“I feel like I have a new jumpstart on my career,” Bill said of the commitment that will keep him in the principal’s chair for four more years. “People are coming up to me saying ‘I’m glad you’re staying.’ It’s a great feeling knowing that people want you to stay.”

Bill said that he is looking forward to having the opportunity to represent Michigan and the other states in having a voice in the legislation that is coming out of Washington, DC. He said as a Board member he will have a first hand opportunity to represent principals in advocating for elimination of unfunded legislative mandates and he will work hard to eliminate the surprise legislation that comes out of the Capitol.

Bill will also be an advocate for NASSP’s goals, which include:

1. Increase membership of NASSP
2. Enhance leadership growth opportunities for middle level and high school principals and assistant principals using a variety of media.
3. Promote education policies that enhance middle level and high school leadership for student success.
4. Expand and enhance student programs and their ability to serve student leaders and advisers.

Bill is no stranger to Board leadership. He served on the MASSP Board of Directors in 1994-1996, 2001-04, and 2007-2009 and was the MASSP President in 2002. Bill has been a member of MASSP since 1979. Bill has been a member of NASSP for 23 years.

By Butch Yurk
Principal, Manistique MS/HS
MASSP Board of Directors Member

The Academic Booster Club was formed at Manistique High School in 1989.  Initially, the group was spearheaded by a dynamic high school English teacher named Betty LaPointe.  Betty sought out a few parents and other community members who had the vision of forming a club that would acknowledge and publicly recognize top scholars in our school.

Slowly, the group begin to set up the framework and criteria regarding admission and retention in the Academic Booster Club.  It was not as easy or simple as one might think, as the group wanted to differentiate between those who were Honor Roll students, High Honor Roll students, all-A students, or gifted and talented students.  While acknowledging these students, the group also wanted to identify those students who had an enthusiastic attitude about school, as well as a great work ethic.  This small group of parents and citizens brought in the high school teaching staff to assist them in recognizing these students.

Initial funding for the group came via individual donations or business contributions.  Soon after, the club began having fundraisers such as poinsettia sales, alcohol-free tailgate parties at HS sports events, chill cook-offs, etc.  One of the largest employers in our area, Manistique Papers Inc., annually sponsored the student recognition dinner.

Over the years, the club became more formalized, complete with officers, regular meetings, and financial guidelines.  One of the key reasons that the club enjoyed success during this time was that the teachers “bought into” the whole concept of recognizing great students.  They became an integral part of the Boosters, and willingly volunteered dozens of hours with attending meetings and serving as the liaison between the students and the other club members.

Some examples of programs the group was able to provide included educational field trips, mini-grants for teachers who worked with these students, mentoring programs, and bringing in motivational speakers or groups for the entire school district.  Much like athletic booster clubs operate, the Academic Booster club tried to provide “extras” that the school district would not or could not fund.

It’s now been nearly 20 years, and Manistique Area Schools is proud to say that we still have a functioning Academic  Booster Club that continues to identify and recognize students in our district who are worthy of acknowledgment!

Each fair hosts over 120 colleges (including nearly every college in Michigan) and offers parents and students the chance to talk with admissions representatives about their colleges. In addition, free counseling is available for students and parents, as are information sessions on how to choose a college, financial aid, and more.

These fairs tend to draw more colleges (especially out-of-state colleges) than the college fairs hosted in high schools, and they give juniors and their families the “heads-up” they need in the spring to be ready for senior year with applications to colleges that best fit their needs. We host the Michigan fairs in April as a follow up to MME—now that the students have taken the test, they need to see what colleges will best meet their goals and needs.

Principals, please announce this information and support your students with a visit to the National College Fair in your area.

By Diane McMillan
Associate Director

Managing successful transitions from elementary to middle school is tough in and of itself. Managing that transition for students who are already falling into the achievement gap is even tougher. I attended a recent conference in Louisville, KY and attended a session where the Jefferson County Public Schools (JPCS) presented a program that is closing that gap and keeping African American males engaged in school. I was impressed and thought that this program was a model for students who are at risk of failure.

The Street Academy, a Saturday school program offered by the Louisville Urban League, is meeting with great success for a group of struggling male students. The goals of the Street Academy is to assist African American males attain proficiency in reading, increase school attendance, and reduce negative behavior in school. Presently, 40 young men grades 4-7 attend the Academy, which is taught by JCPS teachers, Chris Rasheed, Terry Humphrey, and Kevin Garner.

The Street Academy uses a unique instructional model. The Academy provides academic enrichment, direct instruction in reading and math, and a full component of tai chi, a martial art that teaches stress reduction and body control.

“Our students must learn with their hearts and their minds,” said Baba Serakali, a program mentor and tai chi instructor. Serakali said that tai chi teaches them to control their body which teaches them discipline in the classroom. This translates into better academic performance, as students modify their behavior to become more focused on their school work.

Rasheed said, “Our model depends on the parents, the instructors, and the students. The parents are like the batteries, the program are the like the wires that connects to the light bulb (student). When the batteries are charged, the wires supply the energy, and the light bulb comes on.”

In 2007, 29 students at high risk for failure participated in the program, with 100% advancing to the next grade level. ~from the 2007 Annual Report, Louisville Urban League.

More on the Elementary to Middle School Transition

This time of year is busy for middle school administrators as they plan for the transition of two grades, 8th grade to high school and elementary to middle school. While the transition from middle school to high school may seem to get more attention, a successful transition to middle school from elementary is critical for future student success.

Transition Activities

~From ERIC Digest
The following examples may be helpful in selecting or creating a transition plan to best suit your community:

* The need for curriculum articulation for all teachers at all levels should be clearly understood. Teachers from sending and receiving schools can meet to discuss curriculum and instructional practices.

* Teachers from receiving schools can visit the sending schools to initiate personal contacts.

* Letters can be sent home welcoming students and families, and inviting them to school activities.

* Parent Teacher Association members can call each new family welcoming them to the school.

* Guidance counselors and special education teachers from each school can meet to share information.

* Students of the receiving school can become “ambassadors” of goodwill. Student-to-student contact, preceded by a discussion of what information might be useful to new students, can help establish personal links. Sending-school students can be paired with receiving-school students for visitation days.

* Letters between students in the sending and receiving schools can be exchanged.

* Programs new to the entering students can be highlighted during student visitations.

* An unstructured open house can be held prior to the opening day of school; a structured evening open house can be held during the second week of school.

* A school handbook can be distributed to each family. Be sure to include phone numbers; school history; yearly schedules; teachers identified by grade level, team, and subject taught; bell schedules; lunch procedures; and other practical information.

Other Website Articles of Interest

The Elementary to Middle School Transition: Five Helpful Hints for Parents (includes a Parent Tip Sheet)

Transition to Middle School

By Diane McMillan
Associate Director

The Next Generation in Assessment and Accountability was the topic of a March forum in Chicago. I attended with a team from around the state to discuss what assessment will look like in the next ten years in Michigan and implementation of the Secondary Credit Assessment system.

Joseph Martineau, the new director of MDE’s Office of Educational Assessment and Accountability led our state team along with facilitators from Great Lakes East, Great Lakes West-Learning Point Associates, Westwind Education Policy, the Assessment and Accountability Comprehensive Center/CRESST, the Assessment and Accountability Comprehensive Center/WestEd and the Regional Education Laboratory Midwest.

The prediction for the next generation of assessment centered on formative instruction and assessment. With the assessments like MME providing the summative data for states, the focus is forecast to be on formative assessments that provide feedback and information about student learning.

According to Margaret Heritage of the Assessment and Accountability Comprehensive Center/CRESST, formative assessment is “an ongoing process to close the gap between the learner’s current state and desired goals.” Formative assessment can uncover address details about student learning that the larger, summative tests cannot.

The vision of the department is to integrate formative instruction and assessment training into existing professional development and not create another separate initiative that will be “one more thing” on educators’ plates. Already, a philosophical shift seems underway in the department. (Martineau’s Memo) Expect to hear more on formative assessment and MDE’s plans in the coming months.

Eleven Ways to Improve Students’ Writing

“When students write more frequently,” says Douglas Reeves in the Center for Performance Assessment’s newsletter, “their ability to think, reason, analyze, communicate, and perform on tests will improve. Writing is critical to student achievement.”

The newsletter goes on to quote a recent Carnegie Corporation meta-analysis of strategies for improving students’ writing:
• Teach strategies. “Explicitly and systematically teaching steps necessary for planning, revising, and/or editing text” has a 0.82 effect size, says the study.
• Teach summarization. When students are taught and frequently practice distilling the essence of a piece of writing, the effect size is 0.82.
• Have students write collaboratively. When students work in pairs or small groups to plan, draft, revise, and edit their compositions, the effect size is 0.75. Cooperative writing is especially helpful for low-achievers.
• Set goals. Telling students the purpose of writing assignments and assigning students specific, reachable goals for their writing has an effect size of 0.70.
• Use word processing. Allowing students to word-process their writing is helpful at every stage of the writing process and has an effect size of 0.55. It’s especially beneficial for struggling writers.
• Practice sentence-combining. Teaching students to construct more complex and sophisticated sentences from shorter, simpler material enhances the quality of writing; it has an effect size of 0.55.
• Use prewriting. Having students create a prewriting organizer before their first draft improves the quality of writing and has an effect size of 0.32.
• Use inquiry activities. “Involving students in writing activities designed to sharpen their inquiry skills improves the quality of their writing,” says the Carnegie study. It has an effect size of 0.32.
• Use process writing. “Emphasizing real audiences, extending opportunities for writing, and providing opportunities to self-reflect” are key to improving writing, and have an effect size of 0.32.
• Look at exemplars. It helps when students look at models of good writing in different genres and consciously emulate them in their own writing. But if students read exemplars quickly and superficially, it doesn’t help. “Instead, students need to tear the examples apart until they can identify the specific tools the writer used to build the strong piece of writing,” says the study.
• Write in the content areas. Writing in social studies, science, and math is helpful, with an effect size of 0.25.

By Diane McMillan
MASSP Associate Director
Just about everywhere I go these days, I hear frustrated and sometimes angry educators weighing in on the details of the Michigan Merit Curriculum Personal Curriculum (PC). With MDE, special educators, ISDs, superintendents, Central Office personnel, and others all vigorously expressing their views about the RIGHT WAY, to implement the personal curriculum language in the Michigan Merit Curriculum, it’s much like having too many cooks in the kitchen. Principals, while you have a million things on your plate, this is one process that you may want to step up to take on the role as the head chef and take control of the soup, or in this case, the PC planning process.

No offense to other educators and interested parties involved in the process, but you, the principal, have the most to loose.

• Too many Personal Curriculums granted and you may find the state superintendent knocking on your superintendent’s door. As, the building leader, your superintendent will be paying you a visit.
• Too many Personal Curriculums and you will find yourself in the position as a non-AYP school because too many of your students have not taken enough of the MMC content to be proficient on the MME. We all know that the PRINCIPAL is the only educator mentioned specifically in the NCLB sanctions who can loose their JOB, if their school consistently fails to meet AYP
• And most importantly, too many personal curriculums, and you may graduate students who are not ready for education beyond high school and the world of work. It is unfair to students to allow them to graduate without all the requisite skills and knowledge needed for life in the global world of the 21st Century. There are no “personal curriculums” in the world in which our students will live.

Michigan principals have been at the forefront in advocating for students in Michigan. Michigan principals led the charge for a college readiness examination for all the students in Michigan. It was a hard fought victory for our students. Principals were also at the forefront advocating for graduation requirements that will make our students college and work ready and able to compete in the global economy.

So, I’m going to look at the Personal Curriculum through the lens of the role of the principal as the instructional leader of the building. Also, in my former role as high school redesign consultant at MDE, I was directly privy to what was the intent of the lawmakers who wrote this section of the law about the personal curriculum and I reviewed the final language. I can say with confidence that the intent of the personal curriculum, as envisioned by the crafters of the section, has been way overblown and has made much more complicated than intended.

#1—My first visit would be with the Superintendent of School.

• Ask to design the Personal Curriculum planning process with my building team
• Find out the superintendent’s thoughts on who will be the superintendent’s designee and Central office support.
• Discuss potential Board policy additions and revisions Set time lines for the completion and submission of the proposal

#2—My next step would be to gather together a building team that includes counselors, special education personnel, department chairs, career and technology educators, administrators and union representatives to do a close read of the actual section of the Michigan Merit Standard law that talks about the personal curriculum.

• I would pay attention to words like “may” instead of “shall”, “assessment” instead of “exam or test,” “credit” instead of “course”, “in communication with” and not quarterly meeting. The law says a district “may” devise a personal curriculum, and “may” award a diploma. The diploma belongs to the local school district and is signed by YOU, the building principal. Although most districts will write personal curriculums and will award diplomas for the completion of the personal curriculum, this is not a mandate.

• In your proposal to the Superintendent, suggest a clear Board policy to outline when, how, and if completion of the personal curriculum will result in a diploma.

The idea of “cut scores” and “alternate cut scores” does not appear in the section 5 of the MMS that outlines the personal curriculum. My guess is that the “cut scores” referred to in the MDE guidance document are related to the part of the law that describes what is “credit”. According to the MMS, credit is granted “in part” by earning a qualifying score on an assessment or assessments of the subject content expectations. The qualifying score chosen by the district. Local districts determine the “part” and the “assessment(s)”.

This assessment was never intended to override the teacher’s grade and evaluation, nor be the sole basis for failure. Districts can choose what assessments they will use and how much weight they will carry in determining if the student will receive credit. Districts have chosen to use everything from individual teacher finals, department finals, portfolios (especially in subject areas that don’t lend themselves to paper and pencil examinations), capstone projects, district developed finals, etc as the assessment.

This notion of cut scores and alternate cut scores is confusing and complicated. Since it is not a part of the PC language in the law, I would not include it in the PC discussion, other than to define how “credit” is awarded in your building. In making the PC, the student and parent should have a clear idea of how “credit” will be earned.

The language “the parent must be “in communication with” each teacher every calendar in the personal curriculum was deliberately chosen to allow more options for parents than just face to face meetings. There is no need to reinvent the wheel here. Quarterly communication can take the form of meetings, phone calls, scheduled progress reports, report card notes, letters, school websites, emails, conference calls, etc. The communications can be scheduled at the PC planning session.

#3–Do an environmental scan to determine the human resources, financial costs, and other materials needed to carry out the personal curriculum process. Again, a close read of the law is in order. The law says: “…and the pupil’s high school counselor or another designee qualified under section 1233 or 1233a selected by the high school principal.” The intent here is to provide flexibility to principals if a school counselor is not available. School administrators who have a teaching degree, department chairs, and the student advisers (in schools with an advisory program) can be enlisted to relieve the time pressure on the counselor. Also, it seems that individuals from the ISD, Special Education and/or Central Office could also fill in on teams. Department chairs and curriculum specialists could also be involved, especially if a student wants to modify the content expectations as part of their personal curriculum plan.

#4–Develop guidelines for “practicable for the pupil” provision. Besides the EDP, IEP and Transition Plan, take into account that students may have other aspirations and goals. For example:

• If the student is a talented athlete, then the NCAA Clearinghouse list of eligible classes must be a consideration for the PC development.
• If the student is a gifted art, career and technology student or music student, the PC should not impede scholarship, apprenticeship, or admissions opportunities.

• If your student is scheduled to take the MME in the junior year, the PC should include enough of the MMC to earn a college-reportable score and a shot at the Michigan Promise grant. The MDE mathematics and science departments have already identified pre and post MME content expectations that could be used as a guide when determining what is “practicable.

# 5–Involve others in the planning process before submitting the final proposal.

• District Office
• ISDs/RESAs
• Teachers’ Union
• MDE

Some other things:

• Remember, you don’t have to say YES to every personal curriculum plan. There may be other avenues to help the student accomplish their goals. Testing out after remediation, a systematic approach to interventions, online opportunities, early warning systems, a change of program, dual enrollment, advanced placement, as well as multiple and varied assessment opportunities (or a combination of these strategies) may be an answer before writing a personal curriculum.
• As part of the process, you can establish timeframes or windows for the application process to manage the workflow of your staff.
• As principal, you may want to hold yourself out of the initial PC development process, so that you can be the final line of appeal.
• MASSP has posted information, including sample forms from other districts that are also working on the development from their PC process, as well as the PowerPoints from the PC webinars. Visit the link often, as we will continue to update it when we get new information. You can also post your own forms to share with your colleagues.

So, principals, in this case, I urge you to take charge of your destiny. Take the lead with your faculty to develop a Personal Curriculum planning process that works for your students, families, staff, superintendent, and you. You have the ability to keep the process simple, efficient, and uncomplicated. No one else is better equipped and, perhaps, no one else has more at stake.

Doing What We Do Best:
A Simple Straight Forward Approach to Improving Student Achievement

One of the great advantages of being a building administrator is that you see first hand the issues confronting public education. I see the Keep-It- Simple approach as the easiest, most straight forward way to improve student achievement. Most of the improvements that I am about to suggest are not only simple- many of my ideas cost very little new tax payer dollars. Some of my ideas do ask for a shifting of educational dollars- a change in paradigm to use an old, overused educational cliché.

Living in Southeastern Michigan we see first hand the impact that the changing auto industry has had on the people of this region. I would suggest that many of my ideas need to be applied to the auto industry as well. We know how to make cars in Metro Detroit and in education, we know how to educate students. Now, we have to put in place simple, common sense changes so the focus is on student achievement, just like the auto industry has to focus on only one task which is building high quality, fuel efficient cars that Americans want to buy.

Here are my simple, common sense ideas that can be instituted with little or no new educational dollars:
#1: All Schools should have a common grading scale for every assignment. The grading scale should be computed on the 4.0 scale so there is only a ten point difference between scores.

If a student doesn’t complete an assignment they are given a zero, like they should. The zero however, is in direct proportion to all the other grades a student has earned. Use of a 4.0 grading scale does mean that teachers have to weigh grades. The result is that student achievement is measured accurately and the value of every assignment is in direct proportion to all the others. “A pound of flesh” is not welded from a student for a zero. A zero is simply a zero, and is based on a ten point division, not a sixty point division which is far too common using a traditional one hundred point grading scale.

#2: No Extra Credit should be given in a class. Instead of extra credit, students who need support should be allowed to do multiple assessments in order to show mastery.
I believe that students should be allowed to do correctives and rewrites in order to earn another chance at retaking an assessment. Give the students a second, even a third chance to show they have mastered the material. Book reports, leaf collections, dioramas, posters, PowerPoint presentations should not be used as a substitute for having students show they have mastered key concepts of a class. I love to see dodecahedrons hanging from the ceiling of a Geometry class, but these items are no substitute for students knowing how to solve for sloop, or solve proofs.

#3: All high schools should give only the ACT test on the prescribed test day. No other MME supplemental tests should be given. Only juniors who are taking the test should report to school on that day.
If we make taking the ACT a requirement for graduation, schools can easily meet the 95% tested standard on the state wide testing day. All MME supplemental tests should be shifted to common statewide course-end final exams/secondary credit assessments for every subject listed in the Michigan Merit curriculum. The shift in paradigm hoped for here is that the data examined by public will change from MME test scores to how students scored on common final exams or assessments, and their ACT composite score.

#4: We should dedicate the half day of instruction that is associated with Parent-Teacher Conferences as fall testing day. Schools should give a nationally-normed test to every student at each high school grade level.
This gives schools data on how students are performing, and gives students practice taking a nationally-normed test. When students take the ACT test in the spring of their junior year the score they earn should reflect what they have learned in school. A simple approach would be:

• Ninth Graders take the Explore Test
• Tenth Graders take the Plan Test
• Eleventh Graders take an ACT Practice Test

Twelfth graders may opt out a test if they have made application to a post secondary school, community college, trade school, or the military. This idea would cost school districts, but resources could be easily shifted so we have direct data on each student’s individual performance on a nationally normed test. Any changes in the curriculum would be based on student testing data that support proposed changes.

#5: The quickest way to show measurable improvement in student learning is to have students write more often.
Students need to be writing at least one piece of writing in every class at least once a week. The writing should be scored for subject specific content, and on the six point ACT writing rubric. Student writing should be done so it is part of the natural flow of a class. Students need to be writing lab reports in Chemistry, not personal narratives. The focus of all writing should be like this article, in which the writer takes a position based on their own learning and experience. Students need to use writing to express in simple, straightforward terms of what they have learned.

#6: Students who fail a core class should start retaking this course immediately.
Students who fail a core class should begin the make-up process following the last regularly scheduled class of the day. If the student is involved in extra curricular activities-they will miss these events, because our common sense, simple approach as a school is that student achievement is our only focus.
What do you do about transportation for these students who have to stay beyond the regular school day? We will ask student and their parents to provide their own transportation. Our focus is on making sure that all students achieve, if transportation is a problem the easiest solution is to pass the class during the regular school day.

#7: High School should start at 8:50 a.m.
If districts run a tiered bus system the high school should be the late school and the elementary schools should be the early schools. In single run bus districts the same logic should prevail. All school should start near the nine o’clock hour. The benefit to this common sense approach is that on snowy mornings, the later starts gives more time for the roads to be cleared, thus limiting the number of snow days.

Research from Minnesota consistently shows that high school students need a minimum of nine hours of sleep. A later start to the school day makes getting the proper amount of sleep possible. Since the need for student sleep is an important factor in improving student achievement, districts should start evening events at 5:00 p.m. This would allow students to be home early enough in the evening to get a full nine hours of sleep.

Each of these ideas are simple, straightforward, pragmatic changes that can dramatically improve student achievement. May of these ideas require little or no money to implement. Some ideas involve subtle changes in the way the state uses assessment dollars to measure student achievement. Most of these ideas suggest changes using a common sense approach. These ideas are seeped in research data that show these approaches improve student achievement.

The Keep-it-Simple approach helps us as educators focus on what we are paid to do, and in fact what we do best–Educate Students!

Steven M. Beyer, February, 2008
Steven Beyer is Associate Principal at Stevenson High School in Sterling Heights, Michigan, a 2,125 student building grades 10-12. Stevenson High School is one of four high schools in Utica Community Schools

This week, the members of the Senate Appropriations Committee were given a presentation by Senate Fiscal Agency (SFA) Director Gary Olson in which he said the proposed Executive Budget couldn’t be enacted without additional revenues. The proposal, which Ms. Granholm labeled her “best ever,” called for funding increases for higher education and community colleges along with an increase in the basic grant awarded to welfare recipients. According to Mr. Olson, the proposed budget’s total spending may have to be adjusted downward by nearly $250 million due, in part, to lower projections for property tax revenues and the ongoing tobacco settlement payments dispute. Mr. Olson also said the Senate Fiscal Agency now predicts revenues for the current fiscal year will come in some $134 million below current expectations but that shortage should not necessarily result in Executive Order reductions or the proration of school aid payments.

Ironically, Mr. Olson noted the anticipated stimulus program approved by the federal government would prove to be a mixed blessing to Michigan. Mr. Olson argued the program will reduce General Fund revenues due to accelerated business depreciation allowances, a stimulus feature that will reduce state tax revenues by more than $22 million in the current fiscal year and by nearly $115 million in the 2008-09 Fiscal Year. Conversely, Mr. Olson said projections anticipate stronger consumer spending when the stimulus checks arrive which would boost Sales Tax totals and add an estimated $54 million to the School Aid Fund this fiscal year and some $19 million in the coming year. Mr. Olson also noted that there is not unanimity for this assessment among the state’s top financial officials with the Treasury Department in disagreement over the predictions.

Responding to Mr. Olson’s presentation, officials with the State Budget Office agreed the state’s revenue stream deserved careful and constant monitoring. However, they also noted the May Revenue Estimating Conference—which historically sets the final income and spending numbers for the budget process—is still more than two months off. That exercise, they said, would determine “where we stand.” Budget Office officials also argued the items included in the Governor’s “very modest supplemental” spending request were “necessary and affordable,” needed to be done before the end of the fiscal year and should not be subject to any limitations. Conversely, on a more ominous note, House Fiscal Agency Director Mitch Bean said his agency’s revenue estimates were “in the same ballpark” as those cited by Mr. Olson.

As for legislative members, Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Ron Jelinek (R-Three Oaks) advised subcommittee members to be cautious as they develop their suggested spending plans. That sentiment was echoed by Senator Michael Switalski (D-Roseville), the Committee’s Democratic Vice-Chair, who said the admonishment to exercise caution in developing the individual budgets was good advice to heed. Based on the budget schedule released by the two Appropriations Committee chairs, subcommittees are set to start reporting their proposals to the full committee next week.