Michigan's 2014-15 Summative Assessment Update

In June of 2014, legislation was passed requiring the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) to develop a new summative assessment for use in Spring 2014-15. Unlike the previous MEAP assessments, the new assessment will be aligned to Michigan standards and administered in the spring measuring current versus past year student knowledge. 

English language arts and mathematics will be assessed in grades 3-8. Science will assessed in grades 4 and 7, and social studies in grades 5 and 8. This assessment will be administered for one year only online with a paper and pencil option for schools not technology-ready.  For more information click the links below:

• 2014-15 Michigan Statewide Assessment Transition Document
• Spring 2015 Testing Schedule Update 

New legislation also requires the department issue a Request For Proposal by September 1, 2014 for a new summative assessment system to begin in the 2015-16 school year.

To obtain valuable input, this week, the department held a public hearing in Lansing attended by more than 100 educators, associations and parents.

Beyond the hearing, the public can provide input on the 2015-16 state assessment numerous ways which are outlined below -- through Tuesday, August 5.

U.S. Postal Service

Michigan Department of Education

Office of Standards and Assessment

608 West Allegan Street

P.O. Box 30008

Lansing, Michigan 48909

Fax

517-335-1186

Email

2016assessment@michigan.gov

Onlinesurvey/comment form

Myth vs. Fact: The Common Core State Standards for Mathematics

click to read more

Fall 2013 Michigan Interim Assessment Pilot – Applications Due 6/14

The Bureau of Assessment and Accountability (BAA) is pleased to offer another opportunity to participate in the Michigan Interim Assessment Pilot for science and social studies for grades 3 through high school, and offer for the first time an opportunity to participate in the Michigan Interim Assessment Pilot for grades K-2 in the subjects of English language arts (ELA) and mathematics. When operational, these new interim assessments will be online, pre-post assessments given at the beginning of a grade/course and end of a grade/course. These operational assessments may also be used as one possible measure of student growth.

This is a reminder that we need your school’s participation in the Michigan Interim Assessment in grades 3 through high school for science and social studies, and in K-2 for English language arts (ELA) and mathematics and recruitment is happening now.  The Fall 2013 Michigan Interim Assessment pilot testing will take place in October 28 through December 6, 2013.

Please see chart below for minimum technology requirements when considering participation:

Minimum Technology Requirements for Student Testing Devices
Apple	Windows
MAC OS X 10.6 – 10.8 512 MB RAM 800 x 600 screen resolution 100 MB hard disk space 1 GHz processor	Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, Server 2003 and 2008 512 MB RAM 800 x 600 screen resolution 100 MB hard disk space 1 GHz processor
Neither tablets (iPad/Android) nor Chromebooks will be supported for this pilot.

NOTE:  THIS IS NOT THE INTEREST SURVEY FOR ONLINE MEAP TESTING

To participate in the Michigan Interim Assessment pilots, please complete the application.  Districts may have several buildings participate but each building must register with a separate application.  Applications must be completed by Friday, June 14, 2013.

                                 

For more information regarding the interim assessments, please contact BAA at 1-877-560-8378, or contact:

Interim Assessment Contacts
Elementary (K-5) Erika Bolig 517-241-6397 bolige@michigan.gov	Secondary (6-12) Kim Young 517-373-0988 youngk1@michigan.gov	Technology Matt Ayotte 517-335-4643 ayottem@michigan.gov

Questions?

For assessment questions, please email baa@michigan.gov.

For accountability questions, please email MDE-Accountability@michigan.gov.

For phone assistance with assessment or accountability issues, call 877-560-8378 and select the appropriate menu option. 

Help support the Common Core in Michigan

The Michigan Council of Teachers of Mathematics asks for your support in fighting a battle forged in the Michigan Congress.  We need your voice more than ever to sound off about efforts to turn back the adoption of the Common Core in this state.  MCTM has adopted a position paper on this very issue.  We have distributed our position to Michigan policy makers with plans for a more wide range distribution.  We have continued to articulate a stance of higher standards and equity for all children in our great state. 

The Michigan House of Representatives has passed a bill that can turn back the clock for Michigan students.  Every child deserves the right to a high quality education that provides opportunities to be prepared for the world of work and to be college ready.  MCTM knows that this readiness does not begin in grade 9 but begins in kindergarten.  All K-12 educators must work together to get students ready starting in the early grades and building across to grade 12.  The Common Core State Standards for Mathematics provides rigorous standards that are coherent and well articulated across the grades. 

Standards are academic goals or targets.  They are essential so that all schools no matter how they choose to reach those targets are aiming for the same student outcomes.  Schools and districts determine the curriculum which is a plan for instruction consisting of differentiated instructional strategies and activities that best meet the needs of their diverse student population.  A curriculum is customized and is not one size fits all. 

MCTM President Irene Nordé, Ph.D.

House Bill 4276 has passed sponsored by republican Tom McMillin and is waiting for a vote that may be held as soon as Tuesday in the Senate.  We are asking for your help by writing a letter to your senator to express support for the Common Core.  There are many misconceptions that have been shared with congressmen/women including the Common Core State Standards represent a national curriculum and not a state led effort. Both are not truthful statements.  To learn more on the status in the Michigan Legislature visit the link below.

Michigan House Approves Budget Stripping Common Core Funds 

A few talking points have been provided and a link to the Michigan legislature website for contacting your State Senators below.  Please share this communication with as many supporters as possible – both MCTM members and colleagues.  Thank you in advance for your efforts and support provided on behalf of Michigan students.

Main speaking points for grassroots messages to State Senators.. to be personalized to the Senator, using any locally-relevant details:

• The language in the state budget that will prohibit the implementation of the Common Core State Standards and computer-adaptive Smarter Balanced Assessment will be detrimental to schools and students in your district and across Michigan.
• This will cause us to reverse the course we all have been on for the past three years
• It will cause Michigan to lose its flexibility waiver to the federal No Child Left Behind Act – which means that every school in Michigan will be accountable to having 100 percent of its students proficient in math and reading by next year.
• Every school in your district will not be making AYP – and will have to begin the federal No Child Left Behind sanctions, like providing our students with choice and transportation to other school districts; costly tutoring services; and possibly the entire disruption of how we run our own schools.
• It also will mean that you will be changing learning standards again for the teachers and students in your district; having the valuable teacher evaluations be based upon the old MEAP and Michigan Merit Exam; and having less federal Title I funds for the lowest-performing schools in your district.
• The Common Core State Standards are high-quality standards that your school districts have spent great time and effort over the past three years to align curricula and begin implementing.
• These Common Core standards are strongly supported by business leaders and education leaders in Michigan, including those leaders in your district.
• Please don’t drag our schools back three years, and put us further behind the other states that are going forward with the Common Core and Smarter Balanced Assessments. These already have been vetted through extensive public comment three years ago, before the State Board of Education adopted them.
• Please trust your local educators that the Common Core State Standards and Smarter Balanced Assessments are the right course our schools are on. These new standards will help the students in your district be career- and college-ready and help drive greater economic development in Michigan and in your district.
• If this detrimental provision in the budget bill is adopted, and we are prohibited from continuing the implementation of the Common Core and Smarter Balanced Assessments, you will leave your local school boards, administrators, teachers, and parents with no place to go but backwards.

To find your State Senator, scroll down to the “Related Sites” at the bottom of the webpage.

Public Policy Committee 

Michigan Council of Teachers of Mathematics

Michigan Interim Assessment Pilot – Schools Needed by January 18th

The Michigan Interim Assessment Program is in need of schools to pilot Michigan’s new interim assessments. These assessments will be online, pre-post assessments given at the beginning of a grade/course and end of a grade/course, and may be used as one possible measure of student growth. 

Participation as an interim assessment pilot site will meet the 2012-2013 school year online participation requirement (Category One #4) of the Technology Infrastructure Grant, and provide a low-stakes opportunity to test the school’s connectivity and bandwidth capacity for online testing. The Michigan Interim Assessment Program will offer scheduling flexibility for schools participating in the pilot. 

The first opportunity to experience these new assessments for teachers and students in grades 3 through high school is pilot testing in science and social studies, which will take place in April and May 2013.

Science
Grade 3 – 7 
Grade Level Assessments
Based on Grade Level Content Expectations (GLCEs) High School 
Course-Based Assessments
Based on High School Content Expectations (HSCEs)
• Earth Science
• Biology
• Chemistry
• Physics

Social Studies
Grade 3 – 8
Grade Level Assessments
Based on Grade Level Content Expectations (GLCEs) High School
Course-Based Assessments
Based on High School Content Expectations (HSCEs)
• U.S. History and Geography
• Word History and Geography
• Civics
• Economics

The minimum technology requirements for the online assessments include:
Apple

• MAC OS X® 10.5 – 10.8
• 256 MB of RAM or greater
• 1024x768 or greater screen resolution
• 10 MB hard disk space
• 400 MHz processor

Windows

• Windows XP® or 7
• 256 MB of RAM or greater
• 1024x768 or greater screen resolution
• 100 MB hard disk space
• 700 MHz processor

To participate in the Michigan Interim Assessment pilots, please complete this survey.  Surveys must be completed by Friday, January 18, 2013. 

Districts may have several buildings participate, but each building must register with a separate survey.  

FREE ACT Online Test Prep

All Michigan schools with students in 9th grade and higher will receive two years of ACT’s online prep free of charge. This will include all public, private and charter schools. It is anticipated that ACT will be sending all building Principals and MME test supervisors an email sometime this month with the password that will allow electronic monitoring of usage of the program along with the ability to monitor student progress and test information.

The ACT Online Prep Service includes:

• Two full practice tests with real ACT test items.
• Practice essays for the ACT writing test with real-time scoring (100 writing units per school).
• Comprehensive content review for each of the ACT’s four required tests: English, Math, Reading and Science.
• Diagnostic tests and personalized study paths for individual students.
• Anywhere, anytime access via the Internet.

The site license for this product normally has an annual cost of $1,060.

Keep your eyes peeled for the email from ACT for more information.

REL-Midwest report on Michigan's implementation and support of RtI

Regional Educational Laboratories (REL) - Midwest just released a report that reviews 6 mid-west states' implementation and support of Response to Intervention (RTI). Michigan is one of these states.
Based on a review of state documents and interviews with state and local officials in six Midwest Region states, this qualitative study describes state education agency policy development and planning for response to intervention approaches to instruction. It also looks at the support provided to districts and schools implementing response to intervention.

Curious about how Michigan compares? Check out the report to find out.

Advice for Governor Rick Snyder from Ed Trust-Midwest

DETROIT, MICH. (April 27, 2011) —Today, Gov. Rick Snyder moved to make students a higher priority and to ensure that all of Michigan’s classrooms are staffed by high-quality teachers. We applaud his recognition of the importance of teachers to our students, but urge him to take further steps to ensure that his proposals are smartly implemented. Students must remain a top priority as the state pursues the governor’s ideas, such as performance bonuses and charter school expansion.

The Education Trust-Midwest has advocated rigorously for Gov. Snyder to enact dramatic teacher quality reforms. The Snyder administration has paid attention, and is proposing revamping Michigan tenure law and teacher lay-off policies. Today, the governor proposed to award tenure based on three years of effective teacher performance. He also pushed for teaching performance to trump seniority in school lay-off and placement decisions.

“Every Michigan student deserves an effective teacher,” said Amber Arellano, executive director of The Education Trust-Midwest, Michigan’s only state-wide education policy and advocacy organization that advocates first and foremost on behalf of students. “We urge the legislature to quickly pass the legislative reforms that Gov. Snyder is proposing—and to do so while respecting teachers’ bargaining rights. Tenure should be modernized, not gutted.”

Snyder also proposes giving districts bonuses on top of per-pupil funding based on district performance and “growth.” He did not clarify whether such bonus funding would come out of state per-pupil school funding.

“The question is, how will districts be required to measure such growth and performance?” Arellano said. “Tenure and other teacher quality reforms—as well as any smart performance bonuses—rely upon robust evaluation systems that reliably measure student growth and teacher performance. Such systems don’t currently exist now in Michigan, which must be addressed.”
In particular, the legislature must change our state assessment timing; define what effective teaching looks like; and develop rigorous evaluation standards and a state-wide evaluation model for all districts. Presently, Michigan’s state assessment is administered in the fall, which means it measures the learning that has occurred under two different teachers – one in the previous school year and one in the new school year. That is not a good way to measure the impact of individual teachers.

Instead, Michigan needs to move its fall assessment to the spring, which would allow it to more accurately assess what students have learned over the course of the school year and give the governor an opportunity to reward a much more reliable picture of student growth and school performance.

The state also needs to develop a state-wide model and standards for teacher evaluation. Unless it does so, districts will use whatever evaluation that they want and set any standard they choose. Districts would have incentive to set their bars low so that their students and teachers look like they are performing well.

“Without thoughtful reform of both teacher evaluation and accountability system, Michigan parents will have no idea how well their students are doing and how good their teachers really are,” Arellano said. “Other states, such as Colorado, are taking months to create a smart, state-wide evaluation system. If we’re serious about improving our schools, we need to do this as well—and right now.”

Other Ed Trust-Midwest positions on Gov. Snyder’s proposals:

• Snyder: Giving bonuses to schools based on district performance.

Arellano: “We urge his administration to re-think this approach. Students would be punished for their districts’ low performance under such a system, especially in our low-income communities. Snyder should replicate what other leading states are doing, which is to reward schools with bonuses based on individual school performance.”

• Snyder: Lifting the cap on charter schools in some areas.

Arellano: “We all know our charter schools in places like Detroit are performing just as tragically and poorly, on average, as our traditional public schools. Only the highest-quality operators should be allowed to open schools or expand. The criteria for such selection should be made public. Parents and students deserve honest information.”

• Snyder: Requiring one year of growth for one year of instruction.

Arellano: “The bar must be set higher. African American and Hispanic children across the state are behind in reading, math and other basic skills. Schools need to help these students catch up—and it’s the state’s job to ensure they do so.”

• Snyder: Improving all of our schools through greater accountability.

Arellano: “We support accountability and high standards. However, accountability alone does not improve schools. We need to hear more from the Snyder administration about its plans to improve all of our schools, especially our low-performers. These schools have had very little state support—and often have been restricted from improving. Our minority and poor children need better schools right now.”
Contact info:

Amber Arellano, (734) 277-5084, aarellano@edtrustmidwest.org
Donnell Green, (248) 854-5297, dgreen@edtrustmidwest.org

This week Governor Rick Snyder is expected to lay out his education agenda in a major speech to policymakers and Michigan parents and students. In an op-ed in The Detroit Free Press, Amber Arellano, executive director of the Education Trust-Midwest, urges Governor Snyder and the state legislature to choose the path of smart education reform that will truly benefit children and not be sucked into the poisonous, combative politics that are dividing Americans in other states.

While governors in Wisconsin, Ohio, and elsewhere have attacked teachers collective-bargaining rights and marginalized the societal importance of teachers spurring understandable backlashes, Michigan's new governor and state legislature need to know that they can advance bold education reforms without following these divisive models.

Learn more about Ed Trust-Midwest's goals for Governor Snyder, read Arellano's recent piece in The Detroit News.

USED Data Express

ED Data Express is a Web site designed to improve the public's ability to access and explore high-value state-level education data collected by the U.S. Department of Education. The site is designed to be interactive and to present the data in a clear, easy-to-use manner, with options to download information into Excel or manipulate the data within the Web site.

ED Data Express includes three tools that allow users to access and view the data: a State Snapshots page, a Data Element Explorer, and a Build a State Table page. The State Snapshot pages include charts and tables with key data for each state. The Data Element Explorer allows users to view a single element across all states, both graphically and in a table. The Build a State Table page allows users to build customized tables by selecting specific data elements and specific states.

Curious about Michigan's data? Check out Data Express to see how we measure up against others.

Are Michigan's students college and career ready?

ACT released their 2010 Condition of College and Career Readiness report earlier this week. The report provides national and state snapshots of college readiness of the graduating seniors of the class of 2010 who took the ACT in high school. 19% of Michigan's students are reported to be college and career ready across all four benchmarks: English, Math, Science, and Reading. What's our trend? Read the Michigan report to find out.