Michigan AYP Makes Changes, Progress Counts

Michigan AYP makes changes, progress counts
By FRANK KONKEL
Sentinel-Standard writer
Published: Wednesday, July 9, 2008 1:09 AM CDT
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IONIA - In the past, test scores were the primary factor determining whether Michigan students met federally-defined Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP).
Not anymore.
On Monday, Michigan received approval from the U.S. Department of Education to combine a student's Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) score with his or her overall growth as a student over the duration of those test-taking years in deciding whether or not the student has made AYP.
Elementary and middle school students grades four through eight are the primary targets of the AYP adjustment - Michigan is one of nine pilot states first implementing changes - which will begin immediately.
It's called the Growth Model and it could help more Michigan schools make AYP.
“I think it's a good thing,” said Ionia Public Schools Associate Superintendent Ben Kirby. “Measuring a student's growth showing improvement gives more room to identify improvements schools and students are making. Education is an improvement process, not a perfection process.”
In years past, 66 percent of AYP was based on student MEAP scores, while 33 percent is based on a series of school self-reports that include up to 40 topics. Now, starting with scores first reported in fall of 2007, the Growth Model will track each student's performance year to year. It will measure whether students who are not yet proficient are "on track" to becoming proficient within three years. If they are, those students will count toward schools making AYP even if they are not yet proficient.
“This will help recognize the hard work being done in schools where the students may not be reaching the required proficiency levels on our state MEAP and MI-Access tests, but are making significant educational progress every year,” said state Superintendent of Public Instruction Mike Flanagan in a statement.
The logic behind the idea is for more schools to meet AYP. Preliminary AYP results were already issued to elementary and middle schools for the 2007-2008 school year, but after Growth Model calculations are taken into account, many students labeled as non-proficient are now on track and thus qualify as meeting AYP. Those newly qualifying students will be added to final AYP calculations by the Michigan Department of Education over the next several weeks.
“It's beneficial in that this gets down to the details,” Kirby said. “Each students can show growth from their individual baseline and are encouraged to improve.”
Schools that don't meet AYP for two or more consecutive years are placed on a sanctions list under the federal No Child Left Behind act. Penalties become progressively severe each year a school fails to meet AYP. In some cases, schools can lose Title I funding by failing to meet AYP.
In 2007-2008, U.S. Department of Education records show 93 percent of elementary and middle schools made AYP - the number of elementary and middle schools making AYP increased from 2,414 last year to 2,470 this year - but the state's goal is 100 percent.
With the installation of the Growth Model, that goal may be closer than ever.