January 24, 2023
Dear Parents and Community Members:
We are pleased to present you with the Annual Education Report (AER), which provides key information on the 2021-22 educational progress for Dearborn STEM Middle School. The AER addresses the complex reporting information required by federal and state laws. The school’s report contains information about student assessment, accountability, and teacher quality. If you have any questions about the AER, please contact Ms. Winifred Green for assistance.
The AER is available for you to review electronically by visiting the following website School’s Annual Education Report, or you may review a copy in the main office at your child’s school.
For the 2021-22 school year, schools were identified based on previous years’ performance using definitions and labels as required in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). A Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI) school is one that had at least one underperforming student subgroup in 2018-19. An Additional Targeted Support (ATS) school is one that had a student subgroup performing at the same level as the lowest 5% of all schools in the state in 2017-18. A Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) school is one whose performance was in the lowest 5% of all schools in the state or had a graduation rate at or below 67% in 2016-17. Some schools are not identified with any of these labels. In these cases, no label is given.
Our school HAS NOT BEEN GIVEN ONE OF THESE LABELS.
We are proud to say that STEM students have recovered well from the various modes of pandemic learning the past two years presented us with. STEM Middle School students did exceedingly well on the standardized tests (MSTEP and PSAT). We again scored at >95% across all grade levels in both math and reading. Last year we saw that the area we needed to improve upon was our scores in science. The 8th grade science MSTEP test and the science readings on the PSAT indicated that we needed to focus more on informational reading in science. We saw some improvements in this area. but we feel that we could still strive to do even better. Therefore, we will continue to make the commitment to work on informational science readings and whenever possible, incorporate them into the other academic areas.
The process by which students are assigned to Dearborn STEM school is through an invitation and selection process based on their Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) scores and the Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress (M-Step) scores.
The students at Dearborn STEM Middle School are not assigned to the building based on the Board of Education-adopted boundaries. In addition to traditional high school and middle school programs, students have other district options, including dual enrollment, the Michael Berry Career Center, the Dearborn Magnet School, the DCMST (Dearborn Center for Math, Science, and Technology), Dearborn STEM Middle School, Henry Ford Early College, and Henry Ford Collegiate Academy. These specialized programs are extended to students who meet specific criteria.
Dearborn STEM Middle School is a specialty school that was created as an inquiry-based, technology-rich curriculum program that enables and empowers students and faculty to engage in professional learning environments. In this environment, science and math serve as vehicles for discovery, innovation, and independent problem solving. At STEM, we strive to implement in all classes, especially our STEM Application classes, the focus of:
- Interdisciplinary lessons
- 21st Century Thinking Skills – including critical critiques and communication
- Inspiring creative and innovative thinking
- Strengthening and enhancing the delivery of science, mathematics, engineering and technology education
- Innovative teaching and learning techniques that challenge the students and focus on their strengths.
The School Improvement Plan for Dearborn STEM Middle School is continuously reevaluated. Students, staff, and parents participate in a comprehensive review of student data and collaborate to create a school-wide plan encompassing goals, objectives, strategies, and activities aimed at increasing academic achievement for all students. Our current academic goals focus on writing, problem solving and critical reading in science. All of our goals focus on increasing student achievement and reducing all achievement gaps. These goals align with district initiatives and support our Advanced-Ed Systems-Level Accreditation status that was awarded in 2018 and will be in effect through June of 2023. We will continue to monitor our needs as a school and adjust our school improvement plan accordingly.
The state of Michigan develops and reviews a curriculum framework that outlines expectations for student performance and describes the knowledge and abilities needed to be successful in today’s society. Each district then uses this framework to develop a standard based curriculum. Dearborn employs the Dearborn Educational Curriculum (DEC 2.0) platform, to house district curriculum documents; all teachers have access to the DEC 2.0. The educators can access their grade/course level to view the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), pacing guides, common core essential questions, resources, lessons, activities and assessments, both formative and summative. These materials are constantly being updated to ensure close alignment with CCSS and evolving state assessments. This year, STEM social studies teachers are working closely with The University of Michigan to re-evaluate and re-structure the way that we deliver instruction. Also, please visit our website for more detailed information at https://dearbornschools.org/
For the 2021 – 2022 school year, of the 160 STEM Middle School students, 100% passed the M-Step ELA standardized state test. 98% of our students passed the math test and only two students were partially proficient. The 8th grade students took the PSAT test for the third time this year and 100% of our students met and passed the benchmarks set for the English portion and 100% passed the benchmarks set for the Math portion. This translates into 100% passing both sections.
This year parent/teacher conferences went back to be held in person as opposed to the Zoom conferences that we held for the past two years. We had an excellent turn out for both days of conferences.
We look forward to working with you this year with a great deal of enthusiasm as we endeavor to meet greater challenges ahead in educating our children; our most precious resource. As always, we will continue to work as a team to make our school the best in Dearborn!
Sincerely,
Ms. Amal Alcodray