Chippewa, L'Anse Creuse, Utica Score Above State Average in Merit Exam

Scores on the state’s high school test, the Michigan Merit Exam, increased slightly in Macomb Township's public schools, according to results released by the Michigan Department of Education today. High school juniors were tested in the spring on the MME, which includes the college entrance exam, the ACT.

Compared with 2010 results, the percentage of Chippewa Valley, L'Anse Creuse and Utica 11th-graders who scored at the proficient or advanced levels improved slightly in the subjects of writing, math and science. However, save for scores in L'Anse Creuse, the percentage of students scoring proficient or advanced in reading decreased.

In social studies, all three districts posted drastically different scores, with L'Anse Creuse improving more than 10 percent, Utica holding steady and Chippewa declining slightly in the percentage of students achieving proficient or advanced levels.

All three districts achieved scores above the state average in all subject areas.

“Students are being challenged with greater rigor and are achieving at higher levels,” said state Superintendent of Public Instruction, Mike Flanagan, in a release. “Michigan educators are to be commended for the efforts they put in to help more students learn and succeed.”

For each subject, the percentages of 11th-grade students achieving proficient or advanced performance levels in 2011 were as follows:

*For a breakdown of proficiency by individual Chippewa Valley high school, click here. **For a breadown of L'Anse Creuse High School North's proficiency, click here.

MME scores are divided into four performance levels: advanced, proficient, partially proficient and not proficient. Students who place in either the advanced or proficient levels are considered to be “proficient” in that subject. Those who place in the partially proficient or not proficient levels are “not proficient.”

ACT Scores

The MME also includes the national ACT college entrance exam. On average, local students who took the ACT as part of this state test had a slightly higher composite score than last year’s students.

• Chippewa Valley—19.7 (2011), 19.5 (2010)
• L'Anse Creuse—19 (2011), 18.7 (2010)
• Utica—20.6 (2011), 20.4 (2010)
• State Average—19.3

With the exception of L'Anse Creuse, and then by only 0.3 percentage points, Chippewa Valley and Utica posted higher ACT scores than the state average.