And the final report cards are here – sort of.
Despite statements from multiple state officials that results will not be released until the appeal process is completed, the Michigan School Report Cards were posted for public access on Jan. 30 at 1 p.m.
The school report cards are a result of the state’s Education Yes! and the federal government’s No Child Left Behind legislations. The purpose is to provide parents with an idea of how their district is performing, while at the same time making the schools accountable for their results.
The grades incorporate data such as MEAP results, surveys, student attendance and graduation rates. Each school is graded in three areas: Student Achievement Status, Student Achievement Change and Indicators of School Performance. These three grades are averaged and then combined with whether or not the school made Adequate Yearly Progress to determine the composite grade.
Oxford Area Community Schools received Bs straight across the board for their composite grades. Following is a brief breakdown for each school:
n Oxford Elementary – Preliminary Grade: B, Met AYP, Composite Grade: B
n Leonard Elementary – No grade available because of limited number of students, Met AYP
n Lakeville Elementary – Preliminary Grade: B, Met AYP, Composite: B
n Daniel Axford – No grade available because of limited date (students do not take MEAP), Met AYP
n Crossroads for Youth (Middle and High) – No grade available because of limited number of students, Met AYP
n Clear Lake Elementary – Preliminary Grade: B, Met AYP, Composite: B
n Oxford Middle School – Preliminary Grade: B, Did Not Make AYP, Composite Grade: B
n Oxford High School – Preliminary Grade: B, Did Not Make AYP, Composite Grade: B.
“I understand the political pressures everyone is under with this,” said Oxford Schools Curriculum Director Karen Eckert, “but we were promised by the state superintendent that he would not release inaccurate data, and that’s what’s being done.”
Oxford Schools currently has two items under appeal. Oxford Middle School is listed as not having made AYP because the school’s subgroups did not make AYP. According to the No Child Left Behind Legislation, subgroups, which are defined by race, economic background or learning disabilities, must achieve the same amount of progress as the school as a whole.
Eckert explained that the legislation also allows for subgroups that made “significant improvements,” but did not make AYP to be counted as having achieved AYP status. “We feel that Oxford Middle School falls into this provision and have filed an appeal on those grounds,” Eckert stated.
The second appeal is for Oxford High School which is listed as not having achieved AYP because not enough students participated in the MEAP testing. Eckert said that when tallying the numbers, the state did not take into consideration students that may have left the district right before the exam, or those that took special exams or exams elsewhere.
“It’s simple, we did have enough participation,” Eckert said. “We went through and counted every single student that took the exam. We have sent them the entire list of names and such.”
“Our grades will stay the same,” she added. “I just want to make sure we’re listed as AYP when we are.”
In response to the release of their grade cards, Oxford Schools has sent out a letter to parents informing them about Education Yes! and No Child Left Behind. The letters also contain instructions on where the grade cards are posted, how to access them and where parents can turn to with questions or for more information. “It is already six months past when these were first to be released,” said Eckert at the last regular board meeting. “My only concern is the inaccuracies. Everyone will read about our schools not making AYP, they won’t notice the little box a month later saying the appeal went through and we actually did.”
To see a more detailed break down of your school’s grade card, please visit www.michigan.gov/mde.