New Test Scores Raise Stakes at Dexter Community Schools

The Michigan Department of Education released Thursday what it calls a “retrospective look” at how students would have fared on past MEAP and MME exams if new cut scores were in place.

Overall, the results show a major decline in student test scores across the state in math, reading, science and social science. In third-grade math, for instance, scores in 2010, go from 95 percent proficient to 35 percent when measured against the new cut scores.

In Dexter, the revised MME scores show 44 percent of juniors would have been proficient in math. This year 77 percent of high school juniors were proficient compared with 75 percent in 2010 and 69 percent in 2009.

Eighty-five percent of juniors showed proficiency in reading versus 83 in 2010 and 79 in 2009. Under the new system, 58 percent were proficient. In science, 84 percent of students achieved proficiency versus 82 percent in 2010 and 76 percent in 2009. Under the new system, 24 percent were proficient.

Officials said the MDE released the past four years data as a way to prepare districts for this year’s results. Jan Ellis, a spokeswoman for the department, said schools can use the information to inform instruction and put in supports and interventions to increase future scores.

The cut scores – the passing scores that distinguish between whether a student is advanced, proficient, partially proficient or not proficient in certain subjects - were adopted by the State Board of Education in September. With the more rigorous cut scores, students need to get roughly 65 percent of the answers correct to “pass” the state test, instead of only 39 percent as was the previous benchmark.

Officials said the tougher standards are needed to get Michigan students on par with others who are college and career-ready. The boost in scores is expected now to give students more than basic understanding of concepts.

“These data will provide educators, parents and communities with a more accurate understanding of what student achievement would have been if the new cut scores had been in place during the past four years,” said state Superintendent of Public Instruction Mike Flanagan in a press release. “These retro-scores can serve as a tool to guide instruction, professional development and student support.”

Dexter Superintendent Mary Marshall said the new cut scores pose a lot of questions for district officials.

"Higher standards for our students are important but we still have several questions on how these cut scores were developed," Marshall said.

State officials said the scores released are for informational purposes only – as a promise kept to administrators to give them an early look at how students would have fared and what areas students.

According to the press release: “These retro-scores will not be used to recalculate any school accountability measures such as adequate yearly progress. They provide historical context to prepare for the implementation of new cut scores, beginning with the scores from this fall’s MEAP tests.”

Flanagan explained that the previous standard was based on the very basic knowledge that students needed in the old industrial manufacturing economy – where students could get a high school diploma and go into a factory and get a very good paying job. Those opportunities are mostly gone now, he said, with students needing at least a two-year community college education to compete in the tech-driven, knowledge-based economy of the 21st century.

“We have to be honest with ourselves about where we are in preparing our kids for the reality of today’s global economy,” Flanagan said. “These updated scores, while they may be difficult to accept, will help lead Michigan forward. Just looking good is not better than being good.”