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, […]
Ron French
Ron French is the senior enterprise reporter at Bridge Michigan, covering a wide range of topics including rural communities, federal policy impacts, education and public health. Born and raised in Indiana, Ron came to Bridge in 2011 from The Detroit News, where he was a project reporter, and previously reported for newspapers across Indiana. He graduated from Purdue University.
Rooted in Okemos, Ron has become a true Michigander — complete with a family cabin Up North.
Posted inMichigan Education Watch
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 inMichigan Education Watch
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 inMichigan Education Watch
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 […]
Posted inMichigan Education Watch
Grading teachers is proving difficult for principals
Teachers in school districts where Michigan’s proposed teacher evaluation system is being piloted are generally receptive to the changes. But inconsistent scores and a lawsuit in one district are among the challenges schools are likely to face when the system is rolled out across the state as soon as next school year. Brian Rowan, professor […]
Posted inMichigan Education Watch
Improving teacher quality critical to Michigan’s future
Amber Arellano is the executive director of The Education Trust-Midwest The Education Trust-Midwest, based in Royal Oak, has played an integral role in shaping the debate over Michigan teacher evaluation reform. Executive Director Amber Arellano spoke to Bridge about the importance of the reform efforts for Michigan’s children. Bridge: It seems the debate has centered […]
Posted inMichigan Education Watch
Becoming a teacher: too often in Michigan it’s come one, come all
One college advertises classes in “truck driving and teacher preparation.” Another program draws potential teachers from the bottom fifth of high school students. Michigan imposes no minimum standards for admission to teacher training programs, leaving standards to individual schools that have little incentive to limit enrollment. The result: Some Michigan teacher candidates studying in programs […]
Posted inMichigan Education Watch
Where should an aspiring teacher go to college? Nobody knows.
It was the end of her first semester as a Michigan teacher. Her students had gone home, and Wendy Zdeb-Roeper sat at her classroom desk, writing a letter to her alma mater. “I remember the feeling before the school year began,” recalled Zdeb-Roeper, now executive director of the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals. “I […]
Posted inMichigan Education Watch
How to get more teacher trainees in more classrooms sooner
MSU education students Alex Benitez, left, and Caitlin Gallagher, center, and other MSU students portray characters in the American Revolutionary War as they sit in and and take part in Haslett Middle School teacher Ben Pineda’s 8th grade social studies class. In Haslett, college seniors and eighth-graders sit in the same social studies class. About […]
Posted inMichigan Education Watch
No room for mediocre teachers in this school
Principal Mary Lang doesn’t suffer mediocrity in her classrooms. High-quality teaching is crucial in her North Godwin Elementary where the deck is already stacked against most students. ““Two or three ineffective teachers, and these kids are done,” Lang said. From her closet-sized principal’s office, Mary Lang doesn’t need to talk about more rigorous teacher training. […]
