Michigan
News, analysis, and opinion about K-12 education in Michigan
States
Would New Emergency Manager Bill Circumvent Michigan Voters?
Michigan lawmakers are considering a new version of the emergency manager law that opponents say would resurrect Public Act 4, which was voted down on Nov. 6.
Federal
Fights Loom on Michigan K-12 Overhaul Proposals
A pair of bills would take aim at the state's school finance model and push a statewide "reform district."
Education
Michigan Authority's Selection as an RTT-D Finalist Draws Protest
A coalition of Michiganders that includes school board members, parents, and the superintendent of the Detroit Public Schools sent a letter yesterday to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and President Obama questioning the Michigan Education Authority's selection as a finalist in the Race to the Top district competition.
Assessment
Michigan Program Prepares Students for Common-Core Testing
Thousands of Michigan students participated in a pilot program that administered an online version of the social studies portion of the state's standardized test.
College & Workforce Readiness
E-Learning Opens Real-World Doors
Students in a Grand Rapids, Mich., innovation program blend virtual education and real-world experiences to prepare for college and careers.
Teaching
Mich. Initiative Scraps Grade Levels and Letter Grades
The goal is to improve achievement in the state's lowest-performing schools by allowing students to progress at their own pace.
Early Childhood
Michigan Considers Rolling Back Kindergarten Enrollment Date
Legislation Would Phase in Rollback to Sept. 1 Over Three Years
School Choice & Charters
Aggressive School 'Shopping' in Detroit
A strong majority of Detroit families have considered a range of public school choices, and 59 percent of them have students enrolled in an alternative to the assigned public schools, a survey shows.
School Choice & Charters
Opinion
What Profit a Man (Or, in this Case, a Charter School Operator)....
Parent Trigger is a hot topic these days, and the New York Times got a group of folks on opposing sides to duke it out over the topic this weekend at their "room for debate" page. It's a tough debate: For all we hear from some quarters that low-performing, high-poverty schools are unfairly judged and are in fact doing the best they can given the economic and demographic circumstances of their students and their troubled or uncaring parents--the reality is that a lot of those supposedly uncaring parents actually care a lot about their kids' education, and unfortunately many of see on a daily basis, far better than any external analyst, exactly how schools are persistently failing to deliver decent instruction, reinforcing low expectations, and in some cases actively harming students. Parent trigger gives parents who have been disempowered in all sorts of areas of their lives an opportunity to do something about that. The problem, as my colleague Andy Rotherham wrote recently, is what happens next: There's a huge gap between voting against what's currently going on in a school, and actually getting in a better performing team to lead and operate it going forward.
Classroom Technology
Michigan Pushes E-Learning Options
The Michigan Department of Education has released guidelines that allow more middle school students to take all classes online and some districts to open more virtual charter schools.
Families & the Community
Public School Choice Pushed in Michigan
A multibill package would greatly expand the menu of open-enrollment-style options for parents and students.
School & District Management
State Authority to Run Worst Schools in Detroit and Michigan
Under Gov. Rick Snyder's plan, the state’s lowest-performing schools would be managed by the new "Education Achievement System" for five years, starting with Detroit.
School & District Management
Snyder: Detroit Public Schools a 'Failing Format,' Needs Big Overhaul
Detroit Public Schools might be better off as "a system of schools" rather than a single, large entity run by top-down management, Gov. Rick Snyder said today.