Edwardsburg Public Schools got some good news when the state released its Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) results for this year.

School officials say Edwardsburg students continue to have higher rates of proficiency than other districts located in southwest Michigan. In fact, Edwardsburg bettered the state-wide average in all areas tested back in October.

Students are assessed in grades three through eight in reading and math, while fourth and seventh grade students are assessed in writing; fifth and eighth grade students in science and sixth and ninth grade students in social studies.

The scores are shared with both the public and the parents.

In a three-county district comparison, Edwardsburg ranked in the top three for proficiency in 14 out of the 18 grades and subjects that were tested.

“This process began with a thorough analysis of assessment results, grade by grade, and topic by topic,” Edwardsburg Superintendent Sherm Ostrander said.

Edwardsburg has spent a significant amount of time district-wide over the last few years analyzing curricular areas of strengths and weakness and have developed instructional calendars based on that analysis.

Those calendars are supplemented with the curricular maps that are already in use.

Ostrander was pleased with the dedication of the Edwardsburg Public Schools staff on their continued improvement in MEAP scoring.

“By making a purposeful connection between curriculum, instruction and assessment, we are reinforcing our district’s vision and mission of maximizing students’ potential to be successful in life,” Ostrander said.

Ostrander said he is also pleased with the systemic changes that are being made as teachers work with each other to view assessment as a tool to continue to improve curriculum and instruction.

This was the last MEAP test as the state will have a new assessment system in place for 2015.