FeedsMEAP retesting proposal causes concern
Plans to have students retake the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) test are already drawing fire from school leaders.
Earlier this month, a Jackson newspaper article in which a writer covering the MEAP testing listed some of the essay question topics spurred demands for a retest.
Since districts are given a three-week window in which they are allowed to give their students the exam, state education officials expressed fears that the revelation could have potentially skewed results and, ultimately, undermined the validity of the results. As a result, state officials have suggested that all fifth and sixth grade students be required to retake the writing portion of the MEAP. No test dates have been released.
Wayne-Westland School Superintendent Gregory Baracy said he has concerns about the potential impact the retest will have on district students.
“This whole debacle, I think, could be handled a little differently,” said Baracy. “Our young students are stressed out enough already about taking the MEAP test and the other tests required by ‘No Child Left Behind’.”
Students were cheered on and encouraged to be enthusiastic and do their best on the MEAP will now be told their schedule will, at some point in the future, be turned upside-down again because they have to redo the test. Baracy said he feels this retest could be bad for students’ morale.
“It’s an awful lot of stress for fifth and sixth grade students,” he said.
In the Wayne-Westland district, there are 17 elementary schools educating fifth graders and four middle schools with sixth graders. The number of students in the district who will be impacted is expected to be substantial, although exact figures were not available prior to deadline.
It’s a move that also has the potential to possibly correlate to lower scores on the test, said Baracy, who added that he’s “not sure that students will be so motivated to excel” when they are confronted by a new version of the test on which they already gave their best efforts.
It’s a situation that could impact more than just personal scores, too. Results of the MEAP are among the factors considered when the state determines which schools achieve Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) and thus meet the standard set forth by federal ‘No Child Left Behind’ requirements.
Calls to the Michigan Department of Education were not returned prior to publication deadline.
