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Michigan
State Board of Education Rejects Publicizing School
Accreditation Status; Superintendent Suggests Doing Away With
Accreditation
Gongwer News Service, October 11, 2005
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The Department
of Education is trying to find ways to draw attention to
schools' accreditation status, but State Board of Education
members could not agree that the plan presented Tuesday was the
right way to do that.
Department officials had proposed displaying the accreditation
status of schools directly below their grades on state report
cards, but board members raised concerns that the proposal made
the report cards less meaningful rather than more by making them
more complex.
"We're going to go back to the drawing board a little bit," said
Superintendent of Public Instruction Mike Flanagan after the
board discussions. "We either need to make it a little richer or
perhaps throw the whole thing out," he said of accreditation.
Chief Academic Officer Jeremy Hughes said one of the issues the
department was trying to address was the flagging importance of
the state's accreditation system, particularly considering only
six schools statewide were unaccredited.
"It is very difficult for a school in Michigan to become
unaccredited," Mr. Hughes said. "One of the things we're asking
you to consider is expanding the opportunities where a school
could be unaccredited."
Under the proposal, the letter grades given to schools would be
based solely on Michigan Educational Assessment Program results.
The grades, as is currently done, would be adjusted up or down
based on whether the school met federal adequate yearly progress
standards.
The accreditation would then be based on school performance
indicators, which are currently part of the letter grade.
Schools scoring an A or a B with high marks on the performance
indicators would be "exemplary accredited" while those with an F
and high marks would be "unaccredited improving".
The new categories would acknowledge those schools doing things
right, even if those actions have not yet led to sufficient
performance gains, Mr. Hughes said.
But those schools earning a D and scoring poorly on the
performance indicators would be unaccredited.
"I think I knew what you were trying to do and I agree with it,"
said board President Kathleen Straus (D-Bloomfield Township).
"People are looking at the AYP rather than the accreditation, so
I think you're on the right track trying to beef up
accreditation."
But she said the plan had a significant drawback: "This is so
complicated was my first reaction."
Board Vice President John Austin (D-Ann Arbor) questioned
whether many parents or others would look at the proposed
categories. "People will still look at letter grade and whether
they made AYP," he said. "The rest is inside baseball."
"We need a framework that makes it easy for parents to decide
where to send their children, plus you need a system that will
provide you the level of information to guide school
improvement," said board member Reginald Turner (D-Detroit). But
he said the proposal would potentially go beyond the level of
information most people would use.
"At some point even to folks on this board you can get beyond
the level of complexity that is most helpful," he said.
"How does it show the school's strengths and weaknesses," said
Sue Carnell, Governor Jennifer Granholm's representative to the
board. "I see this initially as compounding the problems. It's
Compounding the way we measure the strengths and weaknesses of
the school."
Board member Nancy Danhof (R-East Lansing) said the plan could
still have some advantages. "The big job is not to decide
whether it's too big or too little. The big job is how are we
gong to market this," she said. "With what you put together here
we can do that."
Board members are still expecting to see a proposal in December
to change the current performance indicators to a system based
on the school improvement framework the department is
developing. The goal of the new framework is to create more
measurable indications that a school is taking the steps needed
to help children improve.
Board of Education: Eat Right, Stay Healthy
MIRS, October 11, 2005
The State Board of Education today adopted a “wellness policy”
as a guideline for local school districts to follow to ensure
that all school students provide nutrition information needed to
“adopt healthy eating behaviors” and that reimbursable school
meals meet federal program requirements and nutrition standards.
The policy calls for nutrition education information to be
offered throughout the school that includes, but is not limited
to, school dining areas and classrooms and that staff members
who provide nutrition information have the appropriate training.
In addition, the policy calls for providing physical education
opportunities and other school-based activities to promote
student wellness.
Under federal law passed in June 2004, the State Board of
Education is required to establish a school wellness policy by
July 1, 2006.
The policy is titled State Board of Education Model Local
Wellness Policy and Corresponding Model Local Administrative
Rules.
State Board Gearing Up For Big Finish
MIRS, October 11, 2005
The State Board of Education is going to wrap up its year in a
big way based on anticipated action at its December meeting.
The board is expected to take final action on Education YES!
accreditation measures, implement a school improvement
framework, and adopt a mandated statewide school curriculum.
Superintendent of Public Instruction Michael FLANAGAN informed
board members they would have a proposed mandated curriculum
before them for discussion at the November meeting with final
approval slated for December.
Flanagan told MIRS today the proposal would not be one in
concept but one that would be "content specific."
The anticipated proposal follows closely on the heels of a call
by Gov. Jennifer GRANHOLM earlier this month for the
establishment of a rigorous mandatory curriculum for Michigan
high school students. "We can't afford to have our 500 local
school districts marching in different directions," Granholm
said in a radio address.
Currently, Michigan does not require a single course, other than
one semester of civics, to graduate from high school.
School Improvement Framework
MIRS, October 11, 2005
The School Improvement Framework (SFI) is being created to
assist public schools and public school districts in the review
of their policies and practices to help improve and enhance
student achievement - a process that requires a 3 to 5 year
school improvement plan mandated by state law.
The framework contains five divisions: teaching and learning;
leadership; personnel and professional learning; school and
community relations; and data and information management. The
divisions are broken down further into 12 standards and 26
benchmarks for schools to measure school improvement.
The State Board of Education approved a draft of the SIF in
February. Since that time, Department of Education staff have
been holding meetings throughout the state with education
professionals and organizations receiving input from nearly 800
educators.
Currently, the proposed SIF is undergoing a national review and
further fine-tuning before presentation to the Board for final
approval in December.
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