Sliding MEAP scores may stall the state's push to attract more high-tech businesses.
A growing number of students are leaving school with math and science skills well below Michigan's minimum standards, which state officials say is evidence that significant changes are needed in high schools.
At the same time, a shrinking percentage of high school students are exceeding the state's requirements in math and science. Results from Michigan Educational Assessment Program tests for the class of 2005, released this month, give the state a clearer picture of the challenge it faces in its effort to attract high-tech businesses with a better-educated work force.
While Beth Salk has doubts about whether the tests accurately assess kids' skills, she is frightened about what the scores could mean for Michigan's future. She says she has stressed math and science with her two children - even doing summer drills at home - because they are so crucial.
"I am extremely concerned because of Michigan's economy ... we are behind in everything," said Salk, whose children attend Farmington schools.
"Students sometimes don't see the connection for their future and success to getting a good education in math and science."
The State Board of Education meets later this month to map high school reforms, including possibly requiring core classes for graduation.
These math and science scores are further evidence that the changes are needed, said Martin Ackley, spokesman for the Michigan Department of Education.
"If you look at the jobs the governor is trying to bring into the state ... those are the skills that the workers should need," Ackley said. "We have to make sure we have a work force ready to have those skills."
Over the past six years, the percentage of high school students scoring well below what the state considers failing on standardized math tests grew from about 20 percent to 29 percent, which translates into almost 32,000 students in the class of 2005. In science, it grew from 20 to 26 percent.
Meanwhile, the percentage of students scoring well above state standards fell from 22 percent to 9 percent in math and from 7 percent to 5 percent in science.
Student MEAP scores are divided into four categories, with the top two considered passing.
Testing experts and school officials caution that there could be many reasons for the trend in math and science other than students' skills getting worse.
They say more kids are taking the test to meet federal requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act. Under the law, schools must test 95 percent of their students. These students, who previously may have avoided the test because they felt they wouldn't do well, could be bringing down scores, they say.
State officials say because more kids are being tested, results could offer a clearer picture of how many are being left behind.
Changes in the test from year to year could also be a factor. Each year, the test changes and can be harder or easier than other years, experts say, although state officials work to control that.
David Plank, co-director of the Education Policy Center at Michigan State University, said he isn't sure there is a steady enough change overall in the science and math data to call it a strong trend.
The MEAP test is just one indicator of student performance and doesn't mean the state's entire math and science curriculum should be scrapped, said Jim Gullen, an assessment coordinator for the Wayne County Regional Educational Service Agency, which provides support services to county school districts.
"MEAP is kind of like getting your temperature taken," Gullen said. "Does that mean we have to revamp everything? Probably not."
Ackley said state officials are concerned about those numbers because they show many students are leaving school without even basic skills in math and science.
He said the state could standardize curriculum, which, for example, would make sure that what a student is expected to learn from a biology class is the same across districts. And they could set required classes for high school students. Each district now sets its own graduation requirements. Some may call for four years of math while others make students take only two.
The high school reforms are connected to Gov. Jennifer Granholm's pledge to double the number of college graduates in the state. Only about 23 percent of adults in Michigan currently have four-year degrees, putting the state 38th in the nation.
Northville's Superintendent Leonard Rezmierski said he would rather the state not mandate, but strongly recommend, curriculum and class requirements because superintendents need the flexibility to adapt to students' needs.
But he said he agrees the state needs to address the problem of low math and science scores soon because the state's health depends on it.
"We need to do it now, not 10 years from now," Rezmierski said. "I don't think we can wait."
Vanessa Bridges said public schools should extend school hours and spend more time on math and science to improve scores.
She enrolled her 14-year-son - who will be a freshman at Southfield High School in the fall - in a summer refresher course in part so he can bulk up on his math skills, which he has struggled with.
"If you are not challenging them, you are losing them," Bridges said.
The test score trend has some colleges worried that they will have to do more to get recent high school graduates up to speed. Several Michigan colleges say they already have seen an increase in remedial class enrollment, particularly in math.
At Henry Ford Community College, about 82 percent of the school's new students take remedial math.
Only about half of the college's new students are recent high school graduates, but they still end up needing remedial help at the same rate, officials said.
"It is puzzling to me where the disconnect is. ... What is not carrying through?" said Lynne Hensel, the college's interim vice president and dean of academic education.
James Eliason, 57, said part of the problem is that students aren't as enthusiastic about science as he was when he was a student, when space exploration captivated young minds and pushed them toward the field.
He is now a chief scientific officer for Asterand, a Detroit human tissue research company - the type of business Granholm hopes to attract to the state.
Eliason often judges science fairs in Metro Detroit and said he sees the lack of interest and knowledge in science firsthand. The experiments are often generic and use little creativity or skill, such as just comparing different laundry soaps.
"They really don't know what they did, and it is really not interesting," Eliason said. "Some of them don't have a clue.
"I definitely think effort should be put into reviving that enthusiasm for science and math learning. It is so important to our future."
Wayne State University has had a summer program for 13 years aimed at raising the math level of Detroit children in grades seven through 12.
This year's incoming students got the lowest score ever on the basic skills test they give at the start of class - averaging only four correct answers out of 20.
"The skill level of the kids that come to us is tragic," said Steve Kahn, executive director of the Mathematics Pipeline at the university.
Kahn said part of the problem is that educators need to re-evaluate the way math is taught.
"We teach math in the most complicated and confusing way possible," Kahn said. "The whole world hates math."
At the camp, they have high-schoolers teaching and mentoring middle school students and college students teaching high school students. They also set aside plenty of time for hands-on work, even using art to teach math lessons.
Adrianna Powell, a 17-year-old Cass Technical High School senior, has been with the program for six years and is now a teaching assistant.
She's thinking of studying accounting in college but would have never believed she would like math when she was in elementary school.
She said teachers should spend more time trying to get kids interested in math and work one-on-one with those in the back of the class who slide by without learning because they are intimidated.
"You still have to constantly check up on them," she said.
You can reach Christine MacDonald at (313) 222-2269 or cmacdonald@detnews.com.
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