How Do Farmington Schools MME, ACT Results Compare?

While performs above state average when it comes to the percentage of students meeting benchmarks on the ACT college entrance exam, less than 30 percent of students met state benchmarks.

By comparison, nearly 58 percent of Bloomfield Schools students hit the state mark, the highest rate among neighboring district scores reviewed by Patch. Southfield's 2.1 percent ranked lowest on our list. 

Local results for the ACT college entrance exam composite score show 27.6 percent of Farmington juniors met state benchmarks for college readiness that are part of Gov. Rick Snyder's Education Dashboard. That's 10 percentage points above the statewide average. 

The dashboard number measures the percentage of students meeting the ACT college-ready benchmark on all four ACT-tested subjects – English, reading, mathematics, and science. 

In a press release issued today, the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) reported overall composite scores for Michigan high school juniors increased for the fourth consecutive year, as did the percentage of Michigan students who are career- and college-ready.

State-wide student achievement on the 2012 Michigan Merit Examination (MME) shows one-year gains and even larger four-year gains in mathematics, reading, writing, and science.

The percentage of Farmington students judged proficient or above on the MME improved in reading, writing, math and science. More than half of the students tested in reading achieved the state benchmark; only about a quarter of students hit that mark in science. Social studies proficiency slipped from 50 to 47 percent, similar to state-wide results.

Farmington results ranked in the same league with West Bloomfield and Livonia. Bloomfield Schools again performed best among neighboring districts, with percentages ranging from 64 to 87 in the five subject areas.

This year's results reflect , the passing scores that distinguish between whether a student is advanced, proficient, partially proficient or not proficient in certain subjects. With more rigorous standards, students need to get roughly 65 percent of the answers correct to “pass” the state test, instead of only 39 percent, which was the previous benchmark.

If you've wondered how other school districts do, here's a look at this year's numbers from some of our neighbors, as well as the average for districts within the Oakland Intermediate School District:  

2012 ACT results

2012 MME proficient or above

High school juniors who took the MME this past spring represent the third junior class that is required by law to complete the new, more rigorous Michigan high school graduation requirements, the MDoE notes. The two-credit world language requirement will take effect for the graduating class of 2016, with schools being allowed to give world language credits to students in middle or elementary school grades.

The MME is given each spring to 11th grade students and is administered over a three-day period. Students take the ACT Plus Writing college entrance exam on Day 1, WorkKeys job skills assessment on Day 2, and the Michigan components of mathematics, science, and social studies on Day 3.