Michigan Department of Education Releases Response to Focus School Concerns
Thursday, August 16, 2012
The Michigan Department of Education (MDE) has become aware of inaccurate interpretations related to Michigan's Focus School designation, several of which were made in a recently-distributed podcast by an ISD superintendent. We provided schools with multiple ways to learn about this new designation, so local district leaders and the public could be well versed in the true purpose, development, and goal of a Focus School designation. Most school leaders who have Focus Schools understand those purposes and goals, and have been forthright in accepting the responsibility of reaching out to improve the achievement levels of their lowest-achieving students. Those school leaders chose not to make excuses, throw blame on the measurement, and suggest that their high-achieving students should buckle to decrease their school's wide achievement gap, in order to escape a Focus School designation.
The following information from MDE Director of the Bureau for Assessment and Accountability Dr. Joseph Martineau clarifies a number of the misunderstandings that have been spread:
- The Focus School designation identifies schools with the largest achievement gaps between their highest-performing and lowest-performing students. This designation was a required element by the United States Department of Education as part of our federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Flexibility request… the flexibility that relieved schools from the federal burden of having ALL their students be 100 percent proficient in math and reading by 2013-2014.
- In developing Michigan's waiver application, multiple groups of stakeholders (including school districts, intermediate school districts, and education associations) worked with MDE to develop a fair and balanced achievement gap calculation. The final calculation, which identifies schools having the widest achievement gaps between the top 30 percent and the bottom 30 percent of students, was the measurement agreed upon by stakeholders.
- In response to questions from the field, MDE staff ran numerous analyses to determine if the Focus School calculation over-identified any particular type of school, such as higher-performing schools. None of the analyses showed any such over-identifications. The assumption that a school with very high performing students is more likely be labeled a Focus School was not supported. In fact, these analyses actually demonstrated that Focus Schools were identified all along the Top-to-Bottom ranking, ranging from the 5th to the 99th percentiles.
- Since the achievement gap only counts for 1/4 of the overall top-to-bottom calculation, a Focus School might be performing above the state average in average achievement and may even have robust gains in student achievement from year to year. What Focus Schools have in common is that the students in their bottom 30 percent are performing at a level significantly below students in the top 30 percent, when compared with students in other schools.
- We also have heard concerns that by issuing Focus School designations we hope to reduce variation in student achievement. Indeed we are, by increasing the proficiency of low-performing students. When that happens, variation decreases. That is what closing achievement gaps is all about.
Regardless of where a Focus School may be on the Top to Bottom list, or how high their top 30 percent of students are achieving, the fact remains that no matter how high-achieving a Focus School's top 30 percent may be, their bottom 30 percent of students are not being served in the same way. School leaders that understand that have thanked us for bringing it to light so they can focus more resources to help ALL of their students achieve at those higher levels. In no way, as some have said, is that a waste of resources or unfair to teachers. Teachers want to help ALL of their students learn at the highest levels. Hopefully, Focus Schools now can adjust their resources to help their teachers better serve ALL of their students.
For questions and technical support regarding Focus Schools, please email questions to
mde-accountability@mi.gov or call (877) 560-8378 and press option 6. We will be glad to assist you.
Martin Ackley, Director
Office of Communications
Michigan Department of Education
Comments
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 By
Paula Curry on
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
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It is difficult to accept that my school who on the MEAP is improving across the board in all areas and for all learners, and who also has very high scores from the top scorers is being penalized with a confusing and complicated designation.
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