While the debate continues over a new state law that calls for A-thru-F letter grades for public schools in the state, another major new school report card of a different sort for Michigan’s schools has been released today and among district run high schools three from Michigan’s Great Southwest are ranked in the Top 25 while one is ranked in the Bottom 25. There are also three who scored in the Top 12 for improvement from 2012 to 2018, while Benton Harbor turned in one of the largest drops over that same time frame.
A new edition of the Mackinac Center’s analysis of public high schools — the 2018 Michigan Public High School Context and Performance Report Card — gives parents an updated tool for comparing schools that takes into consideration varying demographics between schools. This is not the state’s new mandated A-F school report card.
Unlike other systems of ranking schools, the “CAP” report card compares multiple years of state test results to the expected result given the socioeconomic makeup of a school’s students. This allows for a more comprehensive view when evaluating school performance.
Ben DeGrow is Director of Education Police at the Mackinac Center. He says, “Relying on raw test results may mislead about how well a school is actually doing.” DeGrow, who is also co-author of the study, adds, “To get a fuller perspective, it helps to factor socioeconomic status into the equation.”
The CAP report card ranks 674 public high schools across the state, including charter and cyber schools.
In Southwest Michigan, the Countryside Academy in Benton Harbor ranked #1 in the region, outscoring all other school systems locally while Covert checked in at 12th in the state overall on the list, followed by 21st ranked Watervliet and 25th ranked Eau Claire. All scored straight “A” grades in the study. Benton Harbor finished third from the bottom overall with an “F,” with only Saginaw High School and Detroit’s East English Village Preparatory Academy scoring worse overall.
When the study looks at highest improvement levels since 2012, Eau Claire rises to 3rd overall, followed closely by Coloma at #5 and Bridgman at #12.
Here are the scores from Berrien County Schools from 2015-to-2018 from the database:
| Row № | School | School Type | CAP Score | Statewide CAP Rank |
CAP Grade | Locale Subgroup | Enroll- ment |
Free & Reduced Lunch % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| %ile | № | ||||||||
| 1 | Countryside Academy – Middle/HS | Charter | 112.23 | 95.10th | 34 | A | Rural: Fringe | 323 | 73.7% |
| 2 | Watervliet Senior HS | Conventional | 111.31 | 93.77th | 43 | A | Town: Fringe | 382 | 44.8% |
| 3 | Eau Claire HS | Conventional | 110.78 | 92.73th | 50 | A | Rural: Fringe | 207 | 83.1% |
| 4 | Berrien Springs HS | Conventional | 108.57 | 89.17th | 74 | B | Town: Fringe | 517 | 47.2% |
| 5 | St. Joseph HS | Conventional | 107.96 | 87.54th | 85 | B | Suburb: Small | 1,019 | 21.8% |
| 6 | New Buffalo Senior HS | Conventional | 107.74 | 86.94th | 89 | B | Rural: Fringe | 194 | 35.6% |
| 7 | Bridgman HS | Conventional | 106.96 | 85.16th | 101 | B | Suburb: Small | 248 | 29.4% |
| 8 | Coloma HS | Conventional | 106.14 | 82.94th | 116 | B | Town: Fringe | 476 | 55.9% |
| 9 | Lakeshore HS | Conventional | 104.40 | 76.41th | 160 | B | Rural: Fringe | 877 | 23.5% |
| 10 | River Valley Middle/HS | Conventional | 101.66 | 63.06th | 250 | C | Rural: Distant | 315 | 43.8% |
| 11 | Buchanan HS | Conventional | 101.51 | 60.98th | 264 | C | Suburb: Large | 569 | 41.5% |
| 12 | Brandywine Senior HS | Conventional | 98.64 | 42.58th | 388 | C | Rural: Fringe | 364 | 42.6% |
| 13 | Niles Senior HS | Conventional | 96.93 | 32.49th | 456 | C | City: Small | 905 | 42.8% |
| 14 | Benton Harbor HS | Conventional | 78.27 | 0.45th | 672 | F | City: Small | 625 | 72.2% |
Michigan Mathematics and Science Academy, a public charter school located in Warren, takes the honor of being the top-ranked school in the state. Star International Academy — which held the highest CAP score in the last three high school report cards — followed closely behind.
The highest-ranking district school is Fordson High School in Dearborn. The nearby city of Ann Arbor is home to three of the top 10 conventional district schools. Saginaw High School holds the lowest CAP score, while 12 of the bottom 25 schools are Detroit district high schools.
The report card also examines long-term performance. Stephenson Middle-High School, an Upper Peninsula district school, and Detroit Community High School, a charter school, registered the greatest improvements from 2012 to 2018.
DeGrow says, “To make informed choices about their children’s education, parents need a clear and meaningful picture of school performance. Our Context and Performance report card is one key tool that shows how the state’s new school grading system can be shaped into something that parents can both understand and use.”
You can view the complete CAP report card by clicking the link below. An online database is also available, where users can search for any school’s score, easily compare schools and find historical rankings too.
MackinacCenterSchoolReportCard2018
The Mackinac Center for Public Policy is a nonpartisan, free-market think tank dedicated to improving the quality of life for all Michigan residents. Its policy experts develop solutions to state and local economic policy challenges based on fundamental principles of free markets, individual liberty, limited government and the rule of law. Headquartered in Midland, Mich., the Mackinac Center has grown into one of the nation’s largest state-based think tanks since its founding in 1987. For more information, visit www.mackinac.org.
