Washtenaw County Michigan Merit Exam results: How did your school do?
Ann Arbor Public Schools’ scores on the Michigan Merit Exam stayed steady from last year and are still far ahead of state averages in many categories, according to statistics released by the state Tuesday.
The scores from other Washtenaw County high schools also remained similar to 2010’s scores.
- For a PDF list of Ann Arbor high schools scores and other county schools, click here.
- To view a state database of MME test results by school and district, click here.
Among the gains in Washtenaw County:
School districts such as Milan Area Schools, Whitmore Lake Public Schools, Willow Run High School and Dexter Community Schools all produced gains in a majority of the five subjects.
School districts such as Manchester Community Schools and Chelsea School District posted slight declines in average scores, but managed to stay above the state average.
An average of 52 percent of Michigan students scored proficient or advanced in math. The other scores of proficient or advanced: 63 percent in reading, 61 percent in science, 77 percent in social studies and 47 percent in writing. Michigan students have made gains in all areas except social studies since 2007.
The Ann Arbor statistics broke down as follows:
- 74 percent of students scored advanced or proficient in math; same as in 2010.
- 78 percent of students scored advanced or proficient in reading; 1 percent drop from 2010.
- 75 percent of students scored advanced or proficient in science; 1 percent gain from 2010.
- 87 percent of students scored advanced or proficient in social studies; same as in 2010.
- 66 percent of students scored advanced or proficient in writing; 1 percent gain from 2010.
Eleventh-grade students across the state of Michigan are given the MME and ACT tests every spring as a part of the graduation requirements approved by the state in 2007.
Among the drops in Washtenaw County:
Saline High School saw a drop in the percentage of students scoring proficient or advanced in all 5 subjects, but remained above the state average in every category. Despite dropping in every category, the largest decrease was just 4 percentage points below last year’s numbers.
The scores for high school students in Ypsilanti dropped in 4 out of 5 categories, but included a gain of 10 percentage points in science. However, just one-quarter of Ypsilanti 11th-graders scored proficient in math and less than one-fifth scored proficient in writing.
The scores for Ypsilanti represent only students at Ypsilanti High School due to the fact that the recently opened New Tech High School had only freshman in 2010-11.
Note (July 5): The numbers used to determine the percentages in this story were the amount of students who met or exceeded proficiency over the total number of students tested. School districts may report different scores to parents based on how the state calculates which students are included in the total included number.
Kyle Feldscher covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.
Comments
lonmitch59
Thu, Jun 30, 2011 : 12:21 p.m.
Amazing analysis by the reporter. Chesea School District has the highest marks by any district in Social Studies and the writer's conclusion is "but managed to stay above the state average." All of that data on a Word document? Really?
Will Warner
Wed, Jun 29, 2011 : 10:53 a.m.
In every school but Community High the scores in Social Studies are higher than those in every other subject area, often way higher—almost double in some places. What do SS teachers know about teaching that the others don't? ;)
AMOC
Thu, Jun 30, 2011 : 8:36 p.m.
The Social Studies questions on the MME are written for Michigan only. The rest of the MME is the same as the nationally-normed ACT. The cut score, or level at which a student is deemed proficient, is determined by the same people who have been setting the level for MEAPs. Those cut scores have been acknowledged as being significantly too low to be realistic, and are scheduled to rise significantly next year.
Fat Bill
Thu, Jun 30, 2011 : 2:10 a.m.
Yep, social studies, sorry to say, is somewhat easy compared to the other subjects...
sh1
Wed, Jun 29, 2011 : 12:54 p.m.
SS scores are higher for the whole state, which means it is more likely an easier test to pass than having anything to do with the teachers.
Stephen Landes
Wed, Jun 29, 2011 : 1:54 a.m.
Why is this data presented in such a cumbersome format? How about EXCEL, listing the high schools in the left column and the 5 categories in the first row. With a real table one could even craft a download that was sortable . Sure would improve the ability to compare schools and would have taken less typing to create.
Catherine Timberlake
Wed, Jun 29, 2011 : 12:41 a.m.
"School districts such as Manchester Community Schools and Chelsea School District posted slight declines in average scores, but managed to stay above the state average." What a misleading statement! Yes, Chelsea School posted declines of up to 5 percentage points. For example in Social Studies, the district declined from a 97% to a 92%, so yes it was a decline, but I would not categorize the results of the district scores as "managed to stay above the state average".
Jonny Spirit
Wed, Jun 29, 2011 : 12:18 a.m.
Great job Saline, Keep moving all those teachers again and see just how bad your moves are. When are you going to see this is NOT good for kids. Just keep watching the test scores going down every year, house value drop, and your school turns into a ghost town. Please STOP Administration with your chess game of moving teachers! Your Losing!
Jonny Spirit
Wed, Jun 29, 2011 : 4:46 p.m.
I totally agree Mr. Zimmer. Just another choice that was done directly to save a dollar and not educationally good for students. Another top down decision.
David Zimmer
Wed, Jun 29, 2011 : 2:10 p.m.
The decline in Saline could also be a reflection of the impact of trimesters and the increase in class size. This class of students are the first with having trimesters for their entire high school career, have been in the largest classrooms in over 20 years and they are only getting larger next year. The AP scores of Saline show that our highly motivated kids are doing great, however those who are not are losing. It may very well be because of class size and the pace of the trimester model of instruction. The moving of teachers is only one aspect of the changes. Clearly the district is reaching a tipping point and hopefully the SEA, the School Board and School Administration will work together to address these concerns for the best interests of our children and their future.
xmo
Tue, Jun 28, 2011 : 11:57 p.m.
Why don't teachers get paid on their students test scores? If they want to get paid more and not have more budget cuts "put up or shut up"! I think it would be great to have teachers evaluated like sports coaches and business leaders not on effort but on results!
Catherine
Sun, Jul 3, 2011 : 8:36 a.m.
Because how well you teach is not reflected in the performance of every student. You could have a horrible teacher and excel in every category, or have an amazing teacher and not have a clue what you are doing. How well students perform depends upon each individual student. Did you forget how high school works?
TV
Wed, Jun 29, 2011 : 1:09 p.m.
xmo- you really think it's that simple? Did you look at the PDF? Ever notice that students in poor districts do worse than students in rich districts? Look at Willow Run and Community High. Think about who is attending these schools. Would you like to pay more in taxes to reward the great job Ann Arbor teachers are doing? Fire all the terrible teachers in Willow Run? Do you think all the awesome A2 teachers are going to run over there to replace them?
Shelly
Wed, Jun 29, 2011 : 1:04 p.m.
Sports coaches and business leaders can get rid of employees who don't want to be there, who don't care, or who don't put forth their best effort. Teachers don't have that option. How do you evaluate a teacher who has tried many different approaches with a student who still does not "perform" well? Extra pay for all the "off-the-clock" time spent thinking and researching ways to help that student learn?
Beth
Wed, Jun 29, 2011 : 11:54 a.m.
@xmo, it's because by the time a student is in high school they have had a lot of teachers, and their overall knowledge comes from all those teachers and not just the teacher they have when they're taking a test. You could evaluate teachers by testing students at the beginning and end of a school year and looking at progress in a subject, but not by using a regular standardized test like these.
garrisondyer
Wed, Jun 29, 2011 : 2:39 a.m.
Because there haven't been any proposals for fair and/or plausible methods of effectively evaluating teachers according to their students' test scores. There are a number of complications to this idea, and I personally don't think it will happen.
Carl Ebach
Wed, Jun 29, 2011 : 2:16 a.m.
Then they should be paid that much!
Dr. Vag
Tue, Jun 28, 2011 : 11:46 p.m.
These tests are a joke and a waste of everyone's time. Let the teachers do their jobs. You may find they're pretty good at it.