Equity-Driven • Data-Centered • Student-Focused
Opinion: 5 education issues to watch in Michigan in 2024
This opinion piece appeared in Crain's Detroit Business by Education Trust-Midwest's Executive Director Amber Arellano and Director of Government Affairs Jeff …
Opinion: It’s time for Michigan to invest in its most vulnerable children
From the rural reaches of northern Michigan to the urban centers of our largest cities and the surrounding suburban and exurban communities, every one of Michi…
Michigan’s school aid budget includes universal meals, more special education funding
This piece appeared in the Detroit Free Press by Lily Altavena. State lawmakers passed a $21.5 billion school aid budget Wednesday that targets funding to scho…
Detroit Free Press Opinion: Michigan is poised to make historic investment in these students
For the first time in more than a decade, Michigan’s policymakers are poised to make historic investments in children who are learning English — and they shoul…
The Detroit News Opinion: Salary parity is critical for early childhood educators
As Gov. Gretchen Whitmer considers continuing historic investments in early childhood this fiscal year, this is a moment of opportunity to address the inequita…
Bridge Michigan Opinion | Michigan’s education proposals show progress; more is needed
For the first time in Michigan history, state Senate leaders are proposing to create a much fairer school funding formula that would rightfully consider the co…
Bridge Michigan Opinion | Michigan’s leaders can act now to mitigate learning losses
As Michigan looks to turn the page on one of the most troubled years in recent memory, a bright spot is emerging as the governor and legislative leaders have e…
Hate comes in many forms, and we must stand up to them all
The outcry against the hate displayed in recent days in Charlottesville will fade. It is easy to be outraged when racism is marching up the street waving a bri…
Arellano: Good schools, smart state
by Amber Arellano, Executive DirectorMichigan student achievement is in free fall. Over the last decade, every group of students – white, black, brown, higher-…
Target other school districts in state, not the EAA
By Mary Kramer, Crain's Detroit BusinessProtesters recently stormed a meeting of Eastern Michigan University's Board of Regents, demanding that the board sever…
Michigan’s black students lag behind the nations
by Lori Higgins, Detroit Free PressMichigan ranks as among the worst states in the nation for the performance of African American students, according to a repo…
Report: Mich. near bottom in black student achievement
by Shawn D. Lewis, The Detroit NewsIn a national study of African-American student achievement released Thursday, Michigan results are grim, with scores near t…
Michigan Students Fall Further Behind Nation in Early Literacy
UpMatter.comROYAL OAK, Mich. (Oct. 28, 2015) – Michigan’s continued student achievement stagnation means the state now ranks 41st in fourth-grade reading compa…
Students struggle on tougher state test that sets baseline
By David Eggert, Associated PressLANSING, Mich. (AP) - Michigan's new, more rigorous standardized tests show that half of students are proficient in reading wh…
Tough new state exam stumps Michigan students
by Lori Higgins, Detroit Free PressMost of the students who took the state's tough new exam in math and English language arts failed it — a stark reminder of j…
Amber Arellano on Capital City Recap with Michael Cohen
Amber Arellano - Executive director of The Education Trust-Midwest continues conversation on M-STEP test scores.Click here to listen.
How one West Michigan school district is closing reading gaps for poor, Hispanic students
by Pat Shellenbarger, Bridge Magazine(Part 2 of 2) See Part 1 here: One Dearborn school soars, another stumbles and Grand Rapids cites the limits of state rank…
Why Are We Giving the Least to the Kids that Need the Most in School?
The link between poverty and education creates special challenges for educators in Michigan, both in Detroit and in the suburbs. As a part of…
2014 Academic State Champs: Good school. Struggling school. All in the same district.
By Mike Wilkinson, Bridge Magazine & Monica Scott, MLiveGrand Rapids Public Schools officials are rightly proud of the success of the district’s Coit Creat…
The Road to Success in a High-Poverty School: It’s All About Collaboration, Expectations
by Erin AlbaneseGodwin Heights Public Schools, MI — In Holly Vostad’s North Godwin Elementary School classroom, kindergarteners sat in circles on the rug, di…