BRIMLEY - Brimley Area School students have demonstrated proficiency in most academic areas once again as the results from the Michigan Educational Assessment Program were recently released. While students continue to excel in science and math, writing assessment results continue to baffle administrators.
Grades three to five scored low in writing tests, while grades six and seven scored high. For example, only 36.4 percent of students in the third grade met or exceeded standards in writing, while 96.7 percent of students in grade six met or exceeded the standards.
Brimley Superintendent Alan Kantola said the school is attempting to find out what's going on, as students are taught by many of the same teachers in the grades tested.
"It doesn't make sense; we have a lot of work to do in writing," he said, adding the issue was Intermediate School District-wide. "A lot of professional development is being done in that area."
This year's testing was different than previous years, so faculty were unable to compare the results to prior tests. Under the No Child Left Behind Act all students in grades three to eight were tested in math, reading and writing. Not every student was tested in science and social studies. The new content standards involved both English language arts and mathematics. MEAP assessments were given in the fall to test over the full previous year of instruction and measure what students have retained from that year.
Each district is given an itemized analysis of results to illustrate which test questions posed the most difficulty for students, allowing them to finetune their curriculum to focus on areas where students are weak.
"March and April In-Service days are being used for this analysis," said Kantola. "We are going to find gaps in the curriculum and beef-up those areas of the curriculum. We want to make sure that everything being tested is being taught."
MEAP testing was first initiated in 1969. Current MEAP tests are based on content standards developed and approved by state educators and the Michigan State Board of Education in 1995. Each student's results are reported and judged against a specific performance standard. Meeting the standard indicates the student has met the expectations for the recommended state curriculum.
For a complete listing of all MEAP results, visit the education section at www.michigan.gov.
