To assist districts and schools in transitioning to new state assessment cut scores, the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) today released the past four years of Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) and Michigan Merit Exam (MME) data, retroactively applying the new cut scores adopted by the State Board of Education in September.
The new cut scores better reflect how well schools are preparing their students to be on-track for career- and college-readiness in high school, and on-track to proficiency in the next grade for grades 3-9. Career- and college-ready means students are adequately prepared to pass first-year community college courses without remediation.
"These data will provide educators, parents, and communities with a more accurate understanding of what student achievement would have been if the new cut scores had been in place during the past four years," said state Superintendent of Public Instruction Mike Flanagan. "These retro-scores can serve as a tool to guide instruction, professional development, and student support."
Cut scores are the passing scores that distinguish between the four levels of student performance (e.g., Advanced, Proficient, Partially Proficient, or Not Proficient) on a given test, in consideration of the content being measured.
Applying the new cut scores to historical MEAP and MME data shows a dramatic decline in student test scores across the state. Third-grade math scores in 2010, for example, go from 95 percent proficient to 35 percent proficient.
These retro-scores will not be used to recalculate any school accountability measures such as Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). They provide historical context to prepare for the implementation of new cut scores, beginning with the scores from this fall's MEAP tests.
Flanagan explained that the previous standard was based on the very basic knowledge that students needed in the old industrial manufacturing economy—where students could get a high school diploma and go into a factory and get a good paying job. Those opportunities are mostly gone now, he said, with students needing at least a two-year community college education to compete in the tech-driven, knowledge-based economy of the 21st Century.
"We have to be honest with ourselves about where we are in preparing our kids for the reality of today’s global economy," Flanagan said. "These updated scores, while they may be difficult to accept, will help lead Michigan forward. Just looking good is not better than being good."
With the more rigorous cut scores, students need to get roughly 65 percent of the answers correct to "pass" the state test, instead of only 39 percent as was the previous benchmark.
Flanagan said, "I applaud the strong support from educators for raising our cut scores to better prepare all students. While assessment scores show a sharp decline with this change, they still show the academic growth Michigan students have made over the past several years. I have confidence that student growth will continue."
The MDE has worked with national and statewide experts, including the ACT Measurement and Research staff, the National Center for Educational Achievement, the department's own Technical Advisory Committee consisting of local stakeholders, and other experts as appropriate, to develop the methods to be used to identify career- and college-ready cut scores for the MME.
Likewise, the MDE worked with the same group of experts to develop the methods to be used to identify cut scores representative of being on-track to proficiency at the next grade for MEAP.
The updated data include 2007-2010 MEAP and 2008-2011 MME assessment scores.
The updated data are available for school districts and individual school buildings on the MISchoolData portal at
http://www.michigan.gov/mischooldata. Downloadable spreadsheets containing the same data can be accessed on the Michigan Department of Education website via the links below:
The MEAP downloadable data files can be accessed at:
The MME downloadable data files can be accessed at: