Plymouth-Canton Schools Receive Average Score With New Accountability Standards

Editor Daniel Lai contributed to this article.

The majority of Plymouth-Canton schools earned an average rating on the state’s new reporting system for school performance.

On Tuesday, the Michigan Department of Education released the Michigan School Accountability Scorecards, a color-coded system designed to hold all of the state’s schools accountable under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

In order of highest to lowest, the colors include green, lime-green, yellow, orange and red. The designations are based on meeting targets in several areas. According to the data, all but one of Plymouth-Canton's schools fell into the yellow category. That means they received between 60 to 70 percent of possible points. Starkweather Academy @ Fiegel, fell into the red category. 

Comparatively, only 13 schools in Metro Detroit earned the highest rating. No schools in Wayne or Oakland county received green status.

In addition, four of Plymouth-Canton elementary schools also earned reward status: Workman Elementary School, Dodson Elementary School, Tonda Elementary School and Gallimore Elementary School. 

Reward Schools are the top 5 percent of all Michigan schools in the annual top-to-bottom ranking and the top 5 percent making the greatest academic progress over the past four years. 

Field Elementary School, Farrand Elementary School, Miller Elementary School, East Middle School and Plymouth High School were part of the 10 percent of schools with the widest achievement gaps. 

"We feel good about the progress we are making and what we are teaching to our students and we're confident that we are making progress in raising student achievement," Jeanne Farina, Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning, said.

Farina said that the district was already aware of achievement gaps in the schools which were identified as focus schools because the buildings house the district's talented and gifted programs. 

"We've identified where our significant gaps are and in what areas, we've done lots of diffferent professional development activities with our teachers to improve instructional practices," she said about narrowing achievement gaps. "We've had a laser focus on areas that need improvement. We're continuously having discussions with our administrators and teaching staff, looking at data and what is our data telling us, using formative assessments to help us guide and improve instruction and implement interventions with students that need additional help and additional support. So we're all over it."

The scorecards examine student participation and student proficiency on state assessments, student graduation or attendance rates, educator effectiveness reporting and school improvement plan reporting.

Schools must meet targets for the bottom 30 percent of student achievers as well as for any subgroup that has a minimum of 30 students, including race and ethnic groups, students with disabilities and low-income students.

“This new color-coded system provides a meaningful diagnostic tool that gives schools, districts, parents, and the public an easy way to identify strengths and weaknesses,” said state superintendent Mike Flanagan. “It provides greater transparency and detail on multiple levels of school performance.”