Berkley School District Outperforms Most in Michigan

No school in the landed on the Michigan Department of Education list of 98 Persistently Lowest Achieving Schools that was announced Friday, and all BSD buildings ranked above the 50th percentile compared to other schools in Michigan.

The state's top-to-bottom ranking list is based on student proficiency, achievement, academic growth, achievement gaps in math, reading, writing, science, and social studies, and also the graduation rate for high school buildings, according to a Michigan Department of Education press release Friday.

"This is just one point of data for our District and other schools across the state," BSD communications supervisor Shira Good wrote in an email Friday to Berkley Patch. "What matters most to us now, at this point in the year, is preparing staff to welcome back students.

"We are proud of our students and staff for consistently achieving above local and state averages (in this particular ranking, Burton Elementary placed in the top 1 percent state-wide)," she wrote.

While they both outperformed most schools in Michigan, Berkley High School and Norup International School were the lowest-ranked of the district's schools. Earlier this month, the Michigan Department of Education reported that .

However, the high school has achieved positive results during the past year.

• The percent of students who scored at or above a "proficient" level on the 2011 Michigan Merit Exam beat the state average in every category, although their scores were slightly lower than last year's results.
• also made it onto Newsweek magazine's 2011 list of America's Best High Schools.
• Michigan Educational Assessment Program test results for fall 2010 released in March show a majority of students in the met or exceeded state expectations.

"The heart of our work is still closing the achievement gap within our own student body and doing our very best to develop the whole student," Good wrote.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Mike Flanagan urged communities to use the rankings as a tool to assess how effective districts are.

“Some schools are doing well at preparing students. Too many others still are struggling. But we all can improve,” Flanagan added. “In order for Michigan to succeed in this competitive global economy, our schools need to step up their efforts – some, in a big way. I encourage communities to have honest discussions with their school leaders to embrace and support the changes needed to move forward.”

Percentile ranks of BSD schools

Source: Michigan Department of Education