Most Farmington MEAP Proficiency Rates Drop
But the district's students outperformed state averages under tougher standards.
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There's good news and bad news forFarmington Public Schools in the 2011 Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) proficiency scores, released Wednesday morning.
While local students outpaced state averages at every grade level and in every subject area, year-to-year proficiency rates show declines across all grade levels. All of the results reflect new "cut scores" — the passing scores that distinguish between whether a student is advanced, proficient, partially proficient or not proficient in certain subjects — 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 be judged proficient, instead of the previous benchmark of only 39 percent.
The percentage of Farmington Schools' third-, fourth-, seventh- and eighth-graders proficient in reading rose slightly from last year. Fifth-grade reading proficiency held steady, and eighth-grade science proficiency rose from 16.2 percent to 19.2 percent. However, numbers in all other subjects, at all grade levels tested, declined from 2010.
Farmington-Farmington Hills Patch will meet Wednesday with school officials to get their reactions, and we'll take a deeper dive into the data with building-by-building numbers. In the meantime, here's a quick look at the percentage of local students judged proficient by grade level and subject area:
| 2011 MEAP Results | |||
| Grade | Subject | FPS | State |
| 3 | Math | 46.2 | 36 |
| 3 | Reading | 71.3 | 62 |
| 4 | Math | 49.6 | 39 |
| 4 | Reading | 76.5 | 67 |
| 4 | Writing | 55.4 | 44 |
| 5 | Math | 43.4 | 39.6 |
| 5 | Reading | 76.7 | 68.8 |
| 5 | Science | 22 | 15.3 |
| 6 | Math | 49.3 | 37 |
| 6 | Reading | 76.9 | 67 |
| 6 | S. Studies | 39.2 | 27 |
| 7 | Math | 47.5 | 37 |
| 7 | Reading | 71.7 | 59 |
| 7 | Writing | 57.4 | 47 |
| 8 | Math | 53.4 | 29.4 |
| 8 | Reading | 69.9 | 60.5 |
| 8 | Science | 19.2 | 16.5 |
| 9 | S. Studies | 38.5 | 35 |
| Farmington Schools MEAP Scores | |||||
| Grade | Subject | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 |
| 03 | Math | 46.2 | 52.8 | 52.1 | 55.8 |
| 03 | Reading | 71.3 | 70.9 | 77.0 | 74.5 |
| 04 |
Math |
49.6 | 57.6 | 56.7 | 57.5 |
| 04 | Reading | 76.5 | 75.1 | 75.8 | 74.9 |
| 04 | Writing | 55.4 | 60.5 | NA | NA |
| 05 | Math | 43.4 | 52.0 | 57.7 | 49.6 |
| 05 | Reading | 76.7 | 76.7 | 79.8 | 76.3 |
| 05 | Science | 22.0 | 25.2 | 20.2 | 25.6 |
| 06 | Math | 49.3 | 62.0 | 56.0 | 51.5 |
| 06 | Reading | 76.9 | 79.0 | 74.9 | 68.1 |
| 06 | S. Studies | 39.2 | 41.7 | 47.2 | 46.3 |
| 07 | Math | 47.5 | 52.3 | 58.3 | 52.9 |
| 07 | Reading | 71.7 | 65.6 | 65.8 | 70.4 |
| 07 | Writing | 57.4 | 59.4 | NA | NA |
| 08 | Math | 53.4 | 56.1 | 54.2 | 52.5 |
| 08 | Reading | 69.9 | 68.3 | 68.8 | 62.8 |
| 08 | Science | 19.2 | 16.2 | 20.7 | 25.4 |
| 09 | S. Studies | 38.5 | 44.8 | 48.8 | 52.2 |
Source: State of Michigan Department of Education
In This article
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Farmington Public Schools Lewis Schulman Administrative Center
32500 Shiawassee Rd, Farmington, MI
melissa
12:59 pm on Wednesday, February 15, 2012
While I realize this is only a "snapshot" of my kids' performance on that particular day, can we all concede that answering 65% of questions correctly on any test should not be a passing grade? Even on a very generous scale, that would be a "D".
Joni Hubred-Golden
6:09 pm on Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Melissa, I asked Kris Gekiere, who is the school district's MEAP "guru", why the state standard for ranking a student as "proficient" has dropped over the years. This is someone who lives and breathes this stuff, and even she didn't have the answer. But the cut score for math, for instance, has dropped over the years from 38-55 percent (depending on grade level) to 29-35 percent.
As a result, the new standard in some cases more than doubles the requirement to be deemed proficient.
melissa
10:06 pm on Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Thanks, Joni, for asking the questions. I'm still not sure I understand the state's definition of proficient. Perhaps it's just an issue of semantics. Like David, I'm curious about neighboring communities, as it definitely relates to issues of choice for current and prospective residents. Thanks again. I look forward to more information.
David Anderson
1:06 pm on Wednesday, February 15, 2012
While it is good to know that FPS "... students outpaced state averages at every grade level and in every subject area ...", I would like to know how we performed against our peers, our competitors, our neighbors. Presuming MEAP is an attribute of performance that is considered when "choosing" a district, where does FPS rank amongst our peers/competitiors/neighbors? Is the district improving, treading water, or trending down?
Joni Hubred-Golden
6:12 pm on Wednesday, February 15, 2012
David, I could get that information from our immediate neighbors - Livonia, Novi, West Bloomfield, Southfield. Are there others you'd like to see?
David Anderson
7:53 pm on Wednesday, February 15, 2012
The BOE has said that FPS is achieving excellence and often uses standardized test scores v State averages as support. What I want to know is how do we compare locally to the districts that would be competing for the same students. I think our immediate neighbors include West Bloomfield, Bloomfield, Birmingham, Novi, Northville, Livonia, Plymouth-Canton. Where do we rank? Have we gotten better/worse against this same cohort over the years?
Bob Austin
1:36 pm on Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Do the students at OLS and St. Fabian take the meap tests as well? I would be interested to know how the public school education fares against the private school education in that realm.
Joni Hubred-Golden
6:03 pm on Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Bob, private schools are not required to administer the MEAP test. I believe charter schools are, however.
Bryce
5:21 pm on Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Wait for it. Here it comes...
Someone, somewhere, will use this report as a reason for spending more on education.
S
6:29 pm on Wednesday, February 15, 2012
What are really sad are the science scores. No wonder our country is falling behind the rest of the world What is good news is that it appears that our kids will be able to "read" about their failures in this area, but will they understand what they are reading?
Don't even get me started on social studies. A district that has decided that American government is unnecessary says it all.
Joni Hubred-Golden
7:52 pm on Friday, February 17, 2012
S, what do you mean by the district deciding that American government is unnecessary? I keep hearing that, but I'm not seeing that it has been dropped from the curriculum.
Kelli Carpenter-Crawford
9:30 pm on Wednesday, February 15, 2012
I'm assuming that % proficient includes "proficient" and above (advanced), but just thought I'd ask the question.
Thanks, as always, for the timely reporting Joni.
MKP
9:30 am on Thursday, February 16, 2012
Question please - I need clarification as to how the above grid is calculated? For example, the MEAP scores for Math are out of 554; if a child gets 479, its around 86%. Where are the above percentages reflecting or how are they calculated. Thanks !
Joni Hubred-Golden
7:50 pm on Friday, February 17, 2012
MKP, those percentages represent the percentage of students at each grade level who were judged at least "proficient" - Kelli, it does include advanced as well.