Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Bryant Middle School's principal gave a presentation on the status of the Focus Schools program.
A new designation for several Dearborn schools is yielding results, but also presents pressing questions, according to district officials. Following the release of Adequate Yearly Progress reports last August, the Michigan Department of Education announced a new program that would identify some schools in the state as Reward, Priority or Focus schools—or the highest achieving schools, lowest achieving schools, and those with the greatest achievement gap, respectively. Achievement is based on both MEAP and Michigan Merit Exam scores. Though Dearborn had no Priority Schools and several Reward Schools named by the MDE, they did also have a handful of Focus Schools. As such, programs were put in place immediately for the 2012-13 school year to…
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
After a draft bill that if approved would bring sweeping education in 2013 was unveiled, Dearborn Public Schools’ superintendent and board members spoke out about how those changes could affect programs and students.
A 300-page education reform bill drafted for Gov. Rick Snyder that would overhaul how public education is administered in the State of Michigan was universally renounced by the superintendent of Dearborn Public Schools and members of the Dearborn Board of Education Monday night. The bill would drastically change the state's public school system, including the following changes: “I think this bill is appalling,” said DPS Trustee Aimee Blackburn at the board's Monday night meeting. “There are too many people in Lansing that are trying to take control over what should be a local decision.” Supt. Brian Whiston said before Monday’s meeting that the new program would be an unmitigated disaster that destroys the construct of local school …
Friday, August 3, 2012
The new Michigan Department of Education requirement will cause Dearborn Schools to have to set aside $1 million for transportation and other associated costs.
A requirement mandated by the Michigan Department of Education for schools with large gaps in performance will mean the possibility of substantial student-shifting for Dearborn Public Schools. As part of a set of requirements for state-named "Focus Schools," districts will–beginning in the 2012-13 school year–have to allow a number of students to move out of any school in that category and into another designated school within the district. The requirement only applies to schools that are receiving Title I dollars–a federal program that helps to fund schools with high percentages of students from low-income families. Districts are left to decide how many spots will be open for each school, but must provide transportation for these …
Thursday, August 2, 2012
While Edsel Ford and Fordson high schools "need improvement across the board," Supt. Brian Whiston says that overall, performance efforts in Dearborn are working.
Adequate Yearly Progress results released by the Michigan Department of Education on Thursday don't necessarily give the full picture of what's happening in Dearborn Public Schools, school officials say. In a press conference on Thursday, Supt. Brian Whiston gave the district's take on the school report cards, which named Dearborn as a district not meeting its goals. More: Read the full story on AYP outcomes and changes on Dearborn Patch. Whiston admitted that some schools–such as Edsel Ford and Fordson high schools–"need improvement across the board," he maintained that the district's efforts toward proficiency in such subjects as reading and math are showing progress. "We believe we've already got changes in place ... and the changes we'…
Because Adequate Yearly Progress now has more stringent requirements for a school district to pass, Dearborn failed to meet the mark, even though a majority of its schools did.
The Michigan Department of Education on Thursday released its school report cards, which includes the list of schools meeting state standards through Adequate Yearly Progress. Dearborn Public Schools as a whole did not meet AYP standards. While the majority of the district's schools did, four schools–Howe Elementary, Dearborn Magnet High School, Henry Ford Elementary and Fordson High School–did not meet overall standards for progress. Five Dearborn schools were listed as "reward schools"–a new designation from the state–meaning they are in the top five percent of schools in Michigan, or have made significant gains in academic progess during recent years. Those schools were Maples Elementary, Whitmore-Bolles Elementary, Woodworth Middle …
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Changes will take place during the 2014-2015 school year.
Paper and pencil for statewide tests will soon be a thing of the past for Michigan students as they prepare to take a new online assessment detailed during a roundtable Monday by the Michigan Department of Education. The exam will replace the standardized MEAP and MME assessments in math, reading and writing, beginning during the 2014-2015 school year. The MEAP and MME assessments will still be given in science and social studies. But unlike the tests students are used to, the new statewide exam will not have a common set of questions. Subsequent questions will be determined based on how a student answers the previous one. A correct answer yields a harder one. An incorrect responce yields an easier question. The goal is to have students …
The new online assessment will replace the MEAP and MME tests in math, reading and writing beginning during the 2014-15 school year.
Beginning in the 2014-15 school year, students throughout Michigan will be given an online exam to test their knowledge of core subjects. The test replaces the Michigan Merit Exam (MME) and the Michigan Educational Assessment Progam (MEAP) in all subjects except social science and science. Called Smarter Balanced, the exam was produced by The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, a state-led effort to provide consistent and comparable standards, aligned to the Common Core State Standards, in English language arts, literacy and mathematics. Smarter Balanced recently released a Technology Readiness Tool for districts to measure readiness to move to an online assessment program. Martineau said only about 6 percent of districts have taken …
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Though Dearborn Public Schools' reading scores still fell below state averages, the district showed improvement in math and reading for most grades.
Dearborn Public Schools saw overall improvements in math and reading in its 2011 Michigan Education Assessment Program scores, which were released Wednesday by the Michigan Department of Education. In a pattern similar to statewide trends, Dearborn's proficiency levels mostly increased–with few exceptions. Math proficiency levels were up in every grade except eighth; reading proficiency was up in every grade except third. In writing, which is only measured by MEAP in fourth and seventh grade, proficiency was down 3 percent and up .1 percent, respectively. Science proficiency was down 2.7 percent in fifth grade and stagnant in eighth grade. Social studies was up 4.4 percent for sixth grade, but down 4 percent for ninth grade. This past year…
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Michigan and 45 states across the country brace themselves for rigorous curriculum requirements for K-12 classrooms.
In preparation for sweeping changes to school curriculum, Dearborn teachers are among those working to modify lesson plans so that they are in step with new academic standards approved statewide. For instance, most ninth-graders, who might normally take Algebra, will take a new course called Secondary Mathematics 1, or an honors version of that course, which will include concepts in algebra, geometry, statistics, and pre-calculus. Language arts, meanwhile, will also be heavily revised to include more complex reading, and more emphasis on persuasive writing. These changes and more are slowly being rolled out in school districts around Michigan to comply with the Common Core initiative adopted by the Michigan Department of Education in 2010…
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Howe, Becker and Lowrey schools were among 123 in the state named as "Beating the Odds" by the Michigan Department of Education on Tuesday.
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Wednesday, November 9, 2011
The Michigan Department of Education on Tuesday released a list of 123 Michigan schools that are "Beating the Odds" by outperforming schools with similar risk factors and demographic composition based on two separate studies. On the list are Dearborn schools Howe Elementary, Becker Elementary and Lowrey Middle School. "We have good things happening in Michigan schools," State Superintendent of Public Instruction Mike Flanagan said in a press release. "These Beating the Odds schools are helping students make progress and finding ways to overcome traditional barriers to academic achievement." The MDE used two distinct studies to identify the schools. The first study identified 60 schools that are performing above their predicted levels based…
Concerned Taxpayer
9:18 am on Wednesday, August 15, 2012
There is a HUGE Problem with this and the State of Michigan is STUPID if they are the one designating that the LOWEST PERFORMING STUDENTS are the one that get to move. This will just make whatever school that student moves to a Focus School the Very next year unless they only allow the students to move to schools that already are lower performing to decrease the Gap between top students and … more ›