After months of waiting, M-STEP (Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress) scores from the 2014-15 school year finally arrived right before Christmas break, according to Chief Academic Officer Ken Weaver, who presented the results at the Jan. 6 Oxford School Board meeting.
‘As you can see, the state’s plan to get scores to us quicker has really paid off,? said Weaver in a sarcastic tone. ‘We still don’t have the item analysis yet, so it’s been really difficult doing things with school improvement. As the administrators know, I’ve been pretty frustrated with all of this.?
At this point, Weaver said it’s really hard to say much about the test, especially when trying to compare M-STEP scores with the MEAP, the previous state test.
However, to help give parents an idea on whether or not their child is progressing, Weaver said the state will be sending out a ‘student growth percentile report,? which will show what percentile that student scored on the 2013-14 MEAP test compared to the percentile they scored on the 2014-15 M-STEP.
‘That student growth percentile report will give you a better feel if the child is progressing or not, or at least treading water where they’re at,? he noted.
Students in grades 3-8 and 11 were tested in English Language Arts and math.
Students in grades 4, 7 and 11 were tested in science, while grades 5, 8, and 11 were tested in social studies. (See the chart of results below).
When it came to the scores, Weaver said he was ‘particularly pleased? by their science scores.
‘Quite honestly, out of all the areas we’ve been working on and everything else, this was probably the most surprising because we, as a group, probably think our science scores are not as strong as they should be,? he said. ‘But when they came out, they were quite higher than what we thought they would be, so we were very pleased with that.?
Part of the reason he said they were surprised is because there is such an emphasis on English and math.
‘I think that’s one of the unintended consequences of ‘No Child Left Behind? was that a lot of times science and social studies curriculum got pushed (to the side),? he said.
However, he thinks IB (International Baccalaureate) has been helpful with putting the focus back on science and social studies.
As far as the big picture, Weaver called it a ‘mixed bag of results.?
‘It’s really too soon to draw any conclusions from the M-STEP. We don’t even have the item analysis back,? he explained. ‘It’s a new test. It’s not the MEAP, so it’s really hard to look at and say, ‘Oh, we went down,? (or) ‘Oh, we went up? . . . The state has to get a lot faster and a lot better at getting our results for us to do anything with (them).?

Percent efficient on M-STEP
Subject Oxford State County
ELA
3rd 52 50 59.3
4th 61 47 57.5
5th 59 49 60.3
6th 60 45 53.4
7th 59 49 59.1
8th 63 48 57.9
11th 43 49 53.2

Math
3rd 57 49 61
4th 61 41 54.3
5th 49 33 47.8
6th 48 33 45.4
7th 50 33 46.5
8th 49 32 45.8
11th 28 28 36.2

Science
4th 21 12 16.7
7th 39 23 31.9
11th 32 29 35.4

Social Studies
5th 25 22 30.6
8th 48 30 40
11th 48 44 52