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PROMOTIONAL CAMPAIGN ON M.E.A.P. TESTS STARTED In an effort to promote use and success with the Michigan Educational Assessment Program exams to get the Michigan Merit Awards, Governor John Engler on Monday unveiled a statewide promotional program for the exams that will use billboards, print and radio ads. But during his press conference at Hope Middle School in Holt Mr. Engler acknowledged that doing well on the examinations was not enough for students. In answers to questions from seventh grade student Jeremy Troisi, Mr. Engler said those who know how to work with others and help others “may do better than somebody that knows every bit of their math and science but can’t relate to another person.” The press conference Monday is the start of an effort to help better inform students and their parents about the merit award program—begun last year with money the state is expected to earn from its tobacco lawsuit settlement, and paying high school students who score the highest levels on the exam $2,500 scholarships to Michigan schools—and the need to take and do well on the MEAP test. A group of seventh grade students were present at the press conference—which also marked the start of this year’s cycle of tests of middle school students—to signify the fact that seventh graders who do well on the exams can get up to an additional $500 scholarship, making it worth a total of $3,000. Mark Leyda, a former executive of Ford Motor Company and recently named to head the Merit Award Program, said that already some 20,000 of the 70,000 high school students who had taken the high school component of the MEAP test had qualified for the scholarship. Of the rest, 30,000 were retaking the exam and state officials hoped as many as 10,000 of them would qualify. If 30,000 students qualify for the scholarship then the state would spend some $75 million on the scholarships, and Mr. Leyda said it is the state’s hope that every student will eventually qualify. In response to a question by another student, Mr. Leyda and Mr. Engler said the state is looking at some type of reward program for students in special education or who have other difficulties. The promotional program is designed to ensure that all students and parents know about the exams and the role they play in winning a student a scholarship. The exams have often been tied up in controversies with parents and local school districts, with parents of high school students often worried that a poor showing will hurt their students’ ability to get into a college. The Holt school was chosen because the school district ranked among the best in the state in placing students with the scholarships, with 144. But it was young Jeremy Troisi who stole the press conference when he asked Mr. Engler if character qualities shouldn’t count in a student’s performance as well as academic performance. Mr. Engler said that values needed to be taught and should be taught. It is not enough to know science but to know as well the ethics of conducting scientific research, he said. |