Schools
Michigan Merit Curriculum Helps Juniors Improve Test Scores This Year
Students in several Oakland County schools scored the highest among their peers on the ACT and Michigan Merit Exam.
There’s some good news and bad news in data released Monday by state education officials Monday: ACT and Michigan Merit Exam scores have increased, but the number of career- and college-ready students has decreased.
The Michigan Department of Education credits the Michigan Merit Curriculum for students’ success on the two tests. Scores on the ACT test rose from 19.3 in 2011 to 19.8 this year, reports the Detroit News. High school juniors take annually in the spring.
The MME curriculum focuses on math, science and English concepts as well as performing arts and foreign languages.
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This is the fourth year that the state’s average on ACT test scores has risen.
Students were successful in all areas of the Michigan Merit Exam – reading, writing, social studies, math and science.
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The biggest accomplishments were in social studies and reading, in which students scored five points or higher.
Although students’ scores have been low in previous years, this year 43.9 percent of students are proficient, compared with 38.6 percent in 2013. Proficiency in reading also rose from 53.5 in 2013 to 58.7 percent this year.
But only 17.8 percent of juniors are college-ready, a decrease from last years 18.1 percent.
In order to be college-ready, students have to be proficient in all ACT areas—math, reading, English and science.
Ecorse, River Rouge, Westwood and Highland Park, a charter school district are among four districts that have zero college and career ready students.
Of the 2,622 students who tested, Detroit Public Schools saw a decrease in ACT scores but an increase in career- and college ready-students. The average score for the students was 16.4 this year, compared with last year’s score of 16.6.
The highest possible score on the ACT is 36.
College readiness percentages increased to 2.7 this year, compared with 2.3 last year.
The highest ACT scores came from the Oakland County district – Bloomfield Hills, Novi, Troy, Birmingham and Northville, which also has students from Wayne County.
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