SUGGESTED TALKING POINTS IN COMMUNICATING WITH THE MEDIA AND PUBLIC ON HIGH SCHOOL PROFICIENCY TEST

The Michigan High School Proficiency Test (HSPT) was developed by Michigan educators. It is a very rigorous and challenging test. Unlike the traditional MEAP, the HSPT was developed to be more oriented to application and problem solving. For instance, the Mathematics HSPT does not simply ask a student to solve an equation. Students are being asked to apply mathematics to solve problems in real lifelike situations. The use of calculators is permitted.

The HSPT sets ambitious student expectations, and those expectations are linked to high quality academic standards. The challenge facing schools is to link local curriculum instructions to the state recommended standards, not a small job. Once this done, student performance will improve. “We teach it - you learn it.”

HSPT should be viewed as an opportunity -- not a penalty. And, this year’s test scores should be viewed as a benchmark. All things considered, our schools and students did a good job on the new test. Our challenge is to improve upon this year’s baseline scores.

Once the media and the public understand how little separation there is between the schools getting accolades and the schools getting beat up, they will realize schools need only to work on a small number of things rather than cover the waterfront. And when they focus on these items that are not working, schools will show substantial improvement. It is often a matter of only improving a few more points to become above average.

As you report your scores, schools should calculate for the media the number of students who received at least one endorsement in one of the four areas, rather than simply the number of students who attained endorsements on all four tests.

The HSPT also needs to be viewed in context to other tests measuring the achievement of Michigan high schools standards. For instance, the College Board also recently reported that the average scores have risen for the more than one million students who took the SAT last year. The national average math score rose 2 points, to 508, and the verbal score rose 1 point, to 505.

In Michigan, the average SAT verbal and math scores were significantly higher than the national average, and a whopping 150 points more than the state average 10 years ago. And, Michigan’s average ACT composite score is also higher than the national average.

More students than ever are taking at least three years of math and a foreign language. The number of Michigan students taking core or more course work increased by 6 percent over the previous year.

A growing number of teens are earning enough college credits in high school to let them start college as sophomores, saving parents a year’s tuition. More than 2,000 U.S. students this fall will begin college with academic credits on their records. The College Board has recently reported about 33,000 have enough credit to enter as sophomores and 750 could enter as juniors. The College Board notes that the number of high school students graduating with advanced placement credit has risen 50 percent in the last 10 years and should grow another 50 percent over the next 4 years.

The greatest strength and challenge of our public schools is that we must accept and educate everyone. The answers to many of the challenges in urban education does not lie in the schools at all--they lie in the communities, with collaboration and coordination of education and human services.

We must be mindful that education is the only variable that guarantees upward mobility. If reforms don’t address the bottom third of our students, then we should be questioning why we are pursuing them.

Context for MEAP Preparation 1.Data analysis - Item analysis for each student. 2.Test taking skills. 3.Attitude toward the test a)Students b)School Staff c)Parents 4.Careful and positive test administration

HSPT 1.Rigorous 2.Reflects High Standards 3.Sets High Expectations for students and teachers. 4.Will change curriculum and instruction.

If you teach them they will learn. A well aligned, well taught curriculum will produce the results we want for our schools.

What MEAP/HSPT Testing Shows 1.How well your school is doing on the content teachers have been teaching. 2.Alert you to what curriculum changes will need to be made to show growth.

New Social Studies Test covers four content areas: 1.History 2.Geography 3.Economics 4. Core Democratic Values. If any of these four content areas are not part of school curriculum, students will probably not experience successful results on the test.