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Detroit
Public
Schools
students
show
marked
improvement
in MEAP
test
performance
DETROIT
-
Detroit
Public
Schools
students
in third
through
eighth
grades
showed
improvement
on the
Michigan
Educational
Assessment
Program
tests
administered
last
fall,
according
to test
results
released
on
Friday.
The
district’s
students’
scores
rose or
remained
constant
in 11 of
16
categories
of
students
and
subjects
tested.
District-wide,
85.6
percent
of third
graders
scored
proficient
or
higher
on the
math
portion
of the
test,
compared
to 74.8
percent
the
previous
year.
About 72
percent
of the
district’s
sixth
graders
scored
as
proficient
or
higher
on the
reading
portion
of the
test,
compared
to 56.4
percent
last
year.
Emergency
Financial
Manager
Robert
C. Bobb
said he
is
pleased
with the
progress,
but said
that
students
and
parents
should
strive
for even
higher
scores.
“Every
victory,
no
matter
how
small or
large,
is a
time to
celebrate,”
he said.
“But
when you
compare
how we
are
doing
compared
to how
the best
school
districts
in the
United
States
are
doing,
we still
have a
lot of
work to
do.”
Chief
Academic
and
Accountability
Auditor
Barbara
Byrd-Bennett
attributed
the
improvement,
in part,
to a
rigorous
new
literacy
program
that was
implemented
last
spring.
“Kids
are
reading
more
every
day, and
we have
offered
more
professional
development
to help
teachers
improve
their
instructional
skills
in this
area,”
said
Byrd-Bennett.
In
addition,
the
district
replaced
principals
in
dozens
of
schools
throughout
the
district,
which is
resulting
in
radical
changes
for
students,
she
said.
The
district
on
Monday
will
unveil
its
academic
plan,
including
ambitious
proficiency
targets
through
2015.
The new
Detroit
Public
Schools
Academic
Plan
significantly
raises
the bar
for
academic
rigor at
all
levels
and lays
out a
road map
for
change
that
will
provide
the
children
of
Detroit
with the
education
they
need to
compete
in the
global
economy
of the
21st
century.
In
addition
to
issuing
a
one-year
report
on the
progress
in the
district
since
his
tenure
began in
March
2009,
Bobb
will
unveil
ambitious
targets
to
decrease
dropout
rates
and
drastically
improve
MEAP and
MME
scores,
as well
as
details
of the
district’s
new
pre-K-14
campuses
that are
designed
so
students
will
have a
clear
line to
college.
Bobb
will
speak of
the
district’s
plan to
radically
improve
the
number
of
students
participating
in
Advanced
Placement
classes
and to
expand
the
number
of
students
who have
dual
enrollment
in
college
through
partnerships
with
colleges
and
universities
that
will
have
spaces
to teach
in DPS
school
buildings.
The
academic
plan
includes
an array
of arts
and
music
programs
across
the
district
and
smaller
high
school
campuses
to give
students
more
personalized
attention.
Bobb
will
address
the new
“Marketplace
of
Schools,”
which
will
give
parents
and
students
exciting
options
that fit
their
individual
needs,
like a
Choir
Academy,
School
for
Medicine
and
Science
and
more.
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