Contents of this issue:
- Teacher evaluation talks begin
- Some will get certificates, not diplomas
- Back to semesters in West Ottawa
- From 'Green' to 'Emerald,' 'Evergreen'
- Support staff may switch unions
TEACHER EVALUATION TALKS BEGIN
DEARBORN HEIGHTS, Mich. - Michigan is moving into
"unchartered territory" as school districts look for new ways to
evaluate teachers and administrators, a school administrator told The (Dearborn) Press and Guide.
Under new school reform legislation, school districts
must take student performance into account in evaluating educators.
Superintendent Laurine VanValkenburg of Crestwood
School District told The Press and Guide that she expects student performance
on the Michigan Educational Assessment Program and Michigan Merit Exam to make
up 40 to 60 percent of the new evaluation process.
Other ways of evaluating teachers will be determined
through collective bargaining, she said, according to The Press and Guide.
One question is how best to measure the effectiveness
of teachers in elective areas that are not directly measured by standardized
tests, such as art or music, she said, The Press and Guide reported.
Right now, Crestwood evaluates non-tenured teachers
annually and tenured teachers every other year, VanValkenburg told The Press
and Guide.
SOURCE:
The (Dearborn) Press and Guide, "Race
to top creates new issues for districts," Feb. 16, 2010
FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "A Teacher Quality Primer: Using Value-Added Assessment to Define
Teacher Quality," June 30, 2008
SOME WILL GET CERTIFICATES, NOT DIPLOMAS
BAY CITY, Mich. - Bay City Public Schools is developing
a policy under which students who do not meet Michigan's new graduation
requirements would receive a "certificate of completion" rather than
a diploma, according to The Bay City Times.
Public school districts are mandated by the state to
have a certification plan, but are allowed to set the qualifications locally,
according to the report.
The Class of 2012 will be the first group of seniors
charged with meeting the new Michigan Merit Curriculum standards, according to
The Times. Douglas Newcombe, Bay City interim superintendent, told The Times
that the certificate of completion would acknowledge a certain level of
academic work.
Offering a certificate may give students an incentive
to continue in school rather than drop out, Brian Johnson, curriculum director,
told The Times, though others suggested it would encourage students to settle
for a certificate rather than work for a diploma.
In Bangor Township Schools, which already has a
certification policy, Superintendent Tina Kerr told The Times that she
anticipates most cases will involve students who cannot meet math requirements.
SOURCE:
The Bay City Times, "Bay
City schools ponder alternative certificate for students who can't meet new
graduation requirements," Feb. 11, 2010
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Report, "Well-intentioned folly: School psychologist
suggests 'high standards' may leave some behind," Feb. 29, 2008
BACK TO SEMESTERS IN WEST OTTAWA
HOLLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. - A west Michigan high school
is switching back to semesters in 2010-2011 as a way to save $500,000 annually
by hiring fewer teachers, according to The Holland Sentinel.
West Ottawa High School will move to a two-semester
school year rather than continue the trimester calendar it has been on for six
years, The Sentinel reported. Jim Nicolette, the district's assistant
superintendent for teaching and learning, said that the semester schedule will
require seven fewer teachers, according to the report.
He said that teacher retirements may allow the switch
to take place without layoffs, but that is not certain, according to The
Sentinel.
He also said that the shift may help students
academically because it will eliminate cases in which a student studies a
subject for the first two trimesters of one year, but does not return to that
subject until the second two trimesters of the next year, The Sentinel
reported.
SOURCE:
The Holland Sentinel, "West
Ottawa to save $400-$500K, 7 teaching positions with switch to semesters,"
Feb. 16, 2010
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Report, "New high school graduation
requirements in action," May 6, 2008
FROM 'GREEN' TO 'EMERALD,' 'EVERGREEN'
LANSING, Mich. - State legislators are considering a
bill that would expand Michigan's "Green School" program to a
three-tiered system recognizing higher participation in "environmental
stewardship," according to a report at Michigan Capitol Confidential.
The state Senate unanimously passed Senate Bill 904,
which would create "Emerald" and "Evergreen" designations
for schools that meet criteria ranging from having students check the tire
pressure on school buses to hosting guest speakers from the Sierra Club, the
report said.
Michigan Capitol Confidential is a new, online news source
produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, which also publishes
Michigan Education Digest.
The 2006 law that created the "Green
Schools" program required schools to meet 10 of 20 criteria; the new bill
would modify and add to those as well as recognize schools that implement 15 or
20 criteria as "Emerald" or "Evergreen," respectively,
according to Capitol Confidential.
Diane Katz, the former director of science,
environment and technology policy for the Mackinac Center, said in 2006 that, "(f)ew
states or school districts have actually evaluated the veracity and
impartiality of environmental curricula," Capitol Confidential reported.
Senate Bill 904 is now in the House Great Lakes and
Environment Committee, according to Capitol Confidential.
SOURCE:
Michigan Capitol Confidential, "State Encourages
Students to Clean School Refrigerator Coils, Check Bus Tire Pressure,"
Feb. 10, 2010
FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "An Alternative to Green Orthodoxy," April 3, 2006
SUPPORT STAFF MAY SWITCH UNIONS
SOUTH LYON, Mich. - South Lyon Community Schools
support workers will vote March 2 on whether to switch union affiliation from
the Michigan Education Association to the Teamsters, according to a report by
The (Detroit) Observer & Eccentric Newspapers.
Teamsters Local 214 President Joe Valenti told The
Observer & Eccentric that the vote will include bus drivers, food service workers
and custodians.
The district recently announced it will lay off 14
full-time and five part-time custodians on April 1 in order to reduce spending,
according to the report. The district also is considering a change in the
cleaning schedule that would cut spending by $729,000 if implemented in
2010-2011, according to The Observer & Eccentric.
"We think there is a lot the MEA owes its
members," Valenti told The Observer & Eccentric.
SOURCE:
The (Detroit) Observer & Eccentric, "District
union expected to leave MEA for Teamsters," Feb. 18, 2010
FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Report, "Union voted out at American Indian
school; staff policies under review," May 24, 2007
MICHIGAN EDUCATION DIGEST is a service of Michigan Education Report (
http://www.educationreport.org), an online newspaper published by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy (
http://www.mackinac.org), a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan research and educational institute.
Contact Managing Editor Lorie Shane at
mailto:med@educationreport.orgTo subscribe or unsubscribe, go to
http://www.educationreport.org/pubs/mer/listserver.aspx?Source=MED