Lincoln examines test scores

By Dan DuChene
Oct. 15, 2008    ·    5:00 p.m.

As students at Lincoln Consolidated Schools rest for the MEAP, the board of education reviewed the district’s testing performance last year.

Though Lincoln High School failed to make Adequate Yearly Progress last year, it was the only building in the district that didn’t. Administrators said there had been some special circumstances surrounding the Michigan Merit Exam last year.

The Michigan Educational Assessment Program, or MEAP test, is given by the state to assess student performance in middle and elementary schools. The Michigan Merit Exam, or MME, is given to juniors and some seniors for the same purpose. Both test scores are used to determine if a district has achieved Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP.

Attendance of the MME, one of the qualifiers to meet AYP, must be at 95 percent. This is one of the reasons presented to the board as to why the high school did not reach AYP. John McGehee, Lincoln High School principal, said the timing of portions of the MME with spring break had caused an attendance problem.

“If you miss 12 kids you drop below 95 percent,” McGehee said. “It’s a rather small number, but we’re going to take some steps to make sure that doesn’t happen this year.”

In addition to addressing the attendance issues, McGehee and Lincoln Executive Director of Curriculum, Richard Schaffner, said the district has an achievement gap with African American students, those living in poverty and special education students. McGehee told the board both groups are underachieving at the high school, and he not only plans to provide additional support for students, but also plans to include transportation to those programs that take place after school.

“If you ask them to stay, and they don’t have a way to get home, they’re not going to,” McGehee said.

He said he hopes to use funding from the district’s at-risk budget to provide for the transportation.

Board Trustee Jeremy Keeney asked if the achievement gap at Lincoln Schools was “mirrored” in data from the state level. Schaffner said the gap was on both levels of education, but the numbers aren’t as drastic at the district as they are on the state-wide level.

Despite the raw data of the MME results, McGehee said most of the students tested were close to passing. He said 73 – 108 students, depending on the subject were actually close to passing the MME.

“(These students) were a couple of questions away from passing,” McGehee said. “By targeting specific, key questions we could see a significant jump of kids (that pass the exam).”

This tactic of using MME and MEAP results to target weak portions of the curriculum are one of the aspects Schaffner said would become part of a “complete curriculum overhaul of all subjects.”

He said the test will serve to “map curriculum.

“We now have a place to see, ‘okay this is what we’re not getting to,’ ” Schaffner said.

Lincoln Superintendant Lynn Cleary said the district can already start focus on writing based on last year’s test results.

Schaffner said the administration is currently working on common writing expectations for the school through a common rubric. He said the school will also use smaller room sizes for the testing this year, along with other strategies to improve the testing environment.

Board President Kimberly Samuelson said, “I think it is critical that we offer our students an environment that is conducive to testing.”