Test scores were the subject of heavy discussion at the March 18 Oxford School Board meeting, following the March 04 Oxford Leader article about Oxford being ranked 414 out of 507 school districts in a recent study by Bridge Magazine.
‘When you’re trying to explain an article like that, it may come out as excuses, but one of the things that I should point out is that it’s kind of hard to figure out what metrics they (Bridge Magazine) use in that study because we just got recognized by the state for the $100 per pupil for performance for our state test scores for this year,? said Chief Academic Officer Ken Weaver.
‘Our test scores are above the county average in Oakland County which typically scores the best either at or above the rest of the counties in Michigan (and)we’re well above if you look at state average in test scores,? Weaver added. ‘We have excellent test scores.?
Board Secretary Mark Stepek asked Weaver how it is they explain to ‘Joe Public? that the district’s scores are good and they’re receiving extra money per pupil because of it. Weaver said ‘that’s the hard part.?
Part of the problem he said is that many of the comparison data studies only use the ‘percent proficient,? as opposed to looking at all scores (above proficient and below proficient).
‘For example that district to the south of us (Lake Orion), we often get compared to them. Looking at their percent proficient, they look like they’re light years ahead of us, but when you actually look at the mean scores for the different areas ELA (English Language Arts) and Math, we are pretty close to them in mean average scores for the MEAP,? he said. ‘But what the difference is, they have a few more kids that are getting over that bar to that percent proficient.?
Weaver said he gets upset sometimes because he doesn’t like that groups try ‘to boil everything down to numbers.?
‘You can’t boil a student down to a number. You can’t boil a school district down to a number. We’re so much more than that, we’re so many more opportunities than that and that’s where I caution people,? he said. ‘You’ve got to be careful as to how far you read into these test scores.?
Trustee Mike Schweig asked if there was a ‘measure? they could use to compare districts across the state. Weaver said he didn’t believe anything had been developed to compare overall. While he does think test scores play a part, he said people also need to look at what opportunities schools offer to students and are the students who graduate going on to college or into the workforce and becoming successful.
‘The state is getting more and more of that data back all the time and filling in that picture of what our graduates are doing and are they being successful,? he said.
Superintendent Dr. William Skilling explained that there are only three tests that are actually ‘valid, reliable and norm-referenced,? which are the ACT Explorer, ACT Plan and the ACT.
‘State tests (such as MEAP ) have always proven not reliable or valid assessment of student performance,? he said.
According to Skilling, last year’s graduating class scored an average of 21.1, which included ‘special needs kids and every student in that grouping.?
‘If you compare that to 2007, the last class that had optional ACT testing they had a 21.7. If you remove 34 percent of those students out, our average would be 23.9,? Skilling said. ‘The reasons I chose that percentage is 66 percent took it in 2007. So if you compare 66 percent today we’re in the 23 range consistently, so that’s a valid, reliable norm-referenced test.?
However, Schweig pointed out if they removed 34 percent of the students from all districts, their scores would probably go up as well. Skilling agreed.
‘I’m only looking at Oxford. I’m not comparing us to others when I say this. I was just trying to show that within Oxford there’s been a tremendous amount of improvement in our ACT test scores in the last several years,? he said. ‘When you compare Oxford to the nation or the state we’re way about the national average and way above the state average and we have been every year. When you consider that 21 will get you into 91 percent of college and universities in this state that’s pretty good and that’s all kids being tested.?
President Jim Reis noted that he’d like to see the data of where students go and what they do after high school, along with their GPA and see how it’s relative. Weaver said it’s something the state started a couple years ago and is updating all the time.
‘I think we have to wait just a little bit longer until we can get a little bit more valid amount of data from that,? he added. ‘But that is a big key indicator of how well you’re educating your students. Are they successful in life? That type of data I think is a little bit more valid.?
Getting back to test data, Trustee Joyce Brasington said she thought a good measuring stick for comparing districts is the ‘Top-to-Bottom ranking? in the state of Michigan, which compares every district on the same criteria.
‘There’s got to be a reason why Lake Orion received 83 of points (2013-2014), Clarkston received 84 of the points and we received 63 of the possible points,? she said. ‘There’s just got to be data there that we can use to effectively instruct our kids.?
‘I know we say ‘we have great scores? and I know we do some things really, really well, but when I look at the top-to-bottom ranking from just last year and we’re ranked so much lower than our surrounding schools, I just need to better understand or better communicate why is that when it’s apple-to-apples,? she continued. ‘Because it really is apples-to-apples, it’s not like we’re doing anything differently test-wise then the school next door.?
Weaver said one of things that is not considered in a lot of the studies is that Lake Orion gets more funding per student.
‘Now, you could say that’s an excuse. But I also know they use that extra money to target interventions and that makes a difference,? he said. ‘When all of our money is going to supplying the core and core programs and you don’t have that little bit of extra (for interventions). Because you can do a lot with that bit extra to target those students (who need help and) to move those percentages up and that’s what it is.?
Schweig believed looking at the top-to-bottom ranking was a good start. Even if they didn’t compare themselves to the surrounding districts, he asked if they could compare themselves to themselves and have a goal in mind of where they would like to see scores improve.
‘In other words, if we’re at 63 in 2013-2014 could we hope to go to 66 and just see our improvement? Ten percent improvement would be six points. I don’t know if that’s a lot, too much or realistic,? he said. ‘But could we get out of this cycle ‘whether we compare to Lake Orion or whether we compare to another district’there is a lot of factors that go on.? Can we compare ourselves to ourselves on this test and then go forward??
Weaver said that’s what their school improvement process is.
‘That’s all about us and what we can do, there’s no other school mentioned in it,? he said. ‘It’s all about what areas we target and can we get better.?
Another thing that happens, explained Skilling is that test scores can also go down due to school of choice students, which is the case for Oxford he said. Skilling used the example of last year’s ninth grade social studies scores on the MEAP test, which included school of choice students from Pontiac’s Walton Charter Academy.
‘When we took out our school of choice students from Walton Charter, we changed eight percent in the county,? he said. ‘We went from being four percent below the county average to eight percent above the county average.?
One of the discussions he said on the table with staff was whether or not they wanted to continue that relationship with Walton Academy. He said both teachers and administration at the high school were adamant about continuing to receive those students because they feel they’re ‘making a difference.?
‘There is something to be said about that,? Skilling said.
Reis agreed.
‘That’s one of the things I am really proud of, is if we can take students from another district and give them an opportunity. I don’t care about our district test scores if (having those school of choice students is) affecting them,? he said. ‘We can do whatever we can to bring them up, but I am really proud that we’re able to (help those other students) and can do that.?
Board Treasurer Dan D’Alessandro, agrees that Oxford needs to get better in their test scores, but he also believes competition is a good thing and he likes having a school district down the street. However, he also cautioned the amount of pressure parents put on their children when it comes to test scores, especially ACT because that score often reflects how much money in student aid they will get for college and the affect that can have on those children.
‘We need to understand that at the end of the day it is a kid, it is a heartbeat and that they’re fragile,? he added. ‘We need to do everything we can do to give them the tools to advance.?
When seeking a superintendent job eight years ago, Skilling said he could have gone to a more affluent district, but Oxford was his first choice.
‘What Oxford has is unpretentious. Don’t ever underestimate how important it is of being unpretentious. I did not want to raise my kids in an environment where they felt entitled. If you want high test scores then go move into a high social-economic community and you can have high test scores,? he said. ‘But I think we offer something much better and much broader. We have a lot of to be proud of and nothing to make excuses about. Just keep measuring our own self and our kids. What have we done with what we’ve been given??