Berkley's 2011 MEAP Scores Show Some Gains, Slips

The annual MEAP scores, released Wednesday morning, show areas of improvement and decline for Berkley Schools in the last year while maintaining  a higher level of proficiency in every grade level and every subject than students statewide.

The 2011 Michigan Educational Assessment Program measures progress in subjects such as math, reading, writing, science and social studies for third through ninth-graders.

In the data released publicly Wednesday, nearly 47 percent of Berkley third-grade students were ranked proficient in math, versus 53.3 percent in 2010 when adjusted for the state's new "cut scores." Third-grade students also saw changes in their reading scores, with 76.1 percent proficiency in 2011 versus 77.1 proficiency in 2010.

In math, scores were up across the board from 2010, save for third-graders, which showed a district-total decline of 6.6 percentage points proficiency, and fifth-graders, who dipped 0.3 percentage points in proficiency.

Reading scores jumped in all but third-graders when compared to 2010 scores in all grade levels.

Berkley Schools officials did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday.

Statewide reading and mathematics scores saw positive gains compared to the previous year, the Michigan Department of Education said in a press release.

"We have a lot of room to grow, but this is a positive step," state Superintendent of Public Instruction Mike Flanagan said. "I am very confident that we have professionals in our classrooms who will continue to step up to the challenge of preparing our students to achieve at higher levels."

This past year, the state adopted improved "cut scores" for the MEAP that represented career- and college-ready achievement standards. Cut scores define the level of performance (advanced, proficient, partially proficient and not proficient) a student has achieved on a given test.

The 2011 MEAP cut scores better reflect how well schools are preparing students for success at the next grade level and whether students are progressing at a level "sufficient" for colleges and universities.

Although the results of the fall 2011 MEAP assessments were released publicly today, school districts in Michigan received student-level results from the fall 2011 MEAP in December, providing teachers with the ability to review and analyze those results and to use that information to provide targeted instruction to students.

Here's a look at the 2011 MEAP scores:

MEAP reading

Here's a look, grade by grade, at the percentage of students proficient in the reading portion of the test.

Grade

2011

2010 (adjusted)

Berkley

3

76.6

77.1

Michigan

3

62.4

63.2

Berkley

4

84.3

78.7

Michigan

4

67.7

63.5

Berkley

5

86.9

78.8

Michigan

5

68.8

65.3

Berkley

6

83.2

74.8

Michigan

6

67

63.2

Berkley

7

68.9

66.4

Michigan

7

59.7

55.6

Berkley

8

72.9

66.8

Michigan

8

60.5

56

MEAP math

Here's a look, grade by grade, at the percentage of students proficient in the math portion of the test.

Grade

2011

2010 (adjusted)

Berkley

3

46.7

53.3

Michigan

3

36.3

34.9

Berkley

4

67

61.6

Michigan

4

39.9

39.6

Berkley

5

65.1

65.4

Michigan

5

39.6

38.5

Berkley

6

66.1

60.5

Michigan

6

37.1

36.2

Berkley

7

57.5

48.4

Michigan

7

37.2

35.9

Berkley

8

42.3

41.2

Michigan

8

29.4

28.9

MEAP writing

Here's a look, grade by grade, at the percentage of students proficient in the writing portion of the test.

Grade

2011

2010 (adjusted)

Berkley

4

54.4

60.8

Michigan

4

44.5

47.2

Berkley

7

51.4

52

Michigan

7

47.3

47.8

MEAP science

Here's a look, grade by grade, at the percentage of students proficient in the science portion of the test.

Grade

2011

2010 (adjusted)

Berkley

5

22.5

26.1

Michigan

5

15.3

17.4

Berkley

8

22.1

16.8

Michigan

8

16.5

14.9

MEAP social studies

Here's a look, grade by grade, at the percentage of students proficient in the social studies portion of the test.

Grade

2011

2010 (adjusted)

Berkley

6

44.1

54.4

Michigan

6

27.7

28.1

Berkley

9

40.5

44.3

Michigan

9

28.7

33.2

Source: Michigan Department of Education