SB 103, the stripped down iteration of educator evaluation legislation that moved out of the Senate last month, is not having an easy time of it in the House Education Committee. After hearing last week from a number of groups—including MASSP—who outlined the need for changes to the legislation, the panel was back at it this week, peppering presenters with tough questions.
New State Superintendent Addresses House Committees
A number of MASSP priority issues were discussed this week when incoming State Superintendent of Public Instruction Brian Whiston addressed a joint meeting of the House Committees on Education and School Aid Appropriations on Wednesday. The importance of increased support for professional development, reducing testing time, and expanding opportunities for students to earn post-secondary credit during high school were all areas the state's new education chief highlighted in his remarks.
Teacher Evaluators Need Valid Tools and Appropriate Training
MASSP Budget Review Webinar
On Monday, MASSP's Wendy Zdeb-Roper and Bob Kefgen hosted a webinar to review the details of the recently adopted 2015-16 School Aid Budget and answer members' questions. For those of you who weren't able to join us live, we recorded our conversation so you can watch it at your leisure and share it with interested parties in your building or district.
To access the recording of Monday's budget webinar, simply click here.
SAT Redesign Slide Share Series
PSAT To Become 9th And 10th Grade Test In 2015-16
This week the Michigan Department of Education announced that, beginning in 2015-16, the state assessment system will expand to include PSAT testing for all ninth and tenth graders. State law requires annual testing for all ninth and tenth graders beginning next year, but the MDE has opted to use PSAT to fulfill that requirement rather than expanding M-STEP.
See the following announcement from MDE for more details:
Spotlight on PSAT
This Week in Politics in 5 Sentences (or Fewer)
The K-12 budget for the 2015-16 school year is a wrap; the final budget bills were adopted by the House and Senate this week and are now on to Governor Snyder for his signature. The House Education Committee took its first crack at educator evaluation legislation this session, taking up SB 103 this past Thursday during a lengthy two and a half hour hearing.
House Starts Debate on Eval Bill
The House Education Committee took its first testimony this past Thursday on SB 103, a slowly improving though still largely gutted educator evaluation bill. The committee heard from bill sponsor Sen. Phil Pavlov (R-St. Clair) and a number of education groups, including MASSP. Reactions to the bill from interest groups were mixed as were the reactions from legislators on the panel, and all the presenters faced tough questions.