Walled Lake superintendent says district above state average after I-Ready and M-STEP review
Summary
Dr. Lanz presented I-Ready and M-STEP trends to the board, saying the district is above the state average in aggregate despite a recent cut-score change from the Michigan Department of Education; the board pressed on curriculum choices, digital testing effects and COVID cohort impacts.
Dr. Lanz presented the district's I-Ready and M-STEP results and framed vocabulary and informational-text comprehension as the district's core academic goals. "If anyone were to say to you, Walled Lake is below the state average of proficiency, that would not be accurate in the information I'm presenting today in the aggregate," he said during the Nov. 6 meeting.
Lanz noted that the Michigan Department of Education raised the cut score between the 2023–24 and 2024–25 reporting windows, making year-to-year proficiency comparisons more difficult. "Between 23–24 and 24–25, the Michigan Department of Education changed this cut score to make it more difficult to be proficient," he said, and cautioned that a small decline in some measures likely reflects the harder standard rather than a sudden loss of student ability.
The presentation emphasized supports for improving outcomes: a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS), literacy leaders from each elementary school, coaching for teachers and principals, classroom-lab observations and partnerships with Oakland Schools. Dr. Lanz said the district has cut by half the proportion of students two grade levels below proficiency in K–5 on I-Ready since 2022.
Board members asked whether curriculum choices — particularly for math — could explain gaps. Lanz said the middle-school math rollout is only in its second year and recommended waiting up to five years before changing an implementation. The board also discussed the move from paper to online testing, with members and staff agreeing digital formats can introduce a short-term dip in scores and test-fatigue effects.
Dr. Lanz offered to provide further grade-level breakdowns, and board members requested additional data on COVID-era cohort effects and comparisons to neighboring districts. Several members urged the district to publish the slide deck and raw dashboards to the website for public review.
