Oxford students continue to outperform the county and state averages when it comes to Michigan Education Assessment Program (MEAP) testing.
Dr. James Schwarz, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, recently received the results of the MEAP tests students in grade 3-8 took back in October.
When comparing Oxford’s percentages of students who met or exceeded state proficiency standards (see box right) to the county and state averages, the Wildcats outperformed both in all grade levels and subjects areas.
Oxford also exceeded last year’s proficiency percentages in every area except fifth-grade science and eighth-grade math.
‘What it tells me is that we’re starting to see the fruits of the labor of the professional development we have been putting in place, especially the model schools professional development we’ve had over the last few years,? said Schwarz.
The MEAP testing was slightly different this year than in previous years because students were not tested on writing and English language arts.
Only fourth and seventh-graders were tested on those two subjects, which were then embedded in the reading score.
‘It used to be that writing was a separate score that was reported separately by grade level, but it is in fourth and seventh grade grade and it has been integrated in the language arts section,? Schwarz explained.
He said that there were two mains reasons that the writing portion was cut from the MEAP testing.
‘They pulled back on doing so much of it because it was subjectively scored and it is very difficult to get true valid scores (from the) different scoring panels that review those.?
He added that the second reason was simple ? finances.
‘It cost all this money to have all these people read these tests from the children, so financially they had to cut back on those folks to do that.?
The biggest area of increase was in the fifth to eighth grade reading portion of MEAP, which saw increases of anywhere from 5-7 percent.
Schwarz noted that multiple factors were instrumental in the scores increasing.
‘Teachers are more in tune with the individual modification and individual accommodation of kids…and with the new reading programs we have put in place over the last couple of years,? he said.
He added that the professional development has allowed for more teachers to facilitate with each other and the teachers using more application type methods of instruction.
‘Because of that, we are seeing it pay off in students.
It was not all positive, however.
The district saw a decrease in the fifth grade science scores, which was down 4 percent from the previous year from 92 to 88 percent at the mastery level of achievement.
According to Schwarz, the decrease in the fifth-grade science score was due in part to the new science expectations being implemented that were mandated a few years ago and from redrawing the cut line for science scores.
He explained that the drop not only occurred in Oxford, but across the state as well.