Bloomfield Hills Schools MEAP Results 2012
Students throughout the Bloomfield Hills Schools continue to outpace state averages and show improvements in 2012.
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Bloomfield Hills Schools students continued to outpace statewide averages in the annual MEAP tests in 2012, according to results released Monday morning.
The Michigan Department of Education reports that BHS students showed improvements in nearly every category — at every grade level — with a few exceptions during last year's tests. That's consistent with what districts statewide demonstrated in the data.
During the MEAP exam, taken during fall 2011, students in grades 3-9 were tested in math, reading, writing, social studies and/or science depending on the grade level.
Across Michigan, students showed improvement in reading, math and writing in 2012, with the improvement seen in all grades and most demographic groups.
And it all occurred in spite a new set of cut scores — scores that define the define the cut-off point for the various levels of proficiency on MEAP test: advanced, proficient, partially proficient and not proficient.
'Rising to the challenge' of new standards
Scores across Michigan took a hit in 2011 after the state implemented a new set of cut scores — scores that define the cut-off point for the various levels of proficiency on the MEAP: advanced, proficient, partially proficient and not proficient.
Across Michigan, students made the biggest jump on the 2012 MEAP in reading proficiency for third and eighth graders — with a 4.1 and 5.2 percent gain, respectively. Proficiency in math and writing also grew, with a 6.1 percentage-point gain in fifth grade math.
Meanwhile, science scores dropped across the state in 2012, particularly in fifth and eighth grade, the data showed.
Compared to 2011 results, BHS fifth-grade students showed a decline in the area of science, from 34.7 percent to 26.9 percent, but showed a slight gain in math and about the same in reading, the data shows.
Eighth graders also slipped in science from 41 percent proficiency in 2011 to 34.1 percent last year.
"These gains demonstrate (that) Michigan's teachers and students are rising to the challenge of the rigorous standards established last year," said State Superintendent Mike Flanagan in a statement. "I am encouraged by the progress we are making in Michigan and look forward to the continued efforts to help all students achieve at a higher level in all subjects."
For a school-by-school breakdown of how each school performed on the 2012 MEAP, visit School Data: How Did Bloomfield Hills Students Perform On the MEAP Test?
Fall 2012 MEAP scores
Percentage of all Bloomfield Hills Schools students who met or exceeded state standards, as compared with those same percentages in 2011.
Grade 3
| BHS 2012 | BHS 2011 | Michigan 2012 | |
| Math | 71.1% | 63.5% | 40.9% |
| Reading | 89.4% | 83.5% | 66.5% |
Grade 4
| BHS 2012 | BHS 2011 | Michigan 2012 | |
| Math | 71.7% | 69.6% | 44.9% |
| Reading | 88.4% | 83% | 68.1% |
| Writing | 69.8% | 62.5% | 46.7% |
Grade 5
| BHS 2012 | BHS 2011 | Michigan 2012 | |
| Math | 75.9% | 71.5% | 45.7% |
| Reading | 88.2% | 88.3% | 70.4% |
| Science | 26.9% | 34.7% | 13.1% |
Grade 6
| BHS 2012 | BHS 2011 | Michigan 2012 | |
| Math | 75.4% | 78.4% | 40.2% |
| Reading | 87.5% | 87.5% | 68.2% |
| Social Studies | 56.6% | 53.7% | 29.7% |
Grade 7
| BHS 2012 | BHS 2011 | Michigan 2012 | |
| Math | 79.4% | 72.5% | 38.4% |
| Reading | 87.3% | 81.6% | 62% |
| Writing | 83.3% | 78.4% | 51.7% |
Grade 8
| BHS 2012 | BHS 2011 | Michigan 2012 | |
| Math | 73.3% | 69.2% | 32.5% |
| Reading | 86.5% | 84.9% | 65.7% |
| Science | 34.1% | 41% | 15.9% |
Grade 9
| BHS 2012 | BHS 2011 | Michigan 2012 | |
| Social Studies | 70.3% | 64% | 28.6% |
Source: Michigan Department of Education
Joe Judge
3:03 pm on Monday, February 11, 2013
Ok, I'll go first. These are very good results. A few observations about these scores (note that the same statistics are available for Troy, Birmingham, Novi and Gross Pointe, just go to their Patch websites). First, the progress that BHSD showed outpaced the progress of the State generally. That is, if you added up all the percentage increases for each of the 18 scores, BHSD would post a higher number than the State (and the State increases were impressive by themselves).
Second, if you look at each of the reported scores- there are 18 of them- and compare BHSD to other high achieving districts, BHSD compares very favorably. For example, BHSD was higher than Birmingham in 14 of 18 scores, 14 of 18 over Grosse Point and 14, 3 with 1 tie over Novi. Only Troy seemed to be on par with BHSD, having 9 better scores and 9 worse. That's not to take anything away from those districts, they're good districts and they scored well, it's just objective evidence that the BHSD deserves to be counted among the very best districts in the State.
Joe Judge
3:04 pm on Monday, February 11, 2013
Also Where scores were low, they were still nearly 2x the State average and, in most cases, better than other high-achieving districts. Also other districts, such as Birmingham and Troy, saw precisely similar drops in science scores at the same grade levels, which may tell us more about the science portion of the test than BHSD students specifically (without discounting the obvious general observation that all 5th graders in the state need to do better in science).
While there is always room for improvement, these appear to be very good results for our district. Congratulations to our teachers, principals, the administration, the School Board and, of course, the students and their parents. Well done!
Mike Reno
6:04 pm on Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Well done, indeed. Sitting at or near the top of the stats. In 8th grade math, you certainly did better than Rochester! We failed to get one-third of the kids to the BARE MINIMUM. Bloomfield only left behind one-quarter of the kids.
Neal Charness
3:51 pm on Monday, February 11, 2013
I would give kudos to the children and teachers in the district. Great work. I agree with all that Joe said in his posts. The only area of weakness I see is in science. It's great that the students performed twice as well as the state average but I hope this becomes an area of focus because it will have a significant impact in the later lives of many of the children.