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BACK To SCHOOL

Understanding
MEAP

T

ILLUSTRATION BY HOWARD FULLMER

he scores are plastered
on the front pages of all
of the local newspa-
pers. Parents become
worried or elated about the re-
sults. Principals gloat or hide
their faces and real estate agents
can quote nuances about differ-
ent school districts based on the
test scores.

1 00

What does the test assess ? How is it
graded, and what is it used for?

LISA BRODY SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

School children take the Michi-
gan Education Assessment Pro-
gram (MEAP) tests in the fourth,
fifth, seventh and 11th grades.
Despite all the hype, many par-
ents have no idea what the test
is about.
Officially, the purpose of the
exam is "to provide information
on the status and progress of es-

sential skills education to the
State Board of Education, the ex-
ecutive office, the state Legisla-
ture, local educators, teachers,
students and parents."
In laymen's terms, the NEAP
let's all of us know how well our
schools are doing.
The MEAP has been taken by
Michigan public school children
since 1969. It is continually re:
vised to reflect changing educa-
tional trends.
It would be impossible for any
one test to assess everything kids
learn in the elementary, middle
and high schools. The state's goal,
however, is to assess an individ-
ual student's performance in
areas it has determined are es-
sential.
This year, for the first time, the
MEAP was used as an endorse-
ment on graduating high school
students' diplomas, indicating
they are proficient in communi-
cation arts, mathematics and sci-
ence.
"Should parents be worried if
a school is not doing well on
MEAP?" asks Chris Schram, the
mathematics assessment con-
sultant for MEAP at the De-
partment of Education. "It can
be a flag, but parents should look
at how the school is teaching
everything."
"We say to people, use this as
one measure, not the measure,"
says Peter Bunton, an adminis-
trator for MEAP. "It should be
information that teachers and
administrators can use as an-
other means to help young peo-
ple."
Dr. Seymour Gretchko, su-
perintendent of West Bloomfield

Schools, agrees. "It is a measure,
not the definitive measure," he
says. "However, MEAP has been
used more to compare school dis-
tricts, and that is not very help-
ful because we are not all on a
level playing field."
Dale Truding, principal of
Birmingham's Covington School,
adds, "I think it gives broad
brush strokes on how your kids
are doing in certain general ar-
eas of math and reading. It was
never meant to pit schools or dis-
tricts against each other, and it
was never meant to assess indi-
vidual children."
Other assessments, such as
the Metropolitan Achievement
Test and the California Achieve-
ment Tests, test children indi-
vidually and assess their ability,
as well as how well they are do-
ing compared to others in their
grade.
Teachers often look at these
assessment tests, in conjunction
with regular classroom tests and
papers, to truly see how well stu-
dents are doing. If a child is
struggling in math, and does not
do well on certain areas of
MEAP, it can confirm for the
teacher where that child needs
help. On the other hand, if a child
is excelling in math but does not
do well on the math section of the
NEAP, he may not understand
how to take the test, or may not
have tested well that particular
day.
"The difference between
getting one question right or
wrong skews the percentage al-
most astronomically," says Dale
Truding, "[Because there are few
questions in each area] It can re-
ally skew a whole school. Class-
es are different every year. If your
MEAP scores are down one year,
does that mean your curriculum
is wrong or your teachers are not
doing well?"
A hot button issue is
school funding, and how MEAP
scores will be tied into state
funding to public and charter
schools.
Parents should put their
child's MEAP scores in context.
Being involved in your child's
school is the best way to know if
the curriculum is up to par. Re-
search shows that when parents
are involved in their children's
school and homework, the stu-
dents do better in school and on
tests.
An involved parent will know
whether MEAP is truly assess-
ing his or her child and school. ❑

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