By JESSICA SIEFF
Niles Daily Star

The results are in.
Results from the 2010 session of Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) testing are in and for Niles Community Schools the news has officials, well, pretty fired up.
“It’s phenomenal,” Director of Curriculum Jim Craig said Thursday.

The district scored above the state average in each of the 16 administered tests for the first time ever.

“It’s very important to measure your performance versus the state average,” Craig said. “The state average is the constant.”

MEAP tests vary from year to year, Craig explained, as each focus area, such as reading or math, include too many objectives within the whole curriculum to test at one time.

“What they are testing changes every year,” he said. “It kind of cycles because they can’t test the entire curriculum every year.”

Craig added that it is important to point out “the MEAP is not an achievement test. The MEAP is a measure of, have your students mastered the curriculum they’re supposed to?”
It would appear the odds are in Niles’ favor. In testing third through ninth grades, Niles students scored above state average.

Craig maintains that the district has had positive scores for some time.

“While our scores are up nicely from last year comparing this years scores to last year’s scores isn’t necessarily meaningful because they’re testing different things,” he said. “What’s meaningful is testing how our kids did compared to other kids in the state that took the test.”
That state average, measured in percentage reflects the percentage of students within the state who have scored either a “1” or a “2” on the test, meaning they have met or exceeded state standards.

“Our performance on this year’s MEAP test reflects years of good work by the staff in improving curriculum and improving our instruction,” Superintendent Doug Law said. “We couldn’t be happier.”

In some cases, such as seventh grade math, eighth grade math and eighth grade science, the district scored as high as 10 percent above average.

Craig credits the district’s success to a change in philosophy about 10 years ago when he said officials “were very satisfied if we met the state average in any score.”

The change came in looking at the overall demographics of the district and believing that disabilities, minorities or socioeconomic disadvantages should not be seen as barriers.
“We don’t believe that those things should be barriers and we don’t accept any excuses, we believe with the proper instruction any child can master the standards and our scores are living, breathing proof of that,” Craig said.

It’s a positive shot in the arm for the district which has been working, as many districts throughout the country, under a dark cloud of impending budget cuts.

“This is validation for everyone from school board members, administrators and school staff that what we’re doing is working,” Craig said. “And sure, that makes you feel good. However, it also makes you feel extra bad that some of the things we’re doing that brought us to this point are going to go away.”

Neighboring Brandywine Community Schools saw above average results on some of their scores as well. Superintendent John Jarpe said the district was above state average in five of the 16 tests, at the same level of the average in eight of the tests and below average in third grade reading, middle school science and ninth grade social studies.

“In terms of looking at past years and improvements that’s an improvement for Brandywine,” Jarpe said.

“It’s still not where we want to be,” he added.

Calling it an indication that the district is “moving in the right direction,” Jarpe said the ability to improve comes at the building level.

“You have to give them (teachers) time to do that and make it a priority,” he said. “We’ve got the staff on board doing that.

“We’re seeing the fruits of our labor,” Jarpe added.

Brandywine plans to give an in-depth presentation of scores sometime next month.
Jarpe said budget cuts would not affect the district’s performance on future tests, as it remains a matter of analyzing data and working on instruction, two things that aren’t at risk.
Though Craig voiced fear over seeing programs “go away,” he remained confidant.
“We’ve been cutting the budget for 10 years,” he said. “And we will continue to do the best we can with what we have. And right now, the best we can seems pretty good.”

SIDEBAR

State        Niles
Average    Community
Schools

3rd Reading         90        94
3rd Math        95        98
4th Reading        84        88
4th Math        92        95
5th Reading        85        87
5th Math        79        86
5th Science        81        82
6th Reading        88        91
6th Math        82        88
6th Soc. Stud.    73        76
7th Math        82        92
7th Reading        82        85
8th Reading        83        88
8th Math        70        80
8th Science        76        86
9th Soc. Stud.    71        76