Ypsilanti K-8 schools post positive test scores, but Ypsilanti High School continues to underachieve
Student achievement in Ypsilanti Public Schools at the elementary and middle school levels is rising, but Ypsilanti High School continues to underachieve, test scores show.
Assistant Superintendent Jennifer Martin presented an update on student achievement at the Board of Education meeting Monday that painted a positive picture for grades three through eight. However, test scores a the high school level were disappointingly low.
“We are definitely strong from the start, but we need to look at how we’re finishing,” she said.
Ypsilanti High School placed in the bottom 2.14 percent of the state in overall test scores in 2009-10. Test scores on the Michigan Merit Exam reading and writing portion had just 56 percent of students pass, 15 percent below the state’s Advanced Yearly Progress marker. Scores on the math portion of the MME were even lower, with just 27 percent of students passing — well below the 55 percent AYP.
The average ACT score in the high school was 17.3, more than two points below the Michigan average of 19.7.
In Advanced Placement classes, the gap between students enrolled in classes and students who took the AP tests was vast — something Martin attributed to some students not wanting to pay the fee for the test. While 209 students were enrolled in AP classes in 2009-10, 61 actually took the tests in English, statistics, chemistry, biology, psychology and calculus. Only 18 of those students came away from the test with a successful score, a three out of five or higher.
School board President David Bates said the district has to make students more aware of the resources available to them for AP testing.
“We used to pay for the test upfront, but we had so many sign up and not show up that now we have students pay for it and we reimburse them,” he said.
One of the most disappointing aspects of Martin’s presentation for board members was the results of the district's new E-2020 summer school courses.
Of the 100 students who enrolled in chemistry, language arts and mathematic courses, only 34 passed the intensive, five-week course. Martin said the district needs to reevaluate what it expects from students during those courses.
“It was too much for students to complete in that time unless they worked around the clock,” she said.
Trustee Andy Fanta said the summer school program has to be restructured to be useful to the district and its students.
“The results of the summer school courses are abysmal,” he said. “I would question, as it is now structured, whether or not it is a worthwhile enterprise.”
Despite the bleak picture at the high school, tests scores at the lower grades are more positive.
Nearly all of the district’s elementary and middle schools bounced back from lower test scores in the 2008-09 school year. At Chappelle, Estabrook and Erickson Elementary Schools, students passed AYP standards in both reading and math at every grade level — except fifth grade math at Estabrook, which was just three points off, and third grade reading at Chappelle, which was just one point off.
Adams Academy didn't post passing scores in reading at the third, fourth or fifth grade levels, or a passing score at the fifth grade math level. However, the majority of grade levels improved on test scores from the 2008-09 school year.
At East and West Middle Schools, students passed AYP standards at every level except seventh grade reading and eighth grade math at East.
Trustee Floyd Brumfield said the snapshot look at the district was an impressive study by Martin and her staff.
“I’ve never seen a report as in-depth as the one we have here,” he said. “You annd your staff went in depth into more things than are asked for, but you did a lot here.”
Vice President Linda Horne said the scores at the elementary level mean good things for the future of the district.
“A lot of the scores at the elementary level are impressive,” she said. “They are showing growth and I hope they continue to show growth.”
Kyle Feldscher covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com.
Comments
happydays
Wed, Oct 27, 2010 : 11:18 a.m.
Wow. I've had the opportunity to spend time in many school districts in the state and the kids I have met at Ypsilanti are wonderful. I wonder what I'm missing? Of course, there are children in crisis everywhere, just as there are adults in crisis everywhere. I understand if moving your kids to a different district is what you feel is best for your family, it is your right. But many students have found excellent opportunities at YHS that led them to great colleges and bright futures.
coffeequeen
Wed, Oct 27, 2010 : 10 a.m.
Anyone know alternatives for special needs kids who are stuck in YPSD?
cinnabar7071
Wed, Oct 27, 2010 : 9:27 a.m.
Thanks for the advice Sandy, Milan is one of the choices on the radar for after 8th grade since the school my son goes too stops at 8th grade. Milan has built a good rep as 2 familys no my street send their kids to Milan.
Sandy Castle
Wed, Oct 27, 2010 : 6:57 a.m.
@cinnabar - you don't have to pay twice for a good education. It just requires the willingness to work out carpooling with other parents to get your kids to Milan Public Schools. They offer excellent academics and electives and they are fiscally responsible. Come January that's what we, and some other, YPSD families are doing. We're carpooling our kids to a school district that actually works at educating our children, instead of talking about it. It's no secret why Ypsilanti High has poor test scores. Their curriculum is not up to par. My oldest daughter went from YPSD into the Early College Alliance Program as a sophomore three years ago. She was an all "A" student at Ypsilanti in AP classes. The ECA tests each student to determine where they are academically and she scored as a "B" student. What that told us is that she would have been a "B" student anywhere else in the county and she was only an "A" student in Ypsilanti because their curriculum is weak. Ypsilanti is too busy trying to bring up the scores of the poorly performing, and that's the majority of students in Ypsilanti, that they lose focus on the other students, especially their honor students. By the time our kids get to the high school, alot of us are tired of it. In fact, my daughter knows quite a few of the kids at Milan High School because she went to elementary and middle school with them in Ypsilanti. You only have so much time to listen to the excuses that administration makes. We've had kids in this district for 13 years and it's the same old story. Now they've added the financial excuse to it like that's something new, but they've always told us they had no money and continually cut programs. The list of electives and honors offerings is pathetic when compared to the other schools in this area. They have also made substantial cuts to athletics. Add to all of those deficiences an interim principal at the high school with no experience, a brand new assistant principal/AD with no experience, cuts in security, more fights happening inside the high school and on the grounds, a lack of news coverage on anything affecting Ypsi schools and it creates a feeling of insecurity and lack of safety for our kids. The administration is in a hunker-down mode and don't appear to know what's going on at the high school. Take the incident where homecoming was cancelled. They aren't releasing any information except that a fight occurred at the football game and they cancelled a dance scheduled for the next night. Really? Fights happen all the time in Ypsilanti, at the school, too. What was special about this fight that they had to cancel a dance? The newspaper article made it appear that Saline people were involved, but that wasn't the case. What does appear to be the case is that there was a shooting connected to the fight, but nobody at YPSD will tell parents anything about it. They don't deny it, they just won't discuss it. Two weeks ago, Dexter High had an incident where one student stabbed another with a pencil. That made the news. Nobody likes bad press, but news coverage keeps everybody informed and when you know what's going on you can make decisions that make you feel safer. Ypsilanti Public Schools stifles news from getting out of the high school. Anybody read about the JV Football coach being fired two weeks ago for inappropriate conduct with another Ypsi team? Nope, didn't make the news. What does Ypsilanti Public Schools offer for our children? Not much.
cinnabar7071
Tue, Oct 26, 2010 : 4:29 p.m.
So glad we have great private schools in Washtenaw county. But its really too bad I have to pay twice for one good education. Seems as of lately anything the Gov't has a hand in is not worth what we pay for it.