Dozens of Michigan schools will be released from state academic oversight, meaning they will no longer need government support to improve student outcomes, according to a press release by the Michigan Department of Education. These 68 schools include public schools, charter schools, and alternative schools.
The state uses the Michigan School Index to measure the level of support that a school needs from 0 to 100. The MSI is an accountability measure, which the state is federally required to run under the Every Student Succeeds Act. A school’s score is calculated based on graduation rates, overall test scores, English-language learner progress, among other factors. The system is calculated every three years.
“When the state decides that they are going to identify which (schools) are in need of support, they establish a threshold,” Yvonne Dixon, the MDE’s interim director of the Office of Partnership Districts said. “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 that are identified as needing comprehensive support and improvement are in the bottom 5%, have a graduation rate of 67% or less, or were previously identified as in need of "Comprehensive Support and Improvement" and didn’t exit the program. There’s another category for schools performing below the 25% level.
These schools receive financial and programming support through a multi-tiered system based on the state's school index calculations.
“The types of support that we are offering ... addresses the needs of the whole child,” Dixon said. “So not just academics, but everything that a learner would need to make him or her successful.”
The state also connects schools with a long-term plan, Dixon said. For example, if a school that's identified as being near the bottom of the state's index is experiencing staffing shortages, the state education department might offer additional funding to cover that gap, said 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 said. “So we work with them to identify other sources of funding that they will be able to have readily available.”
While 68 schools exited the list for state academic oversight this cycle, the Michigan Department of Education will enter into partnerships with 113 Michigan schools that were identified as in need of comprehensive support and improvement.
