Click on a topic below to begin:

• Articles and Websites Related to General Ed Reform

• After School Enrichment

• Better Food Means Better Learning (Nutrition)

• Class Size

• Drop Outs & GED

• Grant Writing

• Leadership

• High School

• Middle School

• Ninth Grade

• Paraprofessional Qualification

• Professional Development

• Teacher Certification

• Teacher Recruitment & Retention

• Teacher Quality

• Looking for a job? Job opportunities and resources may be found here.

Featured Resources

The Really Big List of Classroom Management Resources: There are classroom management techniques tailored to elementary and secondary education, discipline ideas for new and experienced teachers, tips for handling special education, suggestions for getting organized, strategies for preventing behavior problems, sample classroom rules, ways of creating a caring community, and more.
 

» Click here for more in-depth resources and information on this topic. 

Uncertified Teachers Performing Well, Study Finds - According to a new study, uncertified teachers end up performing just as well in the classroom as certified teachers and alternatively trained teachers. The study's results appear to challenge requirements under the federal No Child Left Behind Act that every classroom have a "highly qualified" teacher, instead suggesting that schools should put more emphasis on weeding out bad apples after the teachers have been hired. While alternatively certified and uncertified teachers do worse at first, they appear to improve at faster rates than traditionally certified teachers and by the teachers' third year on the job, students of alternatively certified and uncertified teachers are performing just as well as those of traditionally certified teachers.

Challenge to Teacher Ed - For-profit venture seeks to offer a new model, involving close ties to school districts and a curriculum based on the latest research.

Innovations In Education - "Alternative Routes to Teacher Certification" looks at six programs that prepare people who already have content knowledge -- such as mid-career professionals, liberal arts graduates, retired military personnel, and other college graduates -- to teach. "Alternative Pathways to School Leadership" provides examples of successful strategies to prepare candidates for school leadership positions. To receive two copies of each new book, write to Courtney Phillips at Courtney.Phillips@ed.gov or click on the link above. [Source: Office of Innovation and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education]

Check your child's Michigan Teacher Certification Status
 

KY Kentucky Teachers Taking Alternative Paths to Certifications - A growing number of Kentucky teachers are taking alternative routes to their certification - getting into the classroom while earning their credentials.

Alternative teacher-certification program debuts online - A new internet-based program that allows underqualified teachers, career changers, and other professionals to bypass teacher colleges to become "highly qualified" certified teachers made its debut Aug. 22. Passport to Teaching targets people who are interested in becoming teachers but don't want to take the time and incur the expense of completing a traditional teacher-education program. [Free registration required to read/view this article @ www.eschoolnews.com]

Attention Michigan Teachers: Information and teacher certification applications can be found at the Michigan Dept. of Ed. website at www.michigan.gov/mde.  Click on educators on the left and then on professional preparation on the left.

Looking for a job?  K-12 job opportunities may be found at www.greatschooljobs.com or www.mireap.net.

What's Wrong With Teacher Certification? - Current teacher licensing, or teacher certification, as it is commonly called, does not do what it is intended to do. It does not differentiate clearly between those who are qualified to teach and those who are not.

Paige Backs Reform in Certification of Teachers - Mr. Paige yesterday endorsed the new American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence (ABCTE), whose mission is to certify subject experts, experienced professionals and military veterans as public school teachers, even if they don't have degrees in education.

Teachers get an easy pass - Minnesota teachers hold a national reputation for excellence, but when it comes to the tests they take to get their licenses, the state allows some of the lowest passing scores in the country.

Innovations In Education - "Alternative Routes to Teacher Certification" looks at six programs that prepare people who already have content knowledge -- such as mid-career professionals, liberal arts graduates, retired military personnel, and other college graduates -- to teach. "Alternative Pathways to School Leadership" provides examples of successful strategies to prepare candidates for school leadership positions. To receive two copies of each new book, write to Courtney Phillips at Courtney.Phillips@ed.gov or click on the link above. [Source: Office of Innovation and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education]

Building Academic Success on Social and Emotional Learning: What Does the Research Say? - A new publication from the Collaborative on Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, examines the relationships between social emotional education and school success, specifically focusing on interventions that enhance student learning. The book provides both scientific evidence and practical examples in describing the benefits of social emotional learning programs, such as: skill-building linked to cognitive development; improved relationships between students and teachers; school-family partnerships to help students achieve; and increased student confidence and success. To order a copy from Teachers College Press go to http://store.tcpress.com/0807744395.shtml.

ISLLC Standards Found Lacking in Practices Related to Student Achievement (PDF) - The Mid-continent Regional Education Laboratory takes a look at the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) standards for licensing school principals and finds that they contain some---but not all---of the leadership responsibilities and practices that are correlated with student achievement. If you’re one of the 40 states that have incorporated ISLLC into their leadership standards, you’ll want to read this report.

Eight Elements for Superintendents Who Want to Make a Difference - Today’s superintendency calls on deep reserves from leaders who understand and seek to practice fundamental tenets of what Michael Fullan calls "system thinkers in action." The eight elements of sustainability constitute the agenda for the superintendent who wants to make a difference and has the resolve and energy to keep going: (1) Public service with moral purpose; (2) Change the entire context within which people work; (3) Strengthen peer relations across schools; (4) Increase the capacity of schools to engage in self-review; (5) Continuous improvement, adaptation and collective problem solving in the face of complex challenges; (6) Dual commitment to short-term and long-term results; (7) Taking the energy, additional time, and ingenuity required for the next breakthrough; and (8) Developing other leaders in the district.

KS In Less Than 2 Years, Principal Restores Discipline, Improves Test Scores - After Denise Wren took over one of Wichita's toughest high schools, she did more with less. A lot more. Math and reading test scores rose. Writing scores jumped 14 percentage points.

Featured Website: e-Lead.org, a partnership of IEL (Institute for Educational Leadership) and the Laboratory for Student Success (LSS), offers states and districts information about how to provide better professional development for principals The renovated site now includes over 30 programs in its selected database, in addition to other guidance and resources.

Commentary: Is Unity Possible? - One of the challenges of leadership in any organization (or country) is how to respect and incorporate diverse viewpoints and experiences while uniting behind a common vision in order to reach common goals – and not allowing the process to be derailed.

MI Everett's Principal is Named Best in the State - Dale Glynn, who has led Lansing's diverse Everett High School since 1995, is Michigan's new High School Principal of the Year. Affectionately known as "Rainbow Man" because of his inclusive nature, Glynn said the students "become my sons and my daughters."

Mentors Are Biggest Help to New Teachers, Report Indicates - Since 1999, researchers at the Harvard Graduate School of Education have followed the careers of 50 new Massachusetts teachers.

The Waiting Game - Alexander Russo looks at the struggles of graduates of the highly competitive program New Leaders for New Schools to find jobs in traditional public schools. New Leaders fellows receive the kind of leadership and management training that principals hired through traditional routes seldom enjoy. Each cohort of “new leaders” is chosen through a highly competitive application process. Those selected take courses during the summer, then spend a year in full-time “residency” at a school under the guidance of a mentor principal. The current fellows range in age from their late 20s to their mid-50s. Two-thirds are African-American, Hispanic, or Asian-American, and two-thirds are women. Most important, they are among the most confident, determined, and accomplished school leadership candidates you can imagine.

It Takes Much More Than Mentors to Help New Teachers - On Sunday, May 16, 2004, I saw a posting from azcentral.com headlining “Mentors are biggest help to new teachers, report indicates.” It cites the May/June Harvard Education Letter and the Public Education Network to support its headline and article. Both the azcentral.com posting and the Harvard Education Letter are incorrect. A definition is in order. Mentoring and induction are not synonymous. Mentoring is what a mentor does. Induction is the name given to the comprehensive process used to train, support, and retain new teachers, of which a mentor may be one component. Mentors are very important, but they must be part of an induction process aligned to the district’s vision, mission, and structure. For a mentor to be effective, the mentor must be trained and then used in combination with the other components of the induction process.

FL In This Florida District Diversity Hasn't Reached the Principal's Office - In Florida's giant Broward County school district, only 10 school principals are Hispanic. That's 6 percent, compared with nearly one in four students. Even as the county rapidly grows more diverse, school administrators are still mostly white non-Hispanics--and their grip on the principal's office can be damaging, Hispanic parents say.

OH Fewer Want to be Superintendents - Superintendents are retiring in record numbers, but schools can't fill their positions.

Seven Principles of Sustainable Leadership - A new study finds that a key force leading to meaningful, long-term change is leadership sustainability. Most school leadership practices create temporary, localized flurries of change but little lasting or widespread improvement. The study found some exceptions, however. From the first day of their appointment, some leaders thought hard about how they might implement deep, broad, and long-lasting reforms. The authors illustrate seven principles that together define sustainable leadership.

IL Portfolios the First Phase of New Principal Screening - 600 eligible candidates must document leadership experience and students' academic gains.

Leadership is an Affair of the Heart - "When I have asked teachers and principals, 'What is the guiding principle or big idea that drives the work of your school and gives direction and focus to the people who work within it?' the most common response is, 'We need to raise test scores,'" writes Rick DuFour. That's not enough. " Leaders who are most effective in generating results know how to "appeal not only to the bottom line, but also to the heart. In fact, one of the best strategies for improving results is connecting with people's deepest, heartfelt hopes." [Source: PEN]

CA Co-principals: Divvying up a Monster Job - At Polytechnic High School here, everyone wants a piece of Principal Shawn Ashley. They all also want a piece of Principal Gwen Mack. One minute, a teacher is complaining about kids loitering in the halls. The next, an aide is hauling in a boy caught in the girls’ bathroom. Then a custodian is griping about co-workers. Ashley and Mack take it all in stride.

NC Women Lead Few School Districts - The path to the superintendent's office can be difficult. Leaning slightly in her chair, Orange County schools Superintendent Shirley Carraway reflects on the path she took to her corner office in Hillsborough. The journey of a few paces from the front door was years long, navigating through male-dominated territory and leaping hurdles of preference, prejudice and perception. It's a voyage that many women don't get to make.

NY Principal Apple of His Eye - It didn't take an army of cops to turn around troubled Hillcrest High School in Queens. It took a tough principal. One day after announcing plans to flood the city's 12 most dangerous schools with more police, Chancellor Joel Klein made a surprise visit to the Jamaica school that just two years ago was one of the most violent in the city. The drop-in was designed to show that Klein thinks principals, not cops, are ultimately responsible for the safety in their schools.

CA A Buddy System for Educators - At Polytechnic High School in Long Beach, everyone wants a piece of Principal Shawn Ashley. They all also want a piece of Principal Gwen Mack. One minute, a teacher is complaining about kids loitering in the halls. The next, an aide is hauling in a boy caught in the girls' bathroom. Then a custodian is griping about co-workers. Ashley and Mack take it all in stride. Inside their office, with two gray cubicles and two names on the door, they divvy up a monster job usually heaped on the shoulders of a single principal.

Guiding Principles for Principal Professional Development - "E-Lead," a free website resource dedicated to providing states and districts with guidance about and information on the professional development of school principals, was launched through the partnership of the Laboratory for Student Success and the Institute for Educational Leadership. [Source: PEN]

Leadership Opportunity: Broad Center 2004 Urban Superintendents Academy - The Urban Superintendents Academy is a 10-month executive management course designed to prepare leaders from outside and inside the education sector to become successful urban superintendents. The Broad Center is seeking high-achieving, dynamic executives from the corporate, nonprofit, government, military and education sectors who have a passion for improving public education by serving as chief executive officers in our nation's largest urban school systems. Application deadlines are September 15 and October 15, 2003.

The Education Policy and Leadership Center (EPLC) is an independent, non-profit, non-partisan organization focused on state-level education policy and educational leadership development.  The mission of The Education Policy and Leadership Center is to encourage and support the use of more effective state-level education policies to improve student learning in grades K-12, increase the effective operation of schools, and enhance educational opportunities for citizens of all ages.

WA School Chiefs Lack Broad Authority for Reforms, UW Survey Finds - A University of Washington study being released Monday suggests the goals of No Child Left Behind -- a sweeping educational reform that holds schools and districts accountable for student achievement -- will be difficult to meet unless school superintendents are given greater authority.

An Impossible Job? The View From the Urban Superintendent's Chair - This report, the second in the Center's leadership series, finds that even the best superintendents cannot make the changes necessary to raise school performance because district governance thwarts their ability to implement reform. The research is based on surveys and interviews of 140 urban superintendents, and the final chapter outlines a number of recommendations to empower superintendents.  View the summary, policy brief, press release, or full report.

Agent of Change - A year in the life of a hard-charging superintendent shows what it takes to overhaul a school system. (You must login/register to read this article from Education Week.)

Report on Effective Leadership Now Available

Report on Effective Leadership Now Available - Effective Superintendents, Effective Boards: Finding the Right Fit looks at the relationship between school boards and superintendents and how it affects student achievement.  This report is available for free (pdf) on the Web and $10 for a hard copy at https://www.ewa.org/cgi-bin/formengine.cgi?form=orderform.  (An Education Writers Association Special Report)

Beyond Instructional Leadership: The Learning-Centered Principal - "When I entered the principalship a quarter century ago, the research on effective schools warned that without strong administrative leadership, the disparate elements of good schooling could be neither brought together nor kept together. I heeded the message. I was determined to rise above the mundane managerial tasks of the job and focus instead on instruction—I hoped to be an instructional leader."

Target Stores and Tiger Woods Restructure Start Something Scholarship Program - Target Stores and the Tiger Woods Foundation have restructured Start Something, a program that helps young people pursue their dreams and goals and encourages youth leadership and community stewardship.

CA Chief San Diego school reformer to leave - Superintendent calls departure 'mutual'.

Read the article "A Compass in the Storm" - Guiding principles for a new age of business and school partnerships.

Leadership dilemmas can only be answered through spiritual and philosophical traditions - "I’d like to offer just a few simple practices that I personally can’t live without if I’m to maintain a sense of focus and peace as a leader...."

By looking inward, any individual has the capacity to rise to greatness - "Leadership is a mysterious and elusive concept. What we read as history is really the creation of myths. From an ordinary person, society creates a Napoleon or Gandhi, a Martin Luther King Jr. or Joan of Arc, someone who acquires mythic status as a shaper of destiny." - Deepak Chopra

A Way to Engage, Not Escape - "In a time when educational leaders are told to focus on numbers-driven, outcome-based, bottom-line accountability, the idea of spirituality in leadership can seem quaint, irrelevant and downright squishy. What possible use can spirituality have for leaders, other than perhaps to serve as a brief and unreal respite from the rough-and-tumble world?"

Five principles for welcoming soul into school leadership - “What are the ‘inner’ skills and strengths you have cultivated and sustained that make you a strong leader today?” I asked Bob Adams, the superintendent in Aurora, Colorado.

Professional Development                      Click here for information on Grant Writing.

» Click here for more in-depth resources and information on this topic. 

Detroit Schools Graduation Rate: 32% - Just 31.9 percent of Detroit students graduate in four years, according to the first major study in Michigan conducted using a method now mandated by the federal government.

Reviews from the What Works Clearinghouse: Dropout Prevention (March 2007, Research Reviews) - The What Works Clearinghouse of the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences has published reviews of two dropout prevention interventions: Middle College High School and Twelve Together.
 

MI Dropout Numbers Not Always Verified - Data used by state and federal policymakers to set education policy, and by parents in making location decisions, could very well be inaccurate, according to an audit released today.

Whatever It Takes: Reconnecting Out-Of-School Youth - This new report documents what committed educators, policymakers, and community leaders across the country are doing to reconnect out-of-school youth to the social and economic mainstream. It provides background on the serious high school dropout problem and describes in-depth what twelve communities are doing to reconnect dropouts to education and employment training. It also includes descriptions of major national program models serving out-of-school youth.

Drop Outs: In this three-part series, the Los Angeles Times examines why so many students drastically limit their prospects by dropping out of high school.

PART ONE: Back to Basics: Why Does High School Fail So Many?
PART TWO: Algebra: A Formula for Failure in L.A. Schools
PART THREE: Trail to Graduation: 'It's Like You're Climbing Everest'

Big IDEAs: Dropout Prevention Strategies - Big IDEAs: Dropout Prevention Strategies is the quarterly e-mail newsletter of the National Dropout Prevention Center for Students with Disabilities. You can browse back issues of Big IDEAs on the Center’s Website.
 

Preventing Dropouts Helps Nation’s Economy - Four words changed Josh Baker’s life: You can play football.

IN Paying the Price for the Dropout Epidemic - Two facts are closely linked: Indiana was 44th in the nation in job creation last year, and it's 46th in the educational attainment level of its population. The first number won't rise until the second is confronted.

CA Dropout Numbers Called 'Crisis' - A study by the Harvard Civil Rights Project and the Urban Institute found that California's reported graduation rate of 87 percent dramatically underestimates the actual number of dropouts. Researchers found that the actual graduation rate is probably closer to 71 percent. Rates for minority students were even lower: 57 percent for African Americans, 60 percent for Latinos and 52 percent for Native Americans. Rates for minority males dropped even further, according to the study.

Math Emerges As Big Hurdle For Teenagers - Researchers from the United Negro College Fund went to West Virginia last year and asked 62 high school dropouts in the federal Job Corps program a simple, open-ended question. “What was it about school,” they wanted to know, “that caused you to quit?”

Looking for your Michigan GED Transcript? Click here to download the Michigan GED Transcript Request Form (PDF; size=61k).