Mich. Ed. Roundup – September 20
Sep 20, 2016
Grand Rapids ‘Super’ School wins $10 million
Grand Rapids Public Museum School was awarded $10 million over five years as part of a national contest intended to promote school redesign.
Opened in fall of 2015, the district school is housed at the Grand Rapids Public Museum and is designed to use the museum as a classroom and its 250,000-artifact collection as the basis for the school’s curriculum. A video on the school and concept is available here.
The contest, XQ: The “Super School Project,” identified ten winning schools, out of nearly 700 proposals, and is funded by the Emerson Collective, a nonprofit established by Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Steve Jobs. Details of the project and all ten winning schools are available here.
U.S. Chamber: Career Ready = College Ready Plus
On Monday, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, Center for Education and Workforce released a new report, which focuses on defining career readiness and how it integrates into K-12 education.
In addition to providing a framework for defining career readiness, Career Readiness: A Business-Led Approach for Supporting K-12 Schools addresses other areas where states will need to engage around career readiness, as they develop plans for implementing the new Every Student Succeeds Act. This includes measuring career readiness and incorporating meaningful measures into a state accountability system.
In the last several years, educational improvement efforts have largely focused on ensuring that students graduate high school prepared for college and career. In their latest report, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation seeks to add greater richness to this critical goal by recognizing that being career ready requires a range of hard and soft skills, and the interconnectivity of students graduating college and career ready.
Noteworthy News
- Making A Meaningful Diploma – Caitlin Cordella, Forbes
- M-STEP results not a reason to switch – Rick Baker & Kevin Stotts, Grand Rapids Business Journal
- See all 10 Super Schools awarded $10M for rethinking high school – Monica Scott, MLive
- Twenty-four Proven Programs for Struggling Readers – Robert E. Slavin, The Huffington Post
- Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder Sued Over Literacy Access in Detroit – Denisa R. Superville, Education Week
Read what we’re reading daily at twitter.com/EdTrustMidwest or follow@EdTrustMidwest.
Capital Update
House Committee on Education. Thursday, September 22 at 9 a.m. in room 521 of the House Office Building. Agenda: HBs 5409 – 5418 and HB 5796, a package of bills regarding special education programs and discipline.
Spotlight: Upcoming Webinar on Research-Informed Early Literacy Instruction
Michigan has long struggled with low literacy proficiency rates in grade three, and the problem continues to worsen. In this Education Week webinar, three Michigan speakers will discuss 10 research-informed instructional practices aimed at having a meaningful impact on student literacy.
When: Monday, September 26 from 2-3 p.m. EST.
Speakers:
- Nell K. Duke, professor, literacy, language, and culture, University of Michigan
- Naomi Norman, assistant superintendent, achievement & student services, Washtenaw Intermediate School District, Mich.
- Susan Townsend, director of instruction and learning services, Jackson County Intermediate School District, Mich.
