Become a Michigan ASCD
member

View Archived Michigan ASCD Publications

STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Plan to Advance Teacher Preparation
The State Superintendent of Schools, Michael Flanagan, presented the Board with a comprehensive plan for teacher preparation in Michigan.  The plan has the following recommended actions:

“The focus of the plan is to move from compliance to outcomes for student achievement,” State Superintendent Michael Flanagan said. Three tiers of licensure are proposed.  Tier one would be the initial three-year license.  Tier two is identified as Professional and is a three year renewable license.  Tier 3 is Advanced Professional and would require a five year renewable license. 

The current status of the plan is to now have the Department of Education, with input from the field, work through the details of approval and implementation.

Teacher Preparation Institution Performance Scores
The Board approved revisions to the criteria used for performance scores in rating teacher education institutions. Follow this link to view the approved revisions.

Social Studies Grade Level Content Expectations
At a special October 1, 2007, the Board unanimously approved the Social Studies Grade Level Content Expectations for grades K-12.  These are the first revisions of Michigan’s Social Studies since 1996. The Social Studies Content Expectations cover History, Civics and Government, Geography and Economics and are aligned to national standards.

The content expectations can be viewed at www.michigan.gov/glce and www.michigan.gov/highschool

Physical Education
At its October 9, 2007 meeting, the Board received the drafts of the K-8 Physical Education Grade Level Content Expectations and the Revised Michigan Merit Curriculum Credit Guidelines for Physical Education.  The State Department of Education will soon make these documents available for public comment.

Michigan Teacher of the Year Nominations
The nomination process for the 2008-2009 Michigan Teacher of the Year is now open.  Each nominated teacher receives a letter of recognition from the State Board of Education and the State Superintendent, along with an invitation to apply for the position of the 2008-2009 Michigan Teacher of the Year.  The successful applicant will act as a spokesperson for all Michigan teachers, participate in monthly State Board of Education meetings, and will travel to two national Teacher of the Year events.  Nominations can be submitted online at www.michigan.gov/mtoy.  The nominations deadline is November 2, 2007.

Fall School Improvement Conference
The State Department of Education’s Fall School Improvement Conference is now open for registration at the MIEM website.  The featured speaker will be Stacey Scott, Ed.D, from the Center for Understanding Equity, who will speak on “Data Driven Decision Making.”  New tools to support continued school improvement will be presented.

The School Budget
Schools are expected to see a one percent ($1.3 billion) increase in their foundation allowance.  However, $20 million has been allocated for a School Equity Formula (see below) and it is unclear if this formula will take $20 million out of the one percent of the foundation allowance.  If this occurs, then some schools will receive more than the one percent and others less than the one percent.

The final fate of the school foundation allowance, categoricals, and other budget items will be determined at a conference committee that will include three legislators from the House and three legislatures from the Senate.  A majority vote will be required to pass any budget decisions.  Once passed, the decisions will go to the floor for a vote where an up or down vote will occur.  No amendments are allowed.

Note!  As of today, Michigan Schools have been operating without a budget for 104 days.

School Equity Formula Proposed
The legislative leaders in both chambers and the Governor have agreed to $20million in equity payments in the 2007-08 budgets.  This is an effort to have the lowest-spending school districts in the state again begin catching up with the highest spending districts.
Details on a formula that would dispense not only those funds, but future statutory equity payments have not yet been unveiled.   Such equity payments to bring up the lowest-spending districts had been part of the original implementation of Proposal A of 1994, but only two equity payments had been made since those provisions expired in 1999.

Under the plan, the bottom spending districts, those with per-pupil grants less than $8,300, would be divided into three tiers, with the lowest spending tier receiving twice the increase in the foundation allowance that other districts received.   The other two tiers would receive larger increases than the base, but something less than twice.

Details on the three tiers are still in development, but the proposal would provide some level of equity payment to about three-quarters of the districts in the state.

Common School Calendar
SB 549 amends the Revised School Code to require an intermediate school district (ISD), in cooperation with its constituent districts, to adopt a common school calendar by July 1, 2008 and begin using it in the 2008-2009 school year. The calendar would identify dates for the next five years when schools would not be in session for at least a winter holiday break, a spring break and professional development days.
 
If a collective bargaining agreement is in effect for employees of a school district or an ISD on the bill’s effective date, and if that calendar does not comply with the common school calendar, then that school district or ISD would not have to comply until the collective bargaining agreement expires.

The State Superintendent of Instruction could grant waivers to year round, international baccalaureate academy and schools operating on a trimester basis.  Exceptions would also be granted to a public school that operates all of grades 6-12 on a single site, that aligned its high school curriculum with advanced placement courses as the capstone of the curriculum and that ended its second academic semester concurrently with the end of the advanced placement exam period.

Retirement Reform
SB 546 and SB 547 would amend the Public Employees Retirement System to change the way retiree health benefits would be provided to those entering the retirement system after June 20, 2008. These bills were introduced to make changes to provisions dealing with the purchase and use of service credit, and to increase the required contribution to the Member Investment Plan for those entering the retirement system.

Employer Pooled Health Plans
SB 418, SB 419, SB 420 and SB 421 would allow for the creation of public employer pooled medical plans under certain conditions. 

Children’s Health Insurance
President Bush vetoed the bipartisan State Children’s Health Insurance Program legislation.  The legislature is determining if they can override the veto (two-thirds vote is needed.)

Military Support
President Bush has asked for a $70 billion increase in defense appropriations for 2008.

No Child Left Behind
Congress continues to accept input for revisions to No Child Left Behind.  Stay tuned.

ASCD Express Asks for Submissions
This is about helping teachers.  If you've worked formally or informally to improve teacher performance, or if you received support as a struggling teacher, ASCD urges you to submit a brief article to the ASCD Express newsletter, on the theme of Helping Teachers Who Struggle, by Nov. 15. Read more about writing for the ASCD Express by visiting their website.

Register Today to Attend the 2008 ASCD Annual Conference
ASCD's 2008 Annual Conference, Reinventing Education: Courageous Leadership for Positive Change, is scheduled for March 15-17, 2008 in New Orleans, LA. Online registration information for this annual conference is available at the ASCD website.

Did You Know II Video
Access below a video clip, available on YouTube, demonstrating how the context for education is rapidly changing.  After viewing the video, reflect on its content, and engage in conversation with your colleagues about the implications of this changing context for what your schools are doing today and should be doing for tomorrow. The Did You Know II video is a new version of the original Did You Know video. This seven minute version can lead to real local conversations about the implications of the changing world and what your schools are facing to prepare students for the 21st century global society.

Connecting Resources to Michigan Content Expectations

Who should attend:  K-12 certified educators seeking to build a better understanding of correlating resources to the content expectations.

What:  Four day Connecting Resources Retreat. Educators will build a better understanding of correlating expectations to resources.  This work will be done with in the Michigan Electronic Library. Each participant should bring a laptop computer.  A limited number will be available.

When:  November 29th through Dec. 2nd

Cost:  $120.00 per person
Please register in teams of two.

Where: Boyne Mountain Resort

Professional Development Opportunities

“I wonder how many children’s lives might be saved if we educators disclosed what we know to teach each other.”   --Roland Barth, 2001

Professional Learning Communities, if rightly defined, are the surest, fastest path to instructional improvement!

Research and experience clearly shows that restructuring how people work together is what ultimately has an effect on success in the classroom. This workshop does just that.  It will not only let the participants know the most successful focused models that teachers and administrators can use to collaborate together for student success, it will also demonstrate the best way to identify and utilize the right resources for collaborative groups to use. For school leaders, the most powerful actions that they can take are those built around the fundamental concepts of learning communities. Leadership built on this foundation is simpler and allows those currently in leadership roles to have an extraordinary impact on the improvement of instruction. The presenters for these workshops are highly regarded educational leaders who have a wealth of experiences with successful results oriented learning communities.

Please join us, October 15, 2007, at Washtenaw ISD to work with presenter Joyce Fouts Ed.D., Executive Director of the Galileo Leadership Consortium, in discovering The Power of Professional Learning Communities to Improve Learning for ALL. The afternoon session will be devoted to the tools and research regarding the establishment and sustaining of face-to-face, instructor lead, and online learning communities, with presentations by ASCD, Scholastic Education, and Michigan LearnPort.

Site Based Professional Development: "On a Shoe String"
October 15, 2007, Washtenaw ISD

Site based professional development has proven to be extremely
effective because it addresses the real needs of a building or professional group, is long term and directly involves educators in finding solutions to the immediate educational challenges that they face. One of the most cost effective means of professional learning, it is also proven to be the most powerful.

This workshop will show participants how to successfully plan, implement and utilize study groups, school improvement teams and professional learning communities to collectively address the most pressing educational needs in their own settings.

These models are backed by research and they address:
• Using reality to identify real teaching and learning needs
• The support for continuous improvement
• Collective team work and accountability
• The change process
• The use of systems thinking

Attendees will be provided with an opportunity to explore a wealth of resources that can be used in site-based professional development settings. Successful and practical techniques for use by site-based professional learning groups will also be demonstrated. This is a must workshop for buildings and districts that are serious about a continuous process of involving the stakeholders in addressing the current and future challenges of getting more students to learn or to learn better.

Event Registration Form      Online Registration

Map to Washtenaw ISD