Students at Norris Elementary and Leland Public School scored consistently above average on the state’s standardized test taken last fall.

The results of the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) tests administered to students in grades 3-8 last fall were released by the Department of Education last week. The findings and other factors are used to determine whether school districts make “Adequate Yearly Progress” as required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

County public school students generally scored above the regional average in all areas tested, including reading, writing, English/language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. However, it was the writing portion of the test that gave students at every school and grade level the biggest challenge.

“We continue to score well in comparison to other schools in the area. But there is still room for improvement,” said Glen Lake Elementary Principal Kim Wright.

Students at Glen Lake middle school had the highest scores in the Traverse Bay Area Intermediate School District with 87 percent of those demonstrating proficiency. Seventy-two percent of Glen Lake Elementary School students were also proficient. More than two-thirds of the students tested at Leland (76 percent), Suttons Bay Middle School (73 percent) and Norris Elementary (68 percent) were successful. The regional average was 67 percent.

Sixty-two percent of Northport Elementary students were proficient and Suttons Bay Elementary students came in at 51 percent.

“It’s still a relatively new test. So the state is still working some of the bugs out,” Wright said of the portion of the test that had to be repeated by students statewide because a portion had been “compromised” when it was printed in a downstate newspaper. “The good news is that the state has gone back to providing an item analysis so we can see where our students are missing the goal and where they’re not.”

Scores on the reading portion of the test were also the lowest among schools on the east side of the county: Northport and Suttons Bay.

The regional average on the reading test was 86 percent, and Northport students were at 83 percent while Suttons Bay Middle School’s average was 75 percent.

Meanwhile, 92 percent of Glen Lake Elementary students were successful on the reading test, the highest score in the county. Eighty-nine percent of Norris Elementary students proved proficient, as did Glen Lake Middle School students. Leland and Suttons Bay’s reading scores were also above the regional average at 86 percent.

Glen Lake students also led county students in the performance of the English/language arts portion of the test with 89 percent of both elementary and middle school students proficient. They were followed by Norris and Leland students at 87 and 86 percent proficiency, respectively.

Students from Northport and Suttons Bay came in below the regional average in the subject area at 80 percent, and Suttons Bay middle school students were at 74 percent.

The performance of county students on the math portion of the MEAP was above average for all but middle school students at Suttons Bay. An average of 82 percent was recorded for students throughout the Intermediate School District on the math portion of the test. Elementary students from Glen Lake and Leland reported proficiency rates of 92 and 91 percent, respectively.

Eighty-six percent of Norris students proved themselves proficient by state standards, and were followed by Suttons Bay, 86; Northport, 84; and Glen Lake middle school, 83.

Seventy-six percent of Suttons Bay middle school students met or exceeded state standards in mathematics.

Norris also had the highest percentage of proficient students in science at 97 percent. Suttons Bay Elementary and Glen Lake middle school students were also above the regional average of 88 percent, coming in at 92. Ninety percent of Glen Lake grade schoolers were proficient in science, and were followed closely by Leland, 89, and Northport, 86. Eighty-one percent of middle school students at Suttons Bay met or exceeded state standards.

Most county students mastered the state’s examination in social studies. Glen Lake and Norris Elementary had the highest success rate in the county at 94 percent. However, Glen Lake’s middle school students and Northport students came in below the regional average of 83 percent. Laker middle schoolers came in at 81 percent, and Northport was at 72.

Leland students and Suttons Bay middle school students proved 85 and 86 percent proficient, respectively.