Observing the course of education reform in Michigan – and the mounting information that many of Michigan’s children were not being properly prepared for a 21st century world, leaders at the Center for Michigan, a nonprofit, nonpartisan “think-and-do tank” in Ann Arbor struck on a simple idea: Find out what the public – the actual […]
Michigan K-12 schools
Posted inTalent & Education
On parents, better to coax or coerce?
Ask Sally Wiggins to describe her role in her daughters’ education, and she starts at the beginning. “My pregnancies were intentional,” she said, embarked upon after her marriage had proven stable over a period of years. Her prenatal care was top-notch; Wiggins, a nurse by profession, took pains to make sure her nutrition, exercise, rest […]
Posted inTalent & Education
Grading teachers proves harder than thought
Public views on teacher preparation. CLICK TO ENLARGE. An annual performance review — in which duties, accomplishments and expectations are weighed against a set of standards — is a rite of passage for most Michiganians. And it’s easy to do for, say, a car salesman. How many cars you sell? How much money did […]
Posted inTalent & Education
Public wants to help teachers improve
The best way to improve schools is to improve the skills of the person standing in the front of Michigan classrooms. Teaching teachers to do their jobs better is the education reform Michigan residents believe will most improve our schools, according to the largest effort ever to collect and analyze public opinion on K-12 education […]
Posted inTalent & Education
Message sent: Fix schools, send us the bill
Michigan residents want better schools — and they think the state will have to spend more to get them. That’s among the findings of the largest effort ever to collect and analyze public opinion on K-12 education in Michigan. More than 7,500 people voiced their views on the state’s public education system, over the course […]
Posted inTalent & Education
Presenting Bridge’s Academic State Champs 2012
Fifty-two school districts and charter schools across the state were named 2012 Academic State Champs by Bridge Magazine by finishing in the top 10 of at least one Value-Added Matrix ranking. By finishing in the top 10, these schools were in the top 2 percent of schools in the state. The winners, ranging from small […]
Posted inTalent & Education
State Champs: See how your local district ranks
Fifty-two Michigan public school districts and charters were named Academic State Champions for the 2011-12 school year. Winners were drawn from a database created by Bridge Magazine and Public Sector Consultants of traditional public school districts and charter schools offering kindergarten through 12th-grade. The analysis ranks schools by how much value they add to students’ […]
Posted inTalent & Education
Helping teachers improve will help students learn, education group argues
Amber Arellano is the executive director of Education Trust-Midwest, Michigan’s only statewide, nonpartisan advocacy and research organization focused solely on education. Arellano has testified before legislative committees on a variety of education-related bills, and is a strong believer in using data to help gauge what works and doesn’t work in public schools. Arellano responded to […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
Guest column: Schools need help to better support and evaluate teachers
By Amber Arellano/Education Trust-Midwest Students in Michigan are increasingly falling behind their peers in other states, including states that are making major investments in their teachers. Michigan, meanwhile, has struggled to develop its teachers. A report by my organization, the nonprofit Education Trust-Midwest, helps to explain why: Our local school districts and charter schools have […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
Guest column: It’s time to stop distorting truth about Common Core
By David Musselwhite/Michigan PTA The Common Core, a comprehensive set of internationally-benchmarked and comprehensive K-12 standards in mathematics and English Language Arts, has fallen prey to exaggerated and dishonest criticism from educators and Washington think tanks. It isn’t difficult to find naysayers who lump the Common Core into arguments against what they call “corporate education reform.” […]
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