By Bruce Rolfe
While some of the most recent M-STEP and PSAT State of Michigan assessment results for the Climax-Scotts School District may show improvement in some areas is needed, positive trends over the last five years show the school district is making gains, not just in assessment test scores, but overall.
C-S Jr./Sr. High School Principal Brent Cole presented a five-year trend data overview (2022-2026) for C-S 6th-8th grade M-STEP and 8th grade PSAT testing at the October 19 regular C-S Board of Education meeting.
Cole said once the school district receives test score results, staff is continuously reviewing instructional strategies in an effort to improve overall learning as well as test scores.
While the five-year average in some categories isn’t where Cole would like the scores to be, he said the school is closing the gap and showing impressive trends in some areas.
C-S ELA 5 Year Trend Data
6th Grade MSTEP trend data show they are below the state average.
7th Grade MSTEP trend data show they are still below the state average, but the gap is closing.
8th Grade PSAT trend data show C-S surpasses the state average by a significant margin.
C-S Math 5 Year Trend Data
6th Grade MSTEP trend data shows C-S is behind the state average.
7th Grade MSTEP trend data shows that C-S has closed the gap and is even with the state average.
8th Grade PSAT trend data shows C-S is slightly behind the state average.
Cole commented on some of the trends, sharing that in math, two out of three grades scored higher than the state average the last two years. Cole said that hasn’t happened at C-S in some time.
“Why is that happening? I have the same grade level teachers for two consecutive years for the first time in nine years of math,” said Cole.
“I think it’s a great reflection, yes, we have really great teachers in place. And two, they’ve been together to look at the data and they spend time working with each other to fill some of those curriculums with scope and sequence with what we want kids to know,” continued the Jr./Sr. High School principal. “The same can be said about our English Department and the gains we have made, specifically in our 8th Grade PSAT scores and being ahead of the state in 4 of the last 5 years.”
Cole said the school uses trend data as a guide for next steps in the classroom.
He said identifying learning targets, aligning instruction, monitoring frequently and responding with intervention are common practices by staff to put students in a better position for test score improvement.
Cole points out helping a small number of students in a grade of 40 students can create big swings in the school’s overall proficiency scores. He said if only five additional students move from not proficient to proficient, the reported proficiency rate increases by 12.5 percentage points.
Cole also noted there are areas other then state assessment test scores that show C-S is making positive strides.
The Michigan School Index system measures public school performance in several key areas - student strength, student proficiency, school quality and student success, graduation rate, English Learner progress, and assessment participation.
According to the 2025 C-S School Data Index, the district’s overall index score was 87.01 out of 100 points.
Cole said the 87.01 overall index score is quite a jump from eight years.
In 2018 the district had an overall index score of 60.79 out of 100 points. In 2019 the figure was 66.85, in 2022 the figure increased to 69.18, and in 2023 the district was at 86.22. In 2024, the figure dropped to 74.43 before rebounding to the 2025 score of 87.01, which is higher then six other schools in the area.
The district had a growth index rating of 96.23 out of 100 points; a graduation rate index of 99.69 out of 100 points; a school quality and student success index rating of 94.92 points out of 100; a proficiency index rating of 67.09 out of 100 points; the English Learner progress index rating was not available and an assessment participation index rating of 100.00 out of 100 points.
Cole said the 96.23 score in growth is important because it represents the percentage of students that are on track to reach or maintain proficiency within three years across the content areas of ELA and math.
The building principal adds 100 percent assessment participation is also impressive.
While some of the most recent M-STEP and PSAT State of Michigan assessment results for the Climax-Scotts School District may show improvement in some areas is needed, positive trends over the last five years show the school district is making gains, not just in assessment test scores, but overall.
C-S Jr./Sr. High School Principal Brent Cole presented a five-year trend data overview (2022-2026) for C-S 6th-8th grade M-STEP and 8th grade PSAT testing at the October 19 regular C-S Board of Education meeting.
Cole said once the school district receives test score results, staff is continuously reviewing instructional strategies in an effort to improve overall learning as well as test scores.
While the five-year average in some categories isn’t where Cole would like the scores to be, he said the school is closing the gap and showing impressive trends in some areas.
C-S ELA 5 Year Trend Data
6th Grade MSTEP trend data show they are below the state average.
7th Grade MSTEP trend data show they are still below the state average, but the gap is closing.
8th Grade PSAT trend data show C-S surpasses the state average by a significant margin.
C-S Math 5 Year Trend Data
6th Grade MSTEP trend data shows C-S is behind the state average.
7th Grade MSTEP trend data shows that C-S has closed the gap and is even with the state average.
8th Grade PSAT trend data shows C-S is slightly behind the state average.
Cole commented on some of the trends, sharing that in math, two out of three grades scored higher than the state average the last two years. Cole said that hasn’t happened at C-S in some time.
“Why is that happening? I have the same grade level teachers for two consecutive years for the first time in nine years of math,” said Cole.
“I think it’s a great reflection, yes, we have really great teachers in place. And two, they’ve been together to look at the data and they spend time working with each other to fill some of those curriculums with scope and sequence with what we want kids to know,” continued the Jr./Sr. High School principal. “The same can be said about our English Department and the gains we have made, specifically in our 8th Grade PSAT scores and being ahead of the state in 4 of the last 5 years.”
Cole said the school uses trend data as a guide for next steps in the classroom.
He said identifying learning targets, aligning instruction, monitoring frequently and responding with intervention are common practices by staff to put students in a better position for test score improvement.
Cole points out helping a small number of students in a grade of 40 students can create big swings in the school’s overall proficiency scores. He said if only five additional students move from not proficient to proficient, the reported proficiency rate increases by 12.5 percentage points.
Cole also noted there are areas other then state assessment test scores that show C-S is making positive strides.
The Michigan School Index system measures public school performance in several key areas - student strength, student proficiency, school quality and student success, graduation rate, English Learner progress, and assessment participation.
According to the 2025 C-S School Data Index, the district’s overall index score was 87.01 out of 100 points.
Cole said the 87.01 overall index score is quite a jump from eight years.
In 2018 the district had an overall index score of 60.79 out of 100 points. In 2019 the figure was 66.85, in 2022 the figure increased to 69.18, and in 2023 the district was at 86.22. In 2024, the figure dropped to 74.43 before rebounding to the 2025 score of 87.01, which is higher then six other schools in the area.
The district had a growth index rating of 96.23 out of 100 points; a graduation rate index of 99.69 out of 100 points; a school quality and student success index rating of 94.92 points out of 100; a proficiency index rating of 67.09 out of 100 points; the English Learner progress index rating was not available and an assessment participation index rating of 100.00 out of 100 points.
Cole said the 96.23 score in growth is important because it represents the percentage of students that are on track to reach or maintain proficiency within three years across the content areas of ELA and math.
The building principal adds 100 percent assessment participation is also impressive.
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