Success at the Core recently launched an awesome website, welcome.successatthecore.com, to help middle school leadership teams and teachers elevate classroom instruction and improve student outcomes.

Come-on. Stop and think what Friday’s headlines about MME results were saying about Michigan’s high schools ---- They’re improving academically.

Hey, from a statewide average of 18.8 in 2008 to now 19.3, that is darn good. It means a lot of educators, and students, and people working for classroom success are working together to get the job done. An improvement of 0.01 on a statewide average is a big deal. A .5 improvement in three years is great!

July 23rd Detroit Free Press headline:
Michigan Merit Exam scores at highest ever

As of this week 27 states have adopted the national curriculum standards and about a dozen more are expected to adopt them in the next two weeks.

As one of our colleagues says, 'the saga continues'. To refresh you, on July 1 the House passed an amendment sponsored by Rep. David Obey (D-WI) to the FY 2010 emergency supplemental appropriations bill (H.R. 4899) that includes $10 billion in funding to save roughly 140,000 school employee jobs. This House-passed bill is still in the Senate awaiting a vote. As you probably remember, though, the White House and 13 Senators have publicly said they will not support the bill with the current offsets that include cuts to programs like Race to the Top and the Teacher Incentive Fund.

State officials credit tougher curriculum

State high school test scores are up -- at their highest levels since the Michigan Merit Exam was introduced four years ago for high school juniors.