Excerpt Gongwer Michigan Report*
Volume #43, Report #197 --Tuesday, October 12, 2004
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Ed Board Adopts Progress Standards for Districts
GRAND RAPIDS - Despite complaints from larger districts that they would be at a disadvantage from the policy, the State Board of Education adopted a policy Tuesday that requires all districts to adopt adequate yearly progress standards for at least two of their school levels to be considered having met AYP overall.

Under the policy, adopted on a 7-1 vote, some 75 percent of the state's 624 school districts are expected to meet adequate yearly progress under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. The policy was a compromise between requiring districts to meet AYP at the elementary, middle and high school levels or requiring them to meet it at only one of those levels.

The district-wide report cards are expected to be released November 4, along with the high school report cards.

The policy raised concerns for school districts because the federal law requires that any district not meeting AYP two consecutive years develop and implement a district improvement plan. Any district that does not meet the standard for four years be subject to some form of restructuring.

The proposal was also a concern for districts because the law requires a district make AYP not only on the aggregate scores, but also for each of nine subgroups. A district could theoretically not make AYP, even though all of its schools make AYP, because the whole district enough members of one or more subgroups to be require  the scores of those subgroups be considered.

Chief academic officer Jeremy Hughes said the proposal would not represent a lowering of standards. "We cannot ignore the pressure on individual schools to make AYP. I can't imagine a school district resting on its laurels," he said. "It's designed to protect school districts from having to undergo serious sanctions. There's got to be a little flexibility here."

"It's a balance between Michigan having some of the highest, most rigorous standards and making sure it's fair and equitable for schools," said Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Watkins.

Board member John Austin (D-Ann Arbor), who moved adoption of the policy, had been one of several board members arguing districts should be required to meet AYP at all three grade levels to be considered having met the standard themselves. He said the policy recommended by department staff was a compromise between his concerns and those of the districts.

"If all the schools make it and the district does not, that's something to reflect on," he said.

Board member Eileen Weiser (R-Ann Arbor) said the board also needs to look at the public reaction to the numbers. The one-of-three proposal would have 90 percent of districts meeting the progress standard while the three-of-three proposal would have only 47 percent meeting it.

"It's hard for me to imagine that we're at 90 percent of where we need to be," Ms. Weiser said. "I don't think the state can tolerate at this point the 47 percent."

School districts had proposed, at least for the first year, to allow districts to be considered having met AYP if they had at least one of three grade levels meeting the standard. "This gives us another attempt to focus on the impact of one of the subgroups," said Gail Green representing Macomb County school superintendents. "This is not about trying to dodge accountability.

"AYP for the district is about punishment," Ms. Green said. "AYP for the schools is about improvement."

Laura Wotruba with the Middle Cities Education Association recommended a change that would allow the districts with the most schools in subgroups to use the one-in-three standard while all other districts would have to meet the two-of-three standards.

Again, she said the proposal would minimize the effect of subgroups on the districts that would be most affected.

Board member Marianne McGuire (D-Detroit) said anything more than the one-of-three proposal would be too harsh on school districts. "I think all of our schools are trying very hard," she said.

But Jim Sandy with the Michigan Business Leaders for Educational Excellence said some districts have moved students around to avoid having subgroups affect any of the individual buildings.

"That got the school off the hook, but it won't get the district off the hook," he said.

While he said the district should be required to meet AYP at all three levels, he said the two-of-three  proposal was a "fair compromise."

HIGH SCHOOL AYP: While the board was discussing how to address AYP measurements for school districts, 81 high schools in the state were receiving the letters that they had not met AYP and were subject to sanctions or improvement plans.

Mr. Hughes said the letters were going out before the report cards as a compromise with the US Department of Education, which had already cited the state for not having its high school report cards out before the beginning of the school year as required by federal law.

The agreement allows parents to be offered the option of transportation to a different school or free tutoring services earlier in the year than those services would have been offered had the state waited until report cards had been issued.
Mr. Hughes also noted the number, which could grow as appeals of AYP findings are addressed, are still a small percentage of the 1,000 schools in the state containing high school grade levels.

GAMING AMENDMENT: After a presentation by Lottery Commissioner Gary Peters, the board adopted a statement Tuesday opposing Proposal 04-1 that would require statewide and local referendums for any expansion of gaming.

Mr. Peters told the board, as he has said since the proposal made the ballot, that the popular vote requirements could interfere with the Lottery's ability to develop new games and to expand use of self-service terminals.

In the statement by board president Kathleen Straus (D-Bloomfield Hills), on behalf of the board which adopted it 5-0, the board said the proposal "has the potential to have a devastating effect on public education in Michigan." Ms. McGuire abstained on the vote.

"If passed, provisions in Proposal 1 will greatly diminish the revenues from state lottery games going to the state School Aid Fund," the statement said. "With the structural deficit facing Michigan, which has placed a severe strain on our schools, students, and teachers, the potential for any loss of funds to our schools and children would be devastating."

Mr. Peters said the lottery could potentially lose $602.1 million over the next three years between restrictions on development of new games, loss of vendors because of restriction son self-serve terminals and potential withdrawal from the Mega Millions game if California joins and requires changes to the game.

"I don't think voters want to vote on any new game we come up with," Mr. Peters said.

Mr. Austin said the state, and the board, should do what they can to support the lottery. "If we're going to have gambling, I'd rather it be under the auspices of the Lottery and benefit the schools," he said.

"It's a bad bet," Mr. Watkins said of the proposal. "It's clearly going to have an impact on the slice of pie for the schools."

Proponents, who did not have a representative present to address the board, have argued the proposal would not affect any lottery games as long as the Lottery did not implement slot machines or any electronic gaming or begin using table games.

SOCIAL STUDIES: The board at its December meeting will likely discuss whether to add the Michigan Educational Assessment Program social studies test to the Michigan Merit Award qualifications. That was one of 10 recommendations from a task force on the test accepted by the board on Tuesday.

The board asked the department to bring back policy statements based on the recommendations to its December meeting.

The social studies test has raised concerns for several years because of the consistently low scores at all levels of its application and the task force suggested that adding the test to the requirements for the merit award would draw attention to the test and encourage better performance.

"To include it in the Merit scholarship would give it equity to other subjects," said Gerald Stoltman, a professor at Western Michigan University and co-chair of the task force. "It would encourage students to perform on the social studies MEAP."

The task force also recommended that the department develop grade level expectations for social students as it has for math, science and language arts. Social studies curriculum is still based grade range expectations.

And it called on the department to develop grade level tests on the subject that would allow districts to measure annual performance between the MEAP administrations

The task force also called of improved professional development for social studies, teachers and for an improved system to communication program changes to teachers.

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