Michigan Merit Scores Show Mostly Gains for Ferndale's 11th-Graders

The Michigan Merit Exam scores released Tuesday show that Ferndale's 11th-graders mostly made gains over last year's scores in terms of the percentage who met or exceeded exam standards.

The MME is given to 11th-graders and tests math, science, social studies, reading and writing. Also released Tuesday were district averages for 11th-graders taking the ACT.

Eleventh-graders in the Ferndale school district attend one of three programs: , and the Alternative Education program.

Ferndale High School saw gains in every category, including a 12-point improvement in science. FHS 11th-graders also improved slightly on their ACT scores, from 17.8 to 18.3.

The Alternative Education program saw declines and improvements in its MME scores. The program saw a four-point increase in social studies and in science but a 12-point drop in math, going from 12 percent to zero percent (30 students tested) and a seven-point drop in writing, from 7 percent to zero percent (40 students tested).

University High School saw the largest increase in a single test by improving 13 points in its math exam scores, going from 12 percent to 25 percent who met or exceeded standards. UHS also made significant gains in writing and science, increasing 1o points each. However, UHS scores declined in reading from 2010, dropping t0 42 percent from 48 percent.

District spokesperson Stephanie Hall said the numbers released Tuesday were not surprising.

"The scores reflect the intensive work the teachers at our high schools have been doing. ... As the teachers focused specifically on the state curriculum and standards, as well as on the ACT tests, we expect to see progressively improving scores," she said.

Hall said the scores are one of the measures teachers use to evaluate the teaching and learning that goes on in the classroom. But she said comparisons to other districts or the state are "less meaningful" than measuring growth within the district.

"We always look at our scores by building and compare our scores to our own scores from year to year," Hall said.

"Our scores this year demonstrate what we believe: Ferndale schools are strong and improving each year. ... All we can really say is congrats to the teachers for their dedication to improving student achievement, and to the students on their commitment to success and preparing for their futures."

Here are the MME scores for Ferndale's 11th-graders:

Reading

Ferndale High School

Writing

Math

Science

Social Studies

ACT Averages

Data comes from the Michigan Departmnt of Education.