Results for the 2008 Michigan Merit Examination (MME) show that high school students need more work on writing and math, according to Lake Orion school officials.
‘We did not show improvement in math, ELA, or writing,? said Linda Glowaz, director of information and testing services for the the district.
While up slightly from last year, writing scores were still down in the 50 percent range. Science scores were also a bit higher from last year, from 73 to 74 percent.
Scores were down compared with 2007 in the rest of the subjects tested in the MME, which replaced the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) test last year: math scores were down two percent at 58 percent; social studies one percent at 90 perecnt; reading down one percent at 73 percent; and English Language Arts (ELA) was down two percent at 65 percent.
But Lake Orion students were still above both the county and state averages in all testing, including the MME, ACT and WorkKeys for 2008. Students are tested in the eleventh grade.
In MME testing, the district was fourth highest in the county in social studies, fifth highest in science, and sixth highest in reading. In Math and ELA, Lake Orion was ninth in the county, and tenth in writing.
‘We’re still above average, and that’s amazing,? said Mary Jo Burchart, the school board’s vice president.
Another bright spot were scores for special education students, which rose considerably in every subject.
‘It was a very positive year, something we should celebrate,? said Darin Abbasse, associate principal at Lake Orion High School.
But according to Abbasse, there is more that can be done to raise scores overall.
‘We’re improving, but we still have a lot of work to do,? he said.
Some of the strategies the district plans to continue to implement include giving students more ACT sample questions and tests, after-school tutoring, and bolstering the ACT preperation classes. School officials also agreed that the way the tests are organized aren’t always the way the material is presented in the classroom.
‘It’s not what we’re teaching, it’s the way we’re teaching it,? said Todd Dunkley, principal of Lake Orion High School.
The strategies are intended to get the students thinking in the same way the test questions are organized.
Overall, though, Dunkley and school officials were optimistic about the scores.
‘Our work is paying off,? Dunkley said.