BHS Cracks Top Ten in Bridge Magazine Report

Bloomfield Hills Schools Superintended Rob Glass often talks about the 'value-add' students receive through their teachers and a comprehensive curriculum. Now, the Center for Michigan has developed a way to measure it.

Data compiled by the center and published recently in its Bridge Magazine ranked the Bloomfield Hills Schools 10th out of the 52 districts to receive the Academic State Champion designation, when expected performance is rooted out. The ranking was the highest of any traditional public school in Oakland County.

Winners were drawn from a database created by and Public Sector Consultants of traditional public school districts and charter schools offering kindergarten through 12th-grade, Bridge Magazine reported. Districts were ranked based on schools' test scores adjusted for family income, showing where students are not only achieving but overachieving.

While he acknowledged the reliance on test scores — which he has said are often over-emphasized — Glass said he was pleased, nonetheless, and that the results reaffirm what he's been telling parents since his arrival a few years ago. 

"I’m no champion of every element of these metrics, but it’s certainly nice to know when they are done," Glass told the BHS Board of Education last week. "It just verifies what we already know."

The study showed BHS students show a combined Value-Added Matrix (VAM) score of 112.91, just behind Okemos Public Schools (113.5), and just ahead of Ann Arbor Public Schools (111.87).

According to the analysis, a  (VAM) score of 100 indicates students are achieving at expected levels for their income level. The higher a school's score, the better their students are performing on standardized tests.