Michigan schools navigate not-so-standardized testing season

LANSING — In a normal year around this time, thousands of students across Michigan would be quietly filling in bubbles on the state’s standardized test.

As with all things education and COVID, it’s a little different this year.

In 2020, with the virus still new and unknown, the U.S. Department of Education waived its requirement that schools administer state summative assessments. That included the Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress, otherwise known as the M-STEP, which is administered to students in grades 3 through 8 and 11. 

Michigan officials tried for months to secure another waiver this year, but were denied. Instead, they got a compromise: Schools are required to offer state summative assessments, but the 95% participation quota was waived, leaving districts to decide whether the test would be mandatory. In Michigan, the state Department of Education said it did not support forcing remote learners to attend in-person testing.

As a result, several Greater Lansing school districts are making the test optional — and those students who do take it can expect testing like they’ve never experienced.

Testing has already begun for Eaton Rapids Public Schools, where students are taking the M-STEP spread out in classrooms or larger spaces, like cafeterias and libraries, Superintendent Bill DeFrance said.

Eaton Rapids is “strongly suggesting” students sit for the M-STEP, DeFrance said.

“We want that data to see where we have some fragile learning places coming off of a pretty bizarre learning year (so we can) integrate that into the learning next year," he said.

Eaton Rapids has seen significant participation even though the test is optional, with about 80% of students having taken the M-STEP, according to DeFrance. 

Lansing School District is discouraging families from sending their students into school buildings for the in-person test on May 19, according to a video sent out to families. Those who do take the test in person will be required to wear masks and practice social distancing.

East Lansing Public Schools, which has offered optional in-person learning since March, allowed families to opt out of the test. Those who took it did so masked and spread out in classrooms. 

About 59% of students at MacDonald Middle School took the M-STEP, said Glenn Mitcham, director of curriculum, instruction and assessment for ELPS. The district’s elementary schools have seen low participation, ranging from 13% to 24% of students, he said.

In normal years, ELPS would be able to compare test scores with those from previous years to see where improvement is needed. But because so many fewer students are taking the test — and doing so after a year of mostly remote class — this year’s results won’t hold much value, Mitcham said.

“Any data that we get from the M-STEP we will evaluate and look at it, but my guess is it won’t carry the same amount of weight and impact that it usually does,” Mitcham said. “They’re not a comparable set of scores to years past. It’s not really an apples-to-apples comparison.”

Some educators argued the test should have been shelved altogether, with Michigan coming off a year of remote learning and still in the throes of the pandemic. State Superintendent Michael Rice slammed the U.S. Department of Education for its decision not to let Michigan cancel the M-STEP and other standardized tests for a second straight year.

“(The U.S. Department of Education's) lockstep allegiance in a pandemic to state summative assessments such as M-STEP is simply fidelity to two decades of education policy drift under the federal No Child Left Behind Act and its uncreative and still punitive offspring,” Rice said in an April 6 press release.

Charlotte Public Schools transformed gymnasiums and cafeterias into testing centers for the M-STEP, requiring students to sit apart and wear masks. 

Despite their efforts to safely administer the test, Superintendent Mandy Stewart questions whether it will be worth it.

"There is no question that this year is not normal, and there are concerns about how valid this data will be, considering the disruptions to learning we have experienced due to the pandemic," she said in an email. "In addition to that concern, we don't have testing data from last spring to compare it to this year's results, so benchmark assessments will be more helpful for us as we are examining student growth." 

Contact Mark Johnson at 517-377-1026 or at majohnson2@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ByMarkJohnson.