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MEAP test scores are continuing their drop
Officials say students need rigorous courses
BY LORI HIGGINS and CHASTITY PRATT
FREE PRESS EDUCATION WRITERS
July 15, 2006
| Southfield High School students squeeze together in a chemistry class to work on an assignment. State educators say more math and science classes are needed. (2002 photo by KATHY KIELISZEWSKI/Special to the Fr) |
High school scores on the MEAP test are continuing a downward spiral, with the graduating Class of 2006 stumbling in every subject except social studies, according to results released Friday.
It's an indication, officials say, that students aren't taking the kinds of rigorous courses they need to be successful.
"It's a major cause of concern," said Kathleen Straus, president of the State Board of Education. "We're convinced that if kids are taught properly, they can do a lot more. But they have to be taught the subjects."
Just as dire as the statewide declines in math, reading, science and writing is the widening gap in achievement between white and minority students, and between girls and boys in areas such as reading and writing.
"This should not be acceptable to any of us," said Sharif Shakrani, codirector of the Education Policy Center at Michigan State University.
Statewide, the percentage of students who scored at the top two levels -- which are considered passing -- in math declined from 57% for the Class of 2005 to 52% this year. In science, the drop was from 58% in 2005 to 57% now. Scores in reading are down from 78% in 2005 to 70% this year.
The gaps between white and black students widened, Shakrani said, with 74% of white students passing the math test while only 49% of black students passed. That compares to 82% of white students and 60% of black students last year.
In Detroit, officials said they were still analyzing the scores and trying to figure out how the percentage of students who passed the social studies exam jumped 57%, from 11% in 2005 to 19% this year, which is still well below the state average of 37%.
"We're still trying to figure out what caused it to jump and what we can do to sustain it," said Lekan Oguntoyinbo, spokesman for the school district.
Samuel Brennan, 17, who will be a senior in the fall at Detroit's Renaissance High School, said he doesn't like the constant stress over the MEAP.
"Maybe if teachers and schools focused on teaching the material and not just taking practice MEAP test after practice MEAP test, that will work better and the kids won't be so stressed," he said. "It's hard to squeeze in all of the topics before the test comes around."
The declines in Michigan are similar to what other states have experienced, Shakrani said. And that's why there has been a nationwide push to demand more of high school students.
Michigan this year adopted tougher graduation requirements that will go into effect for the Class of 2011. Students will need to take far more math and science than ever before.
Lisa Steele, parent of a student attending Lahser High School in Bloomfield Hills, said it's up to parents to ensure their children are taking the classes they need -- and that often translates into tougher classes in math and science.
"Unfortunately, there is so much focus on grade-point average that a lot of kids and parents just want to do what it takes to get the 4.0," said Steele, who takes an active role in her daughter's course selections.
Contact LORI HIGGINS at 248-351-3694 or higgins@freepress.com.
Copyright © 2006 Detroit Free Press Inc.
Michigan
Class of 2006 MEAP scores
July 15, 2006
Related articles:
The following are the percentages of Class of 2006 students who met or exceeded state standards on the MEAP in five subjects for each school district in metro Detroit. For complete statewide results, go to www.michigan.gov/mdev
| Wayne County | |||||
| School district | English | Math | Social studies | Science | Writing |
| Allen Park Public Schools | 59.7% | 49.7% | 37.4% | 57.6% | 58.3% |
| Crestwood School District | 59.7% | 53.5% | 41.2% | 59.2% | 57.5% |
| Dearborn Public Schools | 56.3% | 48.3% | 31.4% | 40.7% | 57.2% |
| Dearborn Heights District 7 | 49.8% | 44.1% | 20.3% | 44.8% | 44.3% |
| Detroit Public Schools | 33.1% | 20.2% | 19.6% | 22.1% | 29.2% |
| Ecorse Public Schools | 23.4% | 8.9% | 5.1% | 8.9% | 12.8% |
| Flat Rock Community Schools | 52.7% | 27.3% | 14.5% | 42.7% | 51.8% |
| Garden City Public Schools | 48.1% | 37.6% | 22.5% | 44.7% | 36.7% |
| Gibraltar School District | 62.1% | 43.6% | 28.4% | 60.4% | 47.6% |
| Grosse Ile Township Schools | 85% | 75% | 66% | 81.9% | 80.6% |
| Grosse Pointe Public Schools | 86.2% | 75.2% | 59.9% | 80.3% | 83.8% |
| Hamtramck Public Schools | 43.1% | 34% | 24.1% | 34.7% | 41.2% |
| Harper Woods School District | 44.6 | 59.3% | 34.4% | 46.7% | 35.2% |
| Highland Park Schools | 16.8% | 4.6% | 3.6% | 3.4% | 11.4% |
| Huron School District | 56% | 39.5% | 28.1% | 47.6% | 47.9% |
| Inkster Public Schools | 43.8% | 23.9% | 11.3% | 44.3% | 53% |
| Lincoln Park Public Schools | 40.5% | 26.1% | 18.1% | 33.4% | 35% |
| Livonia Public Schools | 67.1% | 59.6% | 39.2% | 64.5% | 55.4% |
| Melvindale-N. Allen Park | 43.7% | 29.1% | 9.9% | 39% | 39.4% |
| Northville Public Schools | 87.6% | 81.2% | 52.1% | 76.8% | 87.6% |
| Plymouth-Canton Schools | 69.1% | 62.7% | 41.8% | 64.3% | 65.7% |
| Redford Union Schools | 57.9% | 37% | 26.8% | 45.8% | 46.2% |
| River Rouge School District | 22.6% | 13.1% | 5.7% | 23% | 17.3% |
| Riverview Community Schools | 80.2% | 60% | 44.7% | 69.1% | 77.4% |
| Romulus Community Schools | 57.1% | 40.7% | 19.7% | 39.7% | 53.8% |
| Southgate Schools | 43.5% | 35.1% | 29.7% | 41.4% | 39.3% |
| South Redford School District | 70.3% | 53.5% | 37.7% | 62.2% | 61.8% |
| Taylor School District | 44.6% | 28.8% | 18.6% | 40.8% | 33% |
| Trenton Public Schools | 78.7% | 74.6% | 47.5% | 76.5% | 68.6% |
| Van Buren Public Schools | 58.2% | 41.3% | 31.2% | 45% | 46.2% |
| Wayne-Westland Schools | 49.2% | 34.1% | 25.9% | 44.7% | 39% |
| Westwood School District | 44.2% | 14.2% | 5.5% | 11.9% | 46% |
| Woodhaven-Brownstown | 66.8% | 54.1% | 32.4% | 59.4% | 59.8% |
| Wyandotte Public Schools | 53.4% | 50.8% | 22.3% | 61.6% | 39.3% |
| Macomb County | |||||
| School district | English | Math | Social studies | Science | Writing |
| Anchor Bay Schools | 68.6% | 56.6% | 30.1% | 61.9% | 60.8% |
| Armada Area Schools | 57.8% | 48.6% | 31.9% | 56.6% | 51.4% |
| Center Line Public Schools | 61.9% | 51.1% | 24.7% | 47.8% | 54.1 |
| Chippewa Valley Schools | 63% | 54.6% | 29.6% | 57.4% | 59.1% |
| Clintondale Community Schools | 26.9% | 17.3% | 10.2% | 22.7% | 27.4% |
| East Detroit Public Schools | 41% | 28.5% | 20.5% | 33.2% | 38.3% |
| Fitzgerald Public Schools | 39.7% | 24.2% | 18% | 33% | 28% |
| Fraser Public Schools | 64.2% | 51% | 32.2% | 53.1% | 57% |
| Lake Shore Public Schools | 59.1% | 39.4% | 30% | 51.1% | 47.9% |
| Lakeview Pubic Schools | 61.3% | 52.6% | 37.2% | 57.1% | 48.7% |
| L'Anse Creuse Public Schools | 63.2% | 47.5% | 30.2% | 52.3% | 56.3% |
| Mt. Clemens Community Schools | 47.3% | 35.5% | 21.5% | 40.4% | 40% |
| New Haven Community Schools | 46.2% | 26% | 10.4% | 47.4% | 40.3% |
| Richmond Community Schools | 68.9% | 56.4% | 39.6% | 65% | 60.9% |
| Romeo Community Schools | 73.9% | 64.4% | 40.6% | 66.9% | 70.7% |
| Roseville Community Schools | 49% | 36.2% | 17.9% | 41.3% | 40% |
| South Lake Schools | 57.3% | 51.5% | 27.6% | 52.4% | 54.4% |
| Utica Community Schools | 61.7% | 57.9% | 35.2% | 60.8% | 54.7% |
| Van Dyke Public Schools | 35.8% | 26.7% | 15% | 36.8% | 27.4% |
| Warren Consolidated Schools | 58.2% | 45.2% | 30.4% | 47.8% | 51.4% |
| Warren Woods Public Schools | 40.4% | 29.4% | 15.8% | 28.3% | 29.4% |
| Oakland County | |||||
| School district | English | Math | Social studies | Science | Writing |
| Avondale School District | 66% | 61.6% | 41.7% | 65.8% | 63% |
| Berkley School District | 69.9% | 56.9% | 35.2% | 56.1% | 62% |
| Birmingham School District | 91.6% | 89.8% | 95.5% | 95% | 90.3% |
| Bloomfield Hills School District | 86.5% | 80.8% | 63.7% | 78.2% | 78.4% |
| Brandon School District | 79.5% | 64.7% | 63.8% | 69.9% | 71.1% |
| Clarenceville School District | 43.9% | 41% | 22.5% | 44.2% | 52.2% |
| Clarkston Community Schools | 76% | 58.5% | 48.5% | 62% | 73.4% |
| Clawson School District | 48.2% | 40.2% | 18.3% | 40% | 31.8% |
| Farmington School District | 71% | 60.9% | 41.8% | 64.2% | 65.1% |
| Ferndale Public Schools | 54.1% | 46.2% | 35% | 49.8% | 50.5% |
| Hazel Park School District | 41.5% | 31.6% | 16.7% | 33.6% | 28.9% |
| Holly Area School District | 63.2% | 58% | 34.7% | 65.7% | 66.1% |
| Huron Valley School District | 64.3% | 55% | 40.1% | 65.5% | 58.6% |
| Lake Orion School District | 69.4% | 62% | 53.9% | 67% | 58.9% |
| Lamphere Schools | 57.1% | 55.4% | 35.1% | 58.8% | 48.9% |
| Madison District Public Schools | 38.9% | 25% | 16.2% | 29.5% | 34.5% |
| Novi Community School District | 82.7% | 74.5% | 51% | 77.6% | 76.6% |
| Oak Park School District | 41% | 55.7% | 15.1% | 34.1% | 34.1% |
| Oxford Area School District | 65.1% | 51.9% | 33.8% | 54.6% | 63.1% |
| Pontiac School District | 24.8% | 12.9% | 15.8% | 14.5% | 20.3% |
| Rochester Community Schools | 80.7% | 76.5% | 58.4% | 74.9% | 71.5% |
| Royal Oak School District | 70.3% | 60.9% | 41.4% | 64.7% | 64.1% |
| South Lyon Community Schools | 76.9% | 68.4% | 54.3% | 77.7% | 73.1% |
| Southfield Public Schools | 57.3% | 34% | 21.1% | 38.2% | 51.8% |
| Troy School District | 76.7% | 72% | 56.7% | 74.2% | 69% |
| Walled Lake Consolidated | 62.6% | 58.4% | 35.8% | 60.4% | 58.5% |
| Waterford School District | 54.5% | 48.4% | 32.9% | 54% | 49.9% |
| West Bloomfield School District | 64.7% | 60.8% | 41% | 49.7% | 54.4% |
| Statewide | 61.5% | 52.4% | 36.8% | 56.8% | 52.2% |
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