Learn More About MDE's Seat Time Waiver Process
Here's an opportunity to learn more about MDE's seat time waiver process, especially those schools who might be interested in alternative education models based on proficiency vs. seat time.
From Bruce Umpstead, Director of MDE Office of Educational Technology and Data Coordination:
Registration is open for the "Models of Demonstrated Proficiency" meeting scheduled for April 22 and 23, 2008 at the Holiday Inn West in Lansing, Michigan.
The goal of the meeting is to define the parameters/grant criteria for a Title IID competitive grants that will support several alternative high school "pilot" programs based on demonstrated proficiency of Michigan standards.
To register, invited participants will be provided the following link and directions:
http://www.solutionwhere.com/wayneresa/cw/showcoursesbymonth.asp
· Search by category or date
· The category will be Instructional Technology
· Click on: "Seat Time Waivers and Proficiency Based Alternative High School Models Conference"
Ø Please note that we are asking for participants to organize in teams by Intermediate School District (ISD) and limit participation to 5 per ISD/region. If your region/ISD would like to bring more, please let Beth Baker at Wayne RESA now (bakerb@resa.net ).
Ø In addition to Wayne, Genesee, and Eastern UP ISDs/RESAs, we will be extending invitations to Kent, Traverse Bay, Oakland, Macomb, Wexford ISDs/RESAs as well. If there are other ISDs/RESAs that should be invited, please let me know.
Meeting Attendees will come away with:
· An understanding of what MDE is looking to achieve through its seat time waiver pilots and the process for applying
· Examples of two recognized programs that use demonstrated proficiency to measure student outcomes
· Competitive grant criteria recommendations to MDE for "make it go" grants to support proposed models of demonstrated proficiency
This two day event is organized by day:
Day One (April 22; lunch provided) has limited seating capacity of 85 and will cover the topics:
* MDE's Seat Time Waiver Process
* Inclusion Trust's project based learning program for "at-risk" students
* Office of Special Education Services' Implementation Research initiative
* Alverno College's Skills-Based Instructional Model
At the 5:30pm dinner (optional attendance; $25 cost), we will have a conversation with David Rose, from CAST.org, about using Universal Design for Learning when designing demonstrated proficiency models.
Day Two (April 23; lunch provided) has limited seating capacity of 50 and will be focused on developing proposal grant criteria for Title IID competitive grants to support the planning and start up of alternative high school education models based on demonstrated proficiency.
A detailed itinerary will be sent to registrants by April 15. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Bruce Umpstead
Director
Michigan Department of Education
Office of Educational Technology and Data Coordination
