State education officials disagree about the significance of Michigan Educational Assessment Program scores released from a group of charter schools.
National Heritage Academies released an analysis of MEAPscores by the Hillsdale Policy Group showing students who attend an academy school for two or more years score higher than students entering an Academy school for the first year.
The report said charter school students improved more than their public school counterparts in six of eight test categories and performed better than the state average for fifth and eighth grade writing and eighth grade science.
“You’re seeing the evidence that charter schools, being a new public school, are getting dramatic results in education,” said Dan Quisenberry, president of Michigan Association of Public School Academies.
But Margaret Trimer-Hartley, director of communications of the Michigan Education Association, disagrees.
“There are many other indicators besides the MEAP,” she said. “There is a lot more to learning than passing a single test.”
National Heritage Academies is a national charter school management company with 22 schools in Michigan. Charter schools are independently operated public schools but they still are state-funded and must meet the same requirements as public schools.
Gerry Bosshart, principal of Windemere Park Charter Academy, 3100 W. Saginaw Highway in Lansing attributed the scores to the school’s operation.
“We expect our youngsters to work harder,” he said. “We have a good environment and we focus on behavior.”
Quisenberry said charter schools focus on the children, involve parents and prioritize achievements.
“It’s likely that you’ll see high MEAP scores in most charter schools in Michigan,” he said.
There are 66,000 students enrolled in 189 charter schools in the state, making up 3 percent of Michigan’s public school population.
Peter Ruppert, president of National Heritage Academies, said the analysis could increase this number.
“And this study provides clear evidence that NHA is doing an outstanding job,” he said.
Trimer-Hartley said she’d like to see an analysis of charter school scores by another organization.
“A study done by NHA of its own students is not very scientific,” she said. “However, if a charter school does find the magic formula, they should inform all of the public schools to benefit all kids.”
Ruppert said the scores could gain respect for all charter schools.
“This is a testament to our whole program in general,” he said. “We are ahead of the curve on accountability.”
Trimer-Hartley disagreed.
“We believe that the MEAP is one, and only one, way of testing learning. One test on one day of one school year is not a way to get the big picture of success.”
