June InSiDe Update

 Hello Colleagues;

The following updates and attachments are provided for your information.

Topic:  Comprehensive Needs Assessment pilot moved forward by MDE

The comprehensive needs assessment pilot project, now being called the “ISD protocols of practice” (IRP) project is under continuing development by MDE. 

 For the IRP Pilot Focus Team Meeting on July 26, 2011, participants in the pilot will provide feedback to Steve Kailin and John Daly about the content of the ISD/RESA IRP, plus feedback to AdvancED about the electronic format.

They will also begin the development of the Improvement Plan which will be piloted this fall, along with the IRP.

There is a meeting at the Michigan Education Leadership Group (MELG) building in Lansing from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on July 26, 2011.  The meeting will take place in the MSBO/MASA Board Room. For further information on this meeting or if you are interested in attending please contact Joni Linderman at MDE. LindemanJ@michigan.gov

Topic:  Impact of Legislative changes on beginning teacher earning power

Recent changes and proposed legislation will have an impact on how much teachers must contribute to their retirement and fringe benefit costs. Jeff Mills from VBISD developed an analysis of beginning teacher salaries and cost of living expenses.  It demonstrates that attracting and maintaining new teaching hires may become  more difficult due to the economic realities. Please see the attached analysis and thanks Jeff.

Topic: Educator Evaluation, an opportunity for ISD leadership 

  The Education Alliance, the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators and the Michigan Department of Education are partnering to present a training session and a series of webinars to build a network of persons to act as key contacts for the development of district educator evaluation plans.

Please read the attachments carefully and decide if you or someone else in your area would be willing to become a key contact and attend the training. This is a opportunity to learn in depth about educator evaluation and help others in developing their plans. We hope to see you or your representatives at the first session on July 12.

http://www.gomasa.org/edalliance-toolkit

Topic: STOP the raid on the School Aid-What’s next?

 The money was there but the legislature and the Governor chose to take the money from school aid and spend it elsewhere, so where do we go now?

MAISA/MASA are in the process of developing legal, policy and communication plans to reverse the practice of using the school aid fund for purposes other than p-12 education. Specifics will be provided at the MAISA Summer Conference next week.

Topic: Michigan Assessment Collaborative(MAC)

The It is that time of year when the Michigan Assessment Consortium holds its annual membership drive.  The MAC continues to serve as a statewide organization dedicated to improving student learning and achievement through quality balanced assessments.

The consortium exists to….

• Promote assessment knowledge and practice
• Provide professional development, and
• Develop and share assessment tools and products.

The MAC’s current initiatives include…

• Statewide videoconferences on important assessment topics featuring national experts and archived with reflection journals available at www.michiganassessmentconsortium.org. Past videoconferences are available on a variety of curriculum, instruction and assessment topics. 
• The Common Assessment Development Series, a statewide professional development series on the development and use of common assessments, comprised of a 24 modules to develop and use common assessments, available soon.
• Periodic newsletter describing assessment and assessment-related initiatives in Michigan and elsewhere. 
• Connections to other state organizations and initiatives to leverage the expertise and resources available in the state to increase assessment literacy,
• Connections to the MDE and its efforts to create a comprehensive system for balanced and quality assessment in the state.  This is especially important as we move toward new state assessments in 2014-15 via Michigan’s participation in the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium.

Your contribution will keep quality resources being made available to you! We ask that you consider joining or renewing your membership, at a level that signifies your value for the work of the MAC. 

Topic: Work Keys assessment targeted for elimination from the MME

The Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals is spearheading an effort to make two ACT pre-tests, Plan and Explore, available for all schools to use through the Michigan Department of Education.  These are excellent tests that provide much better diagnostics for student achievement prior to administration of the ACT than the MEAP.

Unfortunately, to accomplish this, there is a proposal to eliminate the WorkKeys/NCRC testing on the Michigan Merit Exam as a financing method, as the costs are relatively similar. 

Kent ISD is coordinating communications on this issue. For more information contact Ron Koehler RonKoehler@kentisd.org