From Tuesday’s “MEA VOICE Online” – August 16, 2011
New school data ‘dashboard’ one of five financial best practices
MI School Data, a new education information website, was launched this week to provide information on K-12 schools and school districts across the state. The Center for Educational Performance and Information (CEPI), along with the Michigan Department of Education and intermediate school districts, created www.mischooldata.org
By typing in any school district or school building name, staff and parents can view state assessments, the Annual Education Report reflecting Adequate Yearly Progress, student counts, School Report Cards and other school and district level measurements—such as “value for money” and school district deficits. MI School Data will be updated in Sept. with information on graduation rates, college enrollment, ACT results, and principal effectiveness measures.
The new education information website is also one of the five “financial best practices” Gov. Snyder established as an incentive for districts to earn an additional $100 per pupil in state aid. Local school districts and public school academies must meet four out of the five practices in order to qualify.
The other best practices are:
• Charge employees at least 10 percent of their health care premium.
• Become policyholder of medical benefits plans.
• Develop and implement a Service Consolidation Plan.
• Bid out non-instructional services.
(I do not currently know if Walled Lake was able to meet 4 of the five practices. It would appear they may be very close! – Terese)
From Terese: While the new website provides better access to test data and AYP status information on schools, you should note that there is a tab for “teacher quality” in each school’s report. At this time that “teacher quality” tab reports the total number of degrees held by teachers in a district, and whether anyone is teaching a class they are not highly qualified to teach. However it is the state’s intention to increase the amount of information reported for each teacher, which could include the performance of students in each teacher’s class.
Click on: www.mischooldata.org
MEA
About Me
- Tfitzjake
- I wrote this introduction 6 years ago, and it is even more important today than ever. The voices of educational employees need to be heard above the roar of public school attacks in this country. We are on the front line; we are highly educated and trained professionals. Why are we being ignored? I am an educator. I was the president of the Walled Lake Education Association for over 6 years, and before that, the treasurer for 8 years. I have been on the bargaining team for 15 years. I am now the MEA UniServ Director for 7K and parts of IJ. I want our voice to be heard! Today's educational climate requires that we all stay informed regarding the issues affecting our chosen profession!