Education Beat: Flint schools test scores show modest gain, still lag behind area, state averages

By Harold C. Ford

Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress (M-STEP) scores in Grades 3-7 show overall modest improvement:

M-STEP  was administered to students in Grades 3-7 during spring 2019 in English Language Arts (ELA), math, and social studies (5th grade only).

In Flint, the tests were administered in eight buildings: Doyle/Ryder; Durant Tuuri Mott; Eisenhower; Freeman; Holmes; Neithercut; Pierce; and Potter.

A close analysis of the numbers suggests Flint students may have improved or remained the same on 65 of 73 tests administered in the eight FCS buildings. [Note: The exact result/interpretation of many tests is unclear due to “greater than” (>), “less than” (<), and “equal to” (=) symbols.]

Most gains were modest, increasing a few percentage points. Nonetheless, a sampling of clear, significant gains from 2017-18 to 2018-19 were posted by students in the following buildings, grades, and subjects:

• Doyle/Ryder, grade 4, ELA, up from < 5 to 13 percent proficient;
• Doyle/Ryder, grade 6, ELA, up from 12 to 20 percent proficient;
• Durant Tuuri Mott, grade 3, ELA, up from 9 to 20 percent proficient;
• Durant Tuuri Mott, grade 3, math, up from 6 to 15 percent proficient;
• Eisenhower, grade 5, math, up from < 5 to 11 percent proficient;
• Freeman, grade 6, ELA, up from 21 to 38 percent proficient;
• Freeman, grade 5, social studies, up from 18 to 23 percent proficient;
• Holmes, grade 4, ELA, up from < 5 to 10 percent proficient;
• Holmes, grade 3, math, up from 8 to 14 percent proficient;
• Neithercut, grade 3, math, up from < 5 to <= 10 percent proficient;
• Pierce, grade 3, math, up from 30 to 35 percent proficient;
• Pierce, grade 6, ELA, up from 15 to 23 percent proficient;
• Potter, grade 7, ELA, up from 9 to 20 percent proficient;
• Potter, grade 7, math, up from < 5 to 12 percent proficient.

However, the front page of the MDE Education Dashboard might give pause to any euphoria generated by the above scores. It indicated that “Students Proficient in ELA at the End of Third Grade” in Flint schools increased from 10.8 in 2017-18 to 10.9 percent in 2018-19.

Further, when FCS students are collectively compared and/or contrasted with students in the Genesee Intermediate School District (GISD), and the State of Michigan, the results are sobering. The ELA and math results for grade 8 are from the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT). The numbers below are rounded and represent percent proficient and advanced combined.

Perhaps a fairer measure of how Flint students are doing is to compare and/or contrast their scores with those of “similar students” per the MDE website. The rounded numbers below represent the percent proficient and advanced combined in “all subjects” in 2017-18 and 2018-19. Keep in mind that 40 percent of all students in “all subjects” in Michigan in grades K-8 were proficient or advanced in 2017-18, 42 percent in 2018-19.

 

Similar results for Grade 8 PSAT:

Test results in 8th grades at the Accelerated Learning Academy (ALA), Holmes, Scott, and Southwestern buildings were relatively similar to those in grades K-6. Last school year students in Grade 8 were switched from the M-STEP to the PSAT as preparation for the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT).

PSAT math: Flint students in Grade 8 posted the following rounded scores for percent proficient or advanced combined in math:

• ALA, <=20;
• Holmes, <=10;
• Scott, 6;
• Southwestern, 6.

Other schools in Genesee County posted proficient or advanced scores on the PSAT math test in the following categories (numbers rounded):

• 10 percent or less: Beecher; Bendle; Westwood Heights.
• 11-20 percent: Carman-Ainsworth; International Academy; Mt. Morris.
• 21-30 percent: Atherton; Genesee.
• 31-40 percent: Clio; Kearsley; Lakeville; Grand Blanc West.
• 41-50 percent: Davison; Swartz Creek; Lake Fenton.
• 51-60 percent: Fenton; Flushing; Goodrich; Grand Blanc East.

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PSAT English Language Arts (ELA)

Flint students in grade 8 posted the following rounded scores for percent proficient or advanced combined in ELA: ALA, <=20; Holmes, 17; Scott, 23; Southwestern, 29.

Other schools in Genesee County posted proficient or advanced scores on the PSAT ELA test in the following categories (numbers rounded):

• 10 percent or less: no schools.
• 11-20 percent: no schools.
• 21-30 percent: Beecher.
• 31-40 percent: Carman-Ainsworth; Mt. Morris; Westwood Heights.
• 41-50 percent: Bendle.
• 51-60 percent: Atherton; Clio; Genesee; International Academy; Kearsley; Lakeville.
• 61-70 percent: Flushing.
• 71-80 percent: Davison; Fenton; Grand Blanc West; Lake Fenton; Swartz Creek.

80-90 percent: Goodrich; Grand Blanc East.

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Scholastic Aptitude Test:

The SAT was taken by Michigan students in grade 11 in the spring of 2019. It measured proficiency in math and Evidence-Based Reading and Writing (EBRW).

In Michigan, 55 percent of students tested proficient on the SAT EBRW; that number was 9 percent for Flint. Other schools in Genesee County tested proficient on the SAT EBRW in the following categories (numbers rounded):

• 10 percent or less: Beecher; Westwood Heights.
• 11-20 percent: no schools.
• 21-30 percent: Atherton.
• 31-40 percent: Bendle; Lakeville.
• 41-50 percent: Carman-Ainsworth; Genesee; International Academy; Kearsley; Mt. Morris; Swartz Creek.
• 51-60 percent: Clio; Goodrich.
• 61-70 percent: Davison; Flushing; Grand Blanc; Lake Fenton.
• • 71-80 percent: Fenton.

• 10 percent or less: Beecher; Bendle; Westwood Heights.
• 11-20 percent: Atherton; Genesee; International Academy; Lakeville; Mt. Morris.
• 21-30 percent: Carman-Ainsworth; Clio; Kearsley.
• 31-40 percent: Goodrich; Lake Fenton; Swartz Creek
• 41-50 percent: Davison; Flushing; Fenton.

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College readiness:

The SAT EBRW and math tests are combined by the MDE to determine whether or not students are “college-ready”. The percent of Flint students determined to be “college ready” was <= 5. College readiness at other schools in Genesee County are found in the following categories (numbers rounded).

• 10 percent or less: Atherton; Beecher; Bendle; Westwood Heights.
• 11-20 percent: Carman-Ainsworth; Genesee; International Academy; Lakeville; Mt.Morris.
• 21-30 percent: Clio; Kearsley; Swartz Creek.
• 31-40 percent: Goodrich; Grand Blanc; Lake Fenton.

41-50 percent: Davison; Flushing; Fenton.

Flint test scores and its “partnership agreement”

FCS has just entered the second school year of its “partnership agreement” (described here and here in previous EVM stories) with the MDE, the State School Reform/Redesign Office (SRO), the GISD, the C.S. Mott Foundation, Michigan State University, the CRIM Fitness Foundation, and the Concerned Pastors for Social Action.

Within three years, FCS is to meet the following goals: increase attendance of students to 90 percent; reduce student suspensions by 10 percent; increase test scores in math and literacy by 10 percent.

Some progress was shown toward improving test scores; more is needed. No data is yet available with regard to suspensions. Improving attendance to 90 percent may be the most challenging of the three goals based on FCS data found at the MDE website.

2017-2018 “On-Track Attendance” percentages are shown for the following Flint schools: Southwestern, 42 percent; Doyle/Ryder, 50 percent; Durant Tuuri Mott, 59 percent; Eisenhower, 57 percent; Freeman, 57 percent; Holmes, 44 percent; Neithercut, 58 percent; Pierce, 63%; Potter, 41 percent. No data is available at the MDE site for 2018-19.

EVM Education Beat writer Harold C. Ford retired from 43 years as an educator in the Beecher Community Schools, where he was the co-founder and first executive director of the Beecher Scholarship Incentive Program funded by the Ruth Mott Foundation. He can be reached at hcford1185@gmail.com.