May, 2008

By Pat Wilson O’Leary
Vicksburg Community Schools
Vicksburg, Michigan

By Diane McMillan
Associate Director

High schools are not the only ones who have to deal with “graduation” issues. Middle schools are also under pressure to have some sort of “ending” ceremony or process for 8th graders who are on their way to high school. There is debate in the middle level educator community about what kind of transition activities are appropriate for 8th grade students.

From Straight A's Alliance for Excellent Education--Volume 8, Number 10 May 19, 2008

Hello,

Just inviting you to visit my blog regarding the Milan
High School Academy, especially regarding Algebra I success. We have
been fortunate at Milan High to work with a consultant on High School
transformation the last few years and would like to present the work on
Monday, June 16th (a brochure is available on the blog).

More than 30 Michigan high schools are among 1,300 nationwide that have been listed in Newsweek’s annual listing of the best high schools in the nation. Click to view the article.

Download the article below...

Thousands of high school freshmen across Michigan are failing Algebra I, the first of four math courses this class of students must take and pass to fulfill what are among the toughest graduation requirements in the
nation.
The failure rate -- estimated at 20% to 30% of about 113,000 freshmen -- has some predicting a crisis by the
time these students are juniors and must take Algebra II.
Download rest of this Free Press story...

General Sessions:
Making the Michigan Merit Exam Work for the College Ready
Cynthia Schmeiser
-Presentation Slides

Do the Grades Your Students Earn Accurately Predict Proficiency for AYP?
Kristine Gullen
-Presentation Slides
-Handouts

I am looking for a tutoring or remedial program for students who are classified as homeless.  I found out today that Title 1 funds are available for this program and need to have something in place soon.  Any suggestions or resourses would be greatly appreciated.

The Curriculum Update powerpoint is attached below:

Can principals MANDATE implementation of behavior contracts for issues of persistent disobedience?  What if parents "won't" sign?   Any perspective would be appreciated.

STATE FACES YET ANOTHER REVENUE SHORTAGE – Going into Friday’s Revenue Estimating Conference, both the House Fiscal Agency (HFA) and the Senate Fiscal Agency (SFA) have predicted the state will face a deficit in the 2008-09 Fiscal Year that will approach $500 million. The numbers from the May Revenue Estimating Conference establish the income levels that legislators will use in both adjusting the current fiscal year’s spending and in developing the budget for the next fiscal year.

The attached documents are from the NASSP Meeting Presentation by Jim Ballard and Kadi Pojeta, May 2008.

Does anyone have a good solution or policy dealing with the excessive amount of times students are missing from school during the spring due to athletics, field trips, etc?  

Pete Kelto

Munising High School 

In light of the cohort graduation rate, are any schools eliminating attendance policies that deny credit due to a certain amount of absences?

Pete Kelto

Munising High School

With the announcement Monday that Superintendent of Public Instruction Mike Flanagan would not be a finalist for president of Eastern Michigan University, he told the State Board of Education at its meeting Tuesday that he was not planning to leave his current post.
"You're kinda stuck with me," Mr. Flanagan told the board, drawing applause from board members and department staff. "I love working with the state board and this team."
"I'm glad it's behind us," said board President Kathleen Straus (D-Bloomfield Township).

Here's a conference principals might be interested in checking out.

Preventing the Unthinkable: School Safety Seminar
Manistee, MI

MASSP 2008 Spring Law Update Recap

Let's face it...graduation time is like a capstone project for the high school principal. On commencement day the school community sizes up the student graduates and also the work of the principal and staff.

One of the ways to keep our profession strong and vital is to celebrate the many fine principals that belong to the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals. The application form for the 2008 Middle Level and High School Principal of the Year, the Assistant Principal of the Year, and the CTE Adminstrator of the Year is now available.

By Jim Ballard
MASSP Executive Director

I had the pleasure of recently sitting at a discussion table with the Chief Academic Officer for the MDE, the Educational Advisor to the Governor, the Chair of the Senate Education Committee, and the Director of State Scholars. The topic was the implementation of the Michigan Merit Standard/Curriculum.

State restructuring efforts for NCLB often take a back seat to the more comprehensive reforms. Look for State Superintendent Mike Flanagan’s remarks in the last paragraph of this Wall Street Journal article.  READ MORE

The powerpoint and other instructions are attached to this post.

World Languages Powerpoint

Picture Talk Instructions

Webinar Tools Powerpoint

The results are in. Thanks to those of you who took the time to vote!

Congratulations New Board Members!

By Jim Ballard
MASSP Executive Director

SB 1107, 2008-09 School Aid has passed the Senate and is now in discussion before the House Appropriations sub-committee for Education. I’d be surprised to see movement of the bill to the full Appropriations Committee until after the report to this committee by the legislative finance research staff as to how much money they think is in the state check book is completed. There are still some things kicking about.

Finding ways to fix Michigan’s dropout crisis is the focus of public hearings that began May 8 as part of a statewide initiative to increase the number of high school graduates to stabilize a weak economy.