The Michigan Department of Education released 2013 Michigan Merit Exam and ACT scores Monday morning. The results show most districts are making four-year improvements.
MLive.com file photo
However, state education officials said over a four-year period, students' proficiencies have trended upward, with the largest gains occurring on the MME in mathematics and writing.
Since 2010, mathematics saw an average increase in percent proficient of more than 3 percent and writing saw an average increase of nearly 6 percent.
The MME is administered to high school juniors each spring and tests students' proficiency in math, reading, writing, science and social studies. More than 105,000 juniors were tested on both the merit exam and the ACT college entrance exam in the 2012-13 academic year.
Chart showing statewide averages for student proficiencies on the MME and ACT.
From the Michigan Department of Education
"Over the past four years, more high school students are being taught challenging content and are becoming career- and college-ready," State Superintendent Mike Flanagan said in a news release. "This upward trend is good news for students, educators and our state."
School districts in Washtenaw County largely followed the statewide trend of a slight decrease in performance scores from 2012 to 2013. But it was hit or miss on whether local districts have charted a four-year increase in the percentage of students testing proficient.
On the ACT, the average composite score of students in the Ann Arbor Public Schools increased from 23.1 in 2010 to 23.3 in 2013. Last year's average composite score topped out at 23.5.
Community High School continues to have the highest ACT scores in the Ann Arbor school system — although across all subjects areas CHS' average scores fell by about a point. Community's average composite score was 24.9 in 2013, compared with 26.2 in 2012.
Huron High School did have the highest average score in the district on the math portion of the ACT: a 24.3.
About 41.3 percent of AAPS students met the state's proficiency standards on the ACT this year. That percentage is down slightly from 2010 (41.8) and down about 2 percent from 2012.
Just 4.6 percent of students at Ypsilanti Public Schools tested proficient on the ACT, compared with 8 percent in 2012 and 4.7 percent in 2010.
However, the district's average composite score this year was a 16.7 — the highest average score for Ypsilanti in the past four years.
Dexter Community Schools had 40.1 percent of its students score proficient on the ACT for 2013, about a 2.5 percent increase from 2010. Its average ACT composite score was 23.2.
Saline Area Schools had the highest student proficiency rate in Washtenaw County on the ACT, with 47.9 percent of students meeting state standards. It also had the highest district average composite score (24).
Search the MLive database to see how your child's district and high school fared on the ACT.
On the Michigan Merit Exam, the Ann Arbor Public Schools saw a four-year increase in students testing proficient in all subject areas except for math and reading, which both decreased by a percentage point.
The district saw the greatest gains in writing, an increase of about 5 percent since 2010. Its percent proficient rates for both math and social studies increased by 3 percent.
Saline saw four-year improvements in all subject areas, with dramatic gains of 9 percent in science and social studies. Saline was up 6 percentage points in math, 5 percentage points in writing and 1 percentage point in reading.
Dexter also made significant growth in all subject areas: 8 percentage points in math, 6 percentage points in science and writing, 4 percentage points in social studies and 2 percentage points in reading.
The Ypsilanti Public Schools also saw noteworthy gains in three subject areas and broke even in one, social studies. The percentage of students scoring proficient increased 8 percentage points in reading, 4 percentage points in writing and 3 percentage points in social studies. The district declined 2 percent in math proficiency rates.
Search the MLive database to see how your child's district and high school fared on the MME.
Danielle Arndt covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. Follow her on Twitter @DanielleArndt or email her at daniellearndt@annarbor.com.