Twenty Districts Honored During 21st Annual Education Excellence Awards
Tracy Wilson Named MASSP President-Elect
#MASSPchat 5/11 - Finishing the School Year Strong
The Topic: Finishing the School Year Strong
Being an educator in the late spring can be extremely challenging. This week lets talk about how we finish our school year and what things we can do to keep our students engaged in learning. Additionally, we can share fun or innovative ways to run end of the year including honors nights, ceremonies, graduation, class/staff parties, etc… We hope you will join us on Monday for a helpful chat on how to finish the year strong!
MDE Announces M-STEP Results Release Schedule
This week's Spotlight on Assessment and Accountability from MDE's Division of Accountability Services contained several pieces of information that Principals will want to be aware of. Not the least of these: MDE has committed to getting schools preliminary M-STEP results within approximately 2 weeks of the close of each testing window.
This Week in Politics in 5 Sentences (or Fewer)
If there was a theme this week in education politics in Lansing it was that when all was said and done, there was a lot more said than done. There were early rumors that the full Senate might be voting on SB 103, a stripped-down educator evaluation bill that passed the Senate Education Committee last week, but no vote came. The House Education committee was slated to start debate on educator evaluations this week by taking background testimony from MDE (about the history of the issue) and from Clark Hill attorney Barb Ruga (about the legalese of the issue), but that was canceled.
Reminder: Dropout Age 18 Starts With Class of 2016
Public Act 204 of 2009 was kind of a big deal. In an attempt to compete for Race to the Top dollars, Michigan created the Top to Bottom list, the statewide cyber academies, the requirement that we evaluate teachers based on student growth, administrator certification and…oh yeah…changed the dropout age to 18 beginning with the class of 2016.
PSAT 8, 9, 10 and PSAT/NMSQT Costs
Many schools are considering using the College Board’s suite of assessments for students in grades 8, 9, 10 and 11. There has been an agreement between the College Board and the ISD/RESAs to provide a reduced rate for the assessments (see the attached pricing list below). Note that the agreement with the College Board has included some contingencies on the pricing provided:
#MASSPchat 5/4 - SAT Transition Best Practices
The Topic:
Let's share best practice ideas that will help our students make the transition from the ACT to the SAT.
This Week in Politics in 5 Sentences (or Fewer)
Proposal 1 (which would raise money to fix our roads and protect school funding) will be on the ballot this Tuesday, May 5, so go vote…vote yes…and take a fried or seventeen to the polls with you. This past Tuesday, the Senate Education Committee reported out SB 103—a largely stripped down version of educator evaluation legislation—which now goes to the Senate floor before heading to the House.