Blogs

Does anyone have any Senior Behavior contracts that are implemented at the beginng of the school year emphasizing infractions that may lead to the loss of senior priveldges IE: senior picnic, prom or even commenncement participation?

Carolyn Downey's book The Three Minute Classroom Walk-Through: changing School Supervisory Practice One Teacher at a Time provided a strong foundation to getting into classrooms more frequently, separate from the traditional classroom observation.

Our group recommends that you start with the end of the book, last two chapters, then return to the beginning. Philosophically, the original order of the book is all right, but practically speaking the end cleared some things up enabling us to practice what was being suggested with greater ease.

On Monday I was with some association directors and the conversation was centered on lack of state dollars. A higher education person shared the Promise Scholarship for the Class of 2009 could be shifting to a needs based program thereby reducing the amount of available scholarship dollars and, the program would likely come to an end after this year.

So, today (Thurs., June 11th) I scheduled a meeting with the Chair of the House Higher Education appropriations committee so to get the facts on the demise of the Promise Award and share this news with our members in an article that is due.

Walled Lake Central High School
National Honor Society Appeal Process


1. A student seeking an appeal of the decision to deny admission into the National Honor Society (NHS) shall submit to the principal within five (5) days after receipt of notice of the admission denial a written request stating the reason(s) for reconsideration for admission.
a. Within ten (10) days of receipt of a request for admission reconsideration review by the Review Panel, the principal shall notify the NHS advisor, the student and the Review Panel of the time, date and place of the Review Panel meeting. This meeting shall occur not less than seven (7) or more than fifteen (15) days after receipt of the request for review.

Want to know what is happening in the federal discussion about national curriculum standards. Here's the best insight you'll find. It's an email to me from Matt Gandal, VP, of Achieve.

Dear ADP State Leader:

As we have previously communicated to ADP Network states, Achieve is working with the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and National Governors Association (NGA) on an important effort to create common core standards that can be adopted by states across the country. Over the last several weeks, this initiative has taken on a much more public profile, and leaders in ADP states have reached out to Achieve with a variety of questions about the process and our role in it. This update is designed to answer those questions.

Common Standards Development Process

If this Bill passes the fifth bullet may impact you!  You may want your district spokesperson to contact your Senator!

CONTENT

Senate Bill 365 would amend the Revised School Code to do the following: 

The State Superintendent’s memo regarding the use of power standards you received in the past few days is the result of a lot of work by MASSP. The memo vindicates what we’ve been saying to you ever since the passage of the MMC -- there is a lot more flexibility in the standards than believed.

MASSP put considerable effort into getting this memo written to your advantage, the building principal. I hope you will now put it to your use.

mymassp.com/powerstandards

Milan High is again hosting a summer academy open to education professionals - teachers, para pros, administrators and curriculum leaders are all invited to attend. This year, Milan High has taught all freshmen both Algebra and Geometry as its minimum math offering, with only a 5% failure rate. Our math teacher and special education consultant will team to present their work.

Likewise, our English 9 & 10 teachers will share their standards-based program -- where students can design their own learning to demonstrate mastery of the content expectations. Again, the emphasis is on limiting failure in meeting the MMC.

When I was offered to see the world’s top math schools in action – I jumped at the chance. I did, however, have to travel a little ways to do so. In the United States, only 6% of 8th-grade students reached the advanced benchmark for international mathematics standards compared to 45% for Taiwan. Taiwanese high school students earn the top spot globally, and their government offered to fly a few of us from Michigan over to share ideas. The venture was called the 2009 American Educators Project and was fully funded by the Taiwanese.

We have not yet taken a position in regard to House Bill 4410 (The Sheltrown bill). None of the statewide associations with whom we work have either. The superintendent association has not. The ISD superintendent association has not. The school board's association has not. The MEA has not. The Department of Education has not. The MI Chamber has not. And, no legislative caucus has as well. Yet, MASSP is threatened by some from the CTE community to support the bill or lose their membership.