math decreased slightly from 82.5 percent. In the fifth grade, 84.2 percent met Michigan’s standards for ELA, down from last year’s 97.5 percent, and 31.6 percent were proficient in social studies, up significantly from 21.8 percent.
Similar to the elementaries, the middle school MEAP assessments for reading and writing were combined into the single ELA test. Overall, 65.6 percent of Oxford’s seventh graders met or exceeded Michigan’s standards on the ELA. Again, the school is well above the state average which was 58 percent. When separating the count between reading and writing, 70.2 percent of the students were proficient in reading, up from 56.5 percent in 2002, and 55.2 percent were proficient in writing, down from 67.1 percent.
In the eighth grade, Oxford landed right around the state averages: 58.6 percent were proficient in math, 67.8 percent in science and 31.6 percent in social studies. At the state level, 52 percent met the standards in math, 65 percent in science and 33 percent in social studies.
Overall, Oxford’s results either exceeded or equaled the state averages and showed that students within the district are still meeting Michigan standards.
So what do all these numbers mean to Oxford Schools officials?
According to Eckert, these tests are a wonderful source for looking at overall trends with large groups of students in the district and seeing what direction the curriculum must head.
“We’re going to be doing our annual reports and analyzing these now,” she said. “We’ll sit down and take a look at how the students did and if they made progress, and if not, what we need to do.”
The scores will also be used to determine whether or not a school district made Adequate Yearly Progress as part of the No Child Left Behind legislation, and what grade the district will receive under state legislated Education Yes!
As far as individual student results, Eckert says the scores don’t show much in a child’s overall yearly development.
“It’s one test,” said Eckert. “If you want to know how your child is doing, talk with their teacher. The MEAP should not be a surprise. Parents know if their child is doing well.”
Parents will be receiving their individual students’ home reports over the next few weeks. These reports will contain not only a student’s MEAP scores, but also an explanation of those scores so that parents can see a specific topic a child may be struggling to grasp.
“I think in some cases where students didn’t do very well in a subject, it makes the parents feel better,” said Eckert. “They can see their child isn’t just failing math, they need to work in a specific area like fractions.”
Parents looking for MEAP information on Oxford Schools can visit the website www.mcgi.state.mi.us/mischoolinfo/ and see charts relating to district-wide and individual school scores.