assessment

It's October and middle level administrators are getting ready for the MEAP assessments that will take place during this month. A recent Marshall Memo gives some pointers for dealing with test preparation and test anxiety.  The Marshall Memo is an MASSP membership benefit.

Ways Teachers and Counselors can Reduce Test Anxiety

2009 AYP Summary attached

While students are making some progress on the Michigan Merit Exam in math, social studies and writing, with the same or worse scores in other subject areas, still fewer than half of students are proficient in writing and math and, overall, scores don't reflect college readiness, Superintendent of Public Instruction Mike Flanagan said on Tuesday.

Writing and math scores each improved by three points this year, with 44 percent of 11th grade students scoring proficient or advanced in 2009 compared to 41 percent in 2008 and 49 percent receiving those marks in math this year compared to 46 percent last year, according to test results released by the Department of Education.

Last spring MASSP members were asked, "If you were King/Queen for a day, what would you do with the MME and MEAP?" This information was shared with Senators Swialski and Jelinek. They must have been impressed by what they learned. There is a significant section in the Senate version of the School Aid Act dealing with assessment.

A Collaborative Story
by Summer Retreat Participants*

Thirty-two educators, representing both the middle level and high school, met during the Summer Retreat to review the report The Forgotten Middle and offer their response to the ACT research study. During the lively discussion, the participants reviewed the Executive Summary and offered their own thoughts about the report findings.

Major Finding of the Unforgotten Middle Study

The letter below was sent to the Michigan Legislature on June 17, 2009. In addition to the letter a fact sheet was enclosed (click here to download the fact sheet (DOC). The association notified association members of an ACTION ELERT on June 16th. Members were given sample letters and asked to send to their legislators.

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Dear Senator

We must do everything in our power to help Michigan students succeed in the real world.

May 13, 2009

Staff of the Office of Educational Assessment and Accountability (OEAA) have been working on Secondary Credit Assessments for the areas of Chemistry, U.S. History and Geography, and English 10. These assessments are now ready for use by local districts.

By Jim Ballard
MASSP Executive Director

Finally there’s a recognition program to honor those successful decisions made by your school improvement TEAM!

MASSP, in partnership with MEEMIC, want to honor TEAM decisions that have demonstrated school change. We hope to honor your TEAM for successful strategies that: demonstrate collaborative leadership, and professional learning communities, or, personalizing school environment, or, curriculum, instruction, and assessment, or, ideas to reduce educational costs.

From: MME [mailto:MME@michigan.gov]
Sent: Thu 1/15/2009 9:37 AM
Subject: New Social Studies Requirement for Michigan Promise Scholarship
Pursuant to Public Act 517 of 2008... In addition to all other eligibility requirements, a student who takes the Michigan Merit Exam (MME) in 2009 or after must now also achieve an MME score of Level 1 or 2 in Social Studies to become eligible for installment payments of the Michigan Promise scholarship.

If you have questions about this new requirement, please contact the Michigan Department of Treasury which is solely responsible for administering the Michigan Promise scholarship (call 888-447-2687 toll-free).

Bob Nelson
Michigan Department of Education
Office of Educational Assessment and Accountability

Public Act 517 of 2008