A search for meaning

MEAP test loses support of students

The Michigan Education Assessment Program test is a familiar hurdle for high school juniors to clear on their way to graduation. Recently, many juniors have opted out of the test, in the belief that this particular assessment holds no real meaning for students, and can only hurt their academic reputations. Clearly, the state should take measures to evaluate questions regarding the test's usefulness and determine if the test can be revised so that it benefits student interests.

By the time they reach their junior year of high school, Michigan students are well acquainted with the MEAP test. Students take MEAP tests in the fourth, fifth, seventh, and eigth grades before they attend high school. The eleventh-grade exam, formerly known as the High School Proficiency Test, has a troubled recent history. Last year, a large number of students in three separate districts received exemptions from their parents. In response, the state initiated a large revision last year that removed unpopular sections from the test. In light of the most recent numbers of exemptions, perhaps the state did not do enough to improve the test.

The MEAP test brings with it the dangers always associated with standardized tests, which are a necessary evil of the educational system. The rather notorious reputation of standardized tests stems from a number of flaws exposed over the years that make the test unfair towards some students. A well-known problem with tests of this type is that they oftentimes demonstrate a cultural bias that impairs the performance of some students. Another fact often lost in test results is that tests such as the Meap only provide a very general representation of a student's abilities. Standardized tests may actually evaluate no more than a student's capacity to take a particular test on a particular day. They cannot provide a wholly accurate picture of a student.

Standardized tests will continue to determine the academic fates of students. They provide the most efficient way to gain some understanding of a student's abilities. But these tests must make certain that all detrimental influences and any hint of bias are removed. Only then do these types of test serve a productive purpose.

The state must address aspects of the MEAP test so that it is advantageous to students. Most importantly, the test must provide a clear reason for students to take it. The SAT and ACT are already the tests of choice when universities consider applications from prospective students. Employers are not inclined to look at the results of the MEAP test when considering a student's job application. That the MEAP is a free, school-provided test is an advantage that the state should explore. Reformating the test to provide students with a measurement that encourages universities to look at it in support of SAT or ACT scores would give students an incentive to take the test. Of course this test should be voluntary, along the lines of the PSAT (the optional warm up test for the SAT), and could perhaps include opportunities for students to earn scholarships for their further education. A test of higher stature than the current MEAP might also draw the attention of employers, giving students a further advantage.

Standardized tests are meant to serve student interests and provide an accurate reading of academic skills that one may then use to serve one's interests as one's education progresses. In its current form, the MEAP test does not possess the qualities necessary to benefit students.

05-05-98