By Meg Peters
Review Co-Editor
Instead of bubbling in multiple-choice answers with number 2 pencils, Lake Orion students are in the midst of taking a new and mostly online state standardized test, which started last week.
The M-STEP, or Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress, replaces the Michigan Educational Assessment Program, or the MEAP test, which has been in classrooms for over 40 years.
Students in grades three to eight are being assessed in language arts and mathematics, grades four to seven are being tested for science, and grades five and eight are being assessed for social studies. The M-STEP also tests students in grade 11 with a college entrance exam, work skills assessment, and summative assessments in English language arts, math, science and social studies.
According to the Michigan Department of Education (MDE), 674,347 test sessions have been completed to date.
Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Heidi Mercer reported no technical problems at the start of the test, which has been scheduled in different classrooms throughout the district over the next several weeks.
Only a few parents opted to not have their child take the test, she said. The MDE requires a 95 percent participation rate of students in grade 11 to take the test, which is then factored into the school’s overall scorecard.
‘It’s simply one way of holding schools accountable, and I’m for that,? she said.
Her biggest obstacle was not the online administration itself, but instead pairing each student with a computer.
‘We had to do a little bit of juggling, but our staff and our technology department have created a schedule and it’s working,? she said. ‘We have had a great start to the testing window with very few issues at all. It’s been a positive week.?
One issue with using all the district’s computers for testing, Mercer found, is that other teachers and students have no access to technology for classroom instruction.
Overall, the kids seem to like the new test.
‘The feedback we are receiving from students is they definitely like it and prefer it online,? she said.
Students underwent several weeks of preparation in order to master the online test process. For many of the younger students who have grown up with touch screen devices, such as the I-pad, using a desktop mouse was a learning process. Older students too practiced their typing skills prior to the M-STEP for questions that required paragraph responses. Students also learned how to use calculators online for different math portions of the exam, how to highlight text, and drag and drop information.
Also new to the M-STEP are the classroom activities and performance activities where students observe a teacher performance and answer the associated questions online. For example, a fifth grade student could be presented with a narrative, informational or opinion performance task and is required to craft an essay in response.
‘The questions are absolutely at more of a critical thinking level because that’s what the standards have been raised to do,? Mercer said.
The fact that it’s not all multiple choice is beneficial to students too.
‘It’s appealing and is certainly better for kids because they can demonstrate their ability in several different ways,? she said. ‘The expectation has been raised, which it should be, and the tests have become online, which they should be. The world is changing, and I feel strongly that we have to keep up with that. Otherwise we’re doing our students a disservice, and overall I think our community has understood that.?
Scores are expected to be released in July, and it is anticipated that parent reports will be available in the fall.
Send your letters to the editor regarding the M-STEP to lakeorionreview@gmail.com