Michigan Schools See Changes in State Oversight Status
In a significant shift for education in Michigan, 68 schools will be relieved from state academic oversight, no longer requiring governmental assistance to enhance student performance. This update, detailed in a press release by the Michigan Department of Education, affects a range of educational institutions, including public, charter, and alternative schools.
The assessment tool at the heart of this decision is the Michigan School Index (MSI), which rates schools from 0 to 100 based on their need for support. This index, a requirement under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, considers a variety of metrics such as graduation rates, overall test scores, and progress of English-language learners, and is updated every three years.
Yvonne Dixon, interim director of the Office of Partnership Districts at the MDE, explained, “When the state decides that they are going to identify which (schools) are in need of support, they establish a threshold. And once that threshold is established, the schools that are below that threshold are identified to fit into certain categories … for comprehensive support and improvement.”
Schools fall into the category of needing comprehensive support and improvement if they are in the bottom 5% of performers, have graduation rates at or below 67%, or are schools that have previously been marked for improvement but have not met the criteria to exit the program. Additionally, there is a category for schools scoring below the 25% level.
These institutions benefit from a multi-tiered support system based on MSI calculations, providing both financial aid and programmatic assistance. “The types of support that we are offering … addresses the needs of the whole child,” Dixon emphasized. “So not just academics, but everything that a learner would need to make him or her successful.”
The state’s strategy includes long-term planning for these schools. For example, schools struggling with staffing shortages might receive additional funding from the state to alleviate this issue, as noted by Delsa Chapman, a deputy superintendent with the department.
“We say, yes, we are so happy to be able to provide this funding, but we know that that funding won’t always be available for them because our goal is for them to exit the identification status,” Dixon remarked. “So we work with them to identify other sources of funding that they will be able to have readily available.”
As these 68 schools transition out of state oversight this cycle, the Michigan Department of Education will establish partnerships with 113 schools identified as needing comprehensive support and improvement.
