Michigan Board of Education raises proficiency scores for MEAP and MME

Kyle Feldscher:

Don't be surprised if a surprising number of Michigan school districts fall short of proficient scoring after next year's round of standardized state testing.

The Michigan Board of Education approved higher cut scores, or scores that mark proficiency, for both the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) and Michigan Merit Exam (MME) tests at a board meeting Tuesday. According to experts, the new standards will be more honest about how well students are doing on the tests.

"It's going to make a real difference in the share of kids who are being labeled proficient and in the share of schools passing AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress)," said Susan Dynarski, associate professor of economics, education and public policy at the University of Michigan. "Michigan has been Lake Woebegone -- right now 95 percent of our third graders are labeled as proficient in math and under the new standards, it would become 34 percent."

Posted by Jim Zellmer at February 9, 2011 1:36 AM
Subscribe to this site via RSS/Atom: Newsletter signup | Send us your ideas