Comparison of teacher certification costs by state Lower costs, simpler tests – Michigan charges less for teacher certification tests than surrounding states. Lower fees mean Michigan has less money to pay for tests rigorous enough to screen out less-prepared aspiring teachers. State General test Content-specific test Total Michigan $50 $75 $125 Indiana $114 $150 $264 […]
Ron French
Ron reports on a variety of subjects across the state. Ron came to Bridge in 2011 from The Detroit News, where he was a project reporter. Born and raised in Indiana, Ron graduated from Purdue University. He reported for newspapers across Indiana before moving to Michigan in 1995. Ron lives in Okemos, and like the true Michigander he’s become, he now has a family cabin Up North. You can reach him at rfrench@bridgemi.com or 517-214-3636.
Posted inBusiness Watch
Plenty of jobs for those with few choices
Many of the fastest-growing jobs in Michigan in the coming decade will be jobs most people won’t want – with pay so low that many workers will qualify for food stamps. A Bridge Magazine analysis of job projections found that four of the six occupational categories adding the most jobs through 2023 pay workers, on […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Six things Michigan could do to build better-paying jobs
What’s on our Christmas list? Six things experts say would help turn around Michigan’s dismal jobs forecast. Improve early reading Reading proficiency in early grades has a huge impact on academic success. Invest in intensive intervention as needed in schools, and encourage parents to read to their children. Decrease college dropouts Michigan is above average […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Michigan’s Christmas Carol: A scary look at our jobs outlook
Continued shrinking of the state’s famed middle-class factory jobs. Fast-growing occupations that pay so little, workers may qualify for food stamps. Job growth that ranks 49th in the nation. (Illustration by AJ Jones) This is not a holiday story Gov. Rick Snyder wants to read to his children. Continued shrinking of the state’s famed middle-class […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Michigan needs more college grads to attract good jobs
Lou Glazer is president of Michigan Future Inc., a nonpartisan nonprofit that works to generate new ideas to help Michigan succeed in a knowledge-driven economy. Bridge: Michigan lost a higher percentage of jobs in the recession than other states, and Michigan is projected to gain fewer jobs than 48 states in the next decade. What’s […]
Posted inTalent & Education
No way to know your school’s safety record
Either the kids of Caro High School have a drinking problem, or the adults have a data problem. According to Michigan’s official school safety data, the school of about 600 students in Michigan’s thumb recorded 4,815 cases of alcohol possession in the 2011-12 school year. For that data to be right, each high schooler would […]
Posted inTalent & Education
Michigan weighs “read-or-flunk” law for 3rd graders
How much is it worth to help third graders become better readers? Studies show third grade reading skills are critical. How well children read in third grade often predicts how well they’ll do in the rest of their school career, says State Superintendent Mike Flanagan. Students who are good readers by third grade dropout less, […]
Posted inTalent & Education
One in four aspiring teachers pass new teacher test
Becoming a teacher in Michigan just became a lot more difficult. Only one in four aspiring teachers passed a beefed-up version of Michigan’s teacher certification test – an exam that teachers must pass to be hired to lead a classroom – when the new test was administered for the first time last month. The initial […]
Posted inTalent & Education
What does good teaching look like? We’re about to find out
Imagine a Michigan where student teachers learn at the knee of the state’s best teachers; where master teachers descend into the most needy schools like SWAT teams; where struggling teachers get the training they need to improve, and where everyone knows which teacher colleges turn out all-stars, and which producing duds. Now imagine a Michigan […]
Posted inTalent & Education
Rich school. Poor school. Whose teachers are better?
Perhaps the most vexing question facing Michigan’s new evaluation system is how to compare teacher performance when students in one class may be far more advanced than students in another. So-called “value-added data” is intended solve that dilemma, by taking into account such factors as poverty and a student’s past performance to determine a teacher’s […]