Talk to Ned Milne, science teacher at Woodland School, and it becomes clear how that Traverse City charter school earned its success in teaching the subject. For starters, all science classes are electives. Where students at other schools may be herded into general grade-level classes, at Woodland they choose among ecology, biology, chemistry and earth […]
Talent & Education
To prosper, Michigan must be a more educated place. Bridge will explore the challenges in education and identify policies and initiatives that address them.
Posted inTalent & Education
A school with one foot in the old country
Most of the Michigan charter schools you’re reading about in Bridge this week are relative newcomers to the field, with all but one founded in or after the mid-1990s, when charters, or public school academies, were established by the state legislature. The exception is the AGBU Alex & Marie Manoogian School in Southfield, which was […]
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Charter champs know: Writing is tough
When Sherry Swain was teaching writing to first-graders, she sometimes took a lesson from E.B. White’s classic, “Charlotte’s Web.” She would read the first sentence — “‘Where’s Papa going with that ax?’ said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast.” — and tell her students, “You know, that wasn’t E.B. […]
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Charter math winners make it count
At the International Academy of Saginaw, math is taught through a proprietary curriculum of the school’s management company, SABIS. Called “Teach-Practice-Check,” it’s “really just good teaching,” said Justin Doughty, director. Material is taught, practiced as a group, practiced individually and checked for mastery. Advanced students are christened “prefects” and enlisted to help slower peers. Doughty said […]
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Reading champs point to early prep
Now in its 16th year, Island City Academy was founded as an independent charter school in Eaton Rapids, a small town about 20 miles south of Lansing. Thomas Ackerson, its principal, said the school was born to institute a back-to-basics program that ran counter to the educational trends of the time. “The original idea was […]
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The champs in charters
Twenty-three Michigan charter school campuses claimed at least a tie for a championship in one of eight academic categories in Bridge Magazine’s Academic Charter State Championships for the 2010-11 school year. Champion districts are listed in alphabetical order. Below the winners, you will find a searchable database of all charter school results in the eight […]
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Poll: Voters back university funding pool
Michigan voters are supportive of state universities’ positive role in the Michigan economy. And they’re interested in looking at new ways to improve campus funding and accountability. Those are key conclusions from a new Business Leaders for Michigan poll released today. The poll of 600 statewide voters, conducted in January, found: * 92 percent support […]
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Guest post: How do we lure college grads to Michigan?
I was playing around with a variety of datasets the other day (I need a hobby) and came across a tabulation that I found quite interesting, in that it relates to the issue of attracting and retaining young people — particularly educated ones — in Michigan. Previous work that I had done showed that we […]
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What's 'tuition and fees' in Portuguese?
President Obama’s recent visit to Michigan — and this magazine — have been shining a light on the depressing subject of college costs, and their seemingly out-of-control upward spiral. Tales of recent college graduates with few job prospects and mortgage-size debt have parents and students sitting down for serious discussions of bills and the future. […]
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We already did your college report card, Mr. President
Speaking at the University of Michigan today, President Barack Obama blasted rising college costs and called for a “report card” that families can use to check the true cost of attendance. Michigan families now have that information in a special report on college costs published in Bridge Magazine earlier this month. Obama echoed the findings of […]