This past spring, students at New Branches Charter Academy (NBCA) participated in Michigan’s standardized test, known as the Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress (M-STEP). Students in grades 3 through 8 were tested in the subject areas of English Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies.
DEMOGRAPHICS
Of the students attending NBCA, 94.6% are students from the Grand Rapids Public Schools’ district. Less than 6% of students reside in Wyoming Public Schools’ district, and less than 1% of NBCA’s students come from the Kentwood Public Schools’ district.
New Branches Charter Academy opened its doors in 1995, having its most recent Charter Contract renewed until 2019. With the school’s longevity in the community, NBCA is home to many legacy students. A legacy student is a student who has attended a specific school for three or more years. At NBCA, 41% of students have attended for three or more years.
RESULTS
M-STEP results from Spring 2016 show that NBCA students outperformed students in local districts in most subjects, and were comparably close in those they did not. NBCA students also made strong gains in comparison to their own Spring 2015 scores in the areas of Math and Social Studies. 
STUDENT GROWTH
Student Growth Percentile (SGP) is used by the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) as a way to compare students with similar score histories (in given subjects) to their performance on the most recent test. New Branches students’ SGP scores indicate that their average growth is greater than that of a local district and of the state’s average.