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Ishpeming school officials talk tests

Carrie Meyer, superintendent, Ishpeming Public Schools

ISHPEMING — Top Ishpeming educators believe state tests are just a small part of determining classroom achievement, and there’s a better way to measure success.

Seth Hoopingarner, principal at Ishpeming Middle/High School, talked about recently released SAT and M-STEP scores for public schools in Michigan.

“They’re a small piece of an overall puzzle,” said Hoopingarner, who noted he probably was speaking for all educators.

Michigan third- and fourth-graders improved slightly on reading and math tests last spring, but those results were among the “few highlights” in otherwise disappointing scores, state officials said during late summer, according to an Associated Press story. The results went down in 11 of the 18 subject areas tested in grades 3 through 8 and 11.

Results for Ishpeming Public Schools announced at that time were: Birchview Elementary, 17.5 percent proficient in third-grade English; Ishpeming Middle School, 20.8 percent proficient in eighth-grade math; and Ishpeming High School, 1003.1 average SAT total score.

Hoopingarner said local schools also take an NWEA test three times a school year.

According to its website at nwea.org, the Portland, Oregon-based Northwest Evaluation Association is a research-based, not-for-profit organization that supports students and educators worldwide by creating assessment solutions that measure growth and proficiency — and provide insights to help tailor instruction.

“The key benefit of using that is if we give that multiple times a year, it shows growth, and that’s the big thing we want to see,” Hoopingarner said.

“There is value in the state tests, but those tests are only given every spring.”

Hoopingarner acknowledged those tests — the SAT and M-STEP — important, and Ishpeming Public Schools uses them.

State tests, he said, are given in May, but school officials don’t receive results until September. This year, M-STEP scores in the school district were down from the previous school year,

“It’s really not beneficial to us as educators,” Hoopingarner said of state tests. “It’s not really a tool for us. It’s snapshot of where we’re at.”

However, that’s not what IPS educators are seeking.

For Hoopingarner, it’s showing students’ growth.

This year, staff is concentrating on middle school math and language arts, he said.

“Those are our core areas, and for whatever reason, they went down last year,” Hoopingarner said. “Part of the problem is that one year doesn’t make a pattern. So, you don’t know if this is an anomaly. You don’t know if this is a pattern.”

He said efforts are being made to improve academics, with after-school homework clubs available for middle and high schoolers. Also, a Title I math tutor is targeting certain middle school students to help them in that subject.

Birchview Elementary School Principal Bernie Anderson said a variety of assessments, such as NWEA and M-STEP, are used to measure student achievement at that school.

“With the assessments we’re able to more accurately identify strengths and weaknesses,” Anderson said.

School staff can enter into various interventions to help students.

One is Power Hour, which breaks a class down into high, middle and low levels, the idea being to get students up to speed, Anderson said.

Birchview also has Title 1 assistance, with IPS one of the first districts to hire a reading coach to address deficiencies in that area, he said. That instructor comes up with programs and identifies teaching aids and apps.

“The reading coach also coaches teachers on different strategies that they can use within the classroom,” IPS Superintendent Carrie Meyer said.

Anderson said Birchview students took the most recent M-STEP in a single 1.5-hour block, which might have had some bearing on results. For the next test, that time will be broken up into shorter periods.

He also pointed out many other districts prepare for M-STEP tests ahead of time, but IPS staff doesn’t believe that’s in the students’ best interest.

Anderson believes Birchview does have at least one major strength.

“I think we have an excellent teaching staff,” Anderson said.

Curriculum plays another role in Ishpeming elementary education, with art, music, computers and physical education taught at Birchview, he said. There also are pre- and post-school programs in place where students can work on academics.

Meyer said all teachers have been trained over the last year in the research-based program, Math Foundations, to learn effective math teaching concepts.

Meyer also advocates NWEA results.

“It measures growth rather than a snapshot, because it is one of the tools that teachers are using in the classrooms to decide where to intervene and provide extra interventions,” Meyer said.

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