Empowering parents through data and creating a more diverse, inclusive teaching force.

As important partners in student and school performance, parents deserve to be empowered with information about student learning. With this information, parents are equipped to better advocate for their students and schools by understanding how learning is changing over time.

To help put growth data to work, the Data Quality Campaign and National PTA created a brief that  outlines what parents need to know about this information.

Like most states, Michigan includes information on proficiency rates, student growth, and other academic and non-academic measures for each school. Understanding what each measures is key to learning more about the quality of teaching and learning in your child’s school, and whether every student group is being well-served.

In Michigan, academic metrics are measured in grades 3-7 by the Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress (M-STEP). This assessment is aligned with end-of-year learning expectations in each grade for English language arts and math, and provides objective and comparable data on student learning and growth. Through the use of this information, parents and community leaders can better understand how well students are being served, and whether any groups of students are being left behind.

Click here to read the full brief and look up information on schools in your community.

In honoring Hispanic Heritage Month in late September and early October, the national nonprofit Teach.org shared inspiring stories of Hispanic, Latinx and Chicanx educators.

Research reinforces the notion of power in representation. Ensuring that students see educators with shared history and cultural identity elevates the student’s  own identity, abolishes negative stereotypes and generates positive life experiences. This is why all students should have equitable access to exceptional educators and can identify with their teachers and administrators.

Read the stories and journeys of these teachers and school leaders, and the difference that they are making for students and colleagues in their sc

• Fewer Michigan college students want to be teachers. That’s a problem. – Ron French, Bridge Magazine
• Black-White Achievement Gaps Go Hand in Hand With Discipline Disparities – Sarah D. Sparks, Education Week
• College, a way out of poverty, is a distant dream in much of rural Michigan – David Jesse, Detroit Free Press
• Michigan budget breakdown: Spending up $1.7B, but roads, higher ed cut – Beth LeBlanc, The Detroit News