As a School Ambassador Fellow with the U.S. Department of Education, I had the opportunity to help plan and coordinate a visit for First Lady Melania Trump and Secretary Betsy DeVos to Orchard Lake Middle School in West Bloomfield, MI. The school was selected because they had pledged their commitment to anti-bullying initiatives promoting inclusion and acceptance. Orchard Lake Middle School prides itself on diversity and anti-bullying programs, so the principal and staff knew that they would be a good fit for FLOTUS’s bullying prevention platform.
Breaking Bully Stereotypes
I have spent the last decade focusing on breaking bully stereotypes and shifting the conversation around such a critical topic, so I jumped at the chance to be part of this work at a national level. Most of the bullying I faced as a student occurred in middle school, so I was shocked to see it happen with my third graders. The most surprising part, however, was when I realized which students were doing the bullying. Some of my sweetest, smartest, and most seemingly innocent kids were often the ones doing the most harm. I see the same trends and patterns with every class.
One thing these kids all have in common is that they do not see themselves as bullies since they do not resemble the exaggerated characters in TV and movies. No one is a bully all the time, and this misconception makes it hard for kids to accept their actions as bullying behavior. This problem can be perpetuated in any school lunchroom when kids are left feeling isolated and excluded, while the classmates doing the excluding don’t understand the harm they cause. Effective anti-bullying initiatives can really help change those dynamics, and having the First Lady and Secretary share that message really helps kids pay attention.
Students Realize the Magnitude of the Event
I was able to be at the school for most of the day, hours before the special guests arrived. I could feel the energy in the building as students buzzed with anticipation. It was fascinating to watch all that happened behind the scenes and the planning and manpower it took to execute a one-hour visit. But the students reminded me why this event was so important. While the adults were scurrying around making sure things were running smoothly, the middle schoolers were enjoying the moment, recognizing the magnitude of what was happening. They knew their school was being highlighted and it meant they were doing something right, and that is an empowering feeling.
Sharing a message with kids about the importance of compassion and kindness is something that everyone should stand behind, and that day, everyone did. It is a big deal to have the First Lady and Education Secretary of the United States at their school, and this is something that these kids will remember for the rest of their lives. I am quite sure they will also remember that no one should eat alone either.
Melody Arabo is a 2017-18 Washington School Ambassador Fellow.
Photo at the top: A student takes a selfie with First Lady Melania Trump. (Melody: “They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but the picture at the top is worth a million smiles. It perfectly captures the joy that was felt in the room by students who realized they were experiencing a once-in-a-lifetime moment.”)
LANSING, Mich. – School counselors must now dedicate 50 hours of the current 150-hour professional development requirement on coursework and program instruction to better assist students with college preparation and career selection under legislation signed today by Gov. Rick Snyder.
“Equipping students with the tools and resources they need to decide on a career path and finding the right avenue to get them there is critically important for long-term success,” Snyder said. “This bill helps school counselors better serve students by expanding the focus on the diverse career and educational options that are available.”
House Bill 4181, sponsored by state Rep. Brett Roberts, requires school counselors to devote 50 of their currently required 150 hours of professional development to improving the college preparation and selection process (25 hours) and on career counseling (25 hours). Career counseling includes, but is not limited to, exploration of military career options, professional trades, and other technical or occupational careers requiring post-secondary industry-specific credentials. The updated requirements will apply to individuals renewing their school counselor credentials two years after the effective date of January 2018. It is now Public Act 151 of 2017.
Snyder also signed six additional bills:
House Bills 4547 and 4548, sponsored by state Reps. Klint Kesto and Patrick Green, respectively, amend the Michigan Vehicle Code of Criminal Procedure to extend the date that the blood alcohol content (BAC) related to operating a vehicle while intoxicated must remain at 0.08 until October 1, 2021. Under previous law, the BAC would revert back to 0.10 on October 1, 2018. The bills are now Public Acts 152-153 of 2017.
HBs 4170, 4171, 4173 and 4174, sponsored by state Reps. Jim Tedder, Laura Cox, Hank Vaupel and Leslie Love, respectively, make amendments to the Michigan Public Health Code. HB 4170 creates the Physician Orders for a Scope of Treatment (POST) Form, which will serve as an advance care planning tool for patients. The bill directs the Department of Health and Human Services to establish a committee to determine the content of the POST form, rules and a follow up committee. HB 4171 permits a guardian to execute, reaffirm and revoke a POST form, under certain conditions. HB 4173 requires an adult foster care facility to comply with a POST form. If the facility is unable or unwilling to comply they must make every reasonable effort to refer or transfer the patient to another adult foster care facility. HB 4174 outlines that if a health professional has notice of a do-not-resuscitate order and is aware of a POST form that contained a medical order in regard to the initiation of resuscitation, the health profession would have to comply with the most recent order or form. The measures are now Public Acts 154-157 of 2017.
Education Week – Originally Published February 14, 2017
For the third time since she was confirmed as education secretary, Betsy DeVos spoke with a Michigan media outlet to discuss her confirmation process and her priorities. And she made it clear she’s looking for ways to reduce the size and scope of the U.S. Department of Education.
In a Tuesday interview on the Michael Patrick Shiels radio program, DeVos said the confirmation was an “interestingand protracted” process, and that she was glad to get started as secretary. Asked by Shiels about the education department’s responsibilities, DeVos noted that it was only her fourth day on the job at the department. Then she said:
I can’t tell you today what is being done that’s unnecessary. But I can guarantee that there are things that the department has been doing that are probably not necessary or important for a federal agency to do. We’ll be looking at that. We’ll be examining and auditing and reviewing all of the programs of the department and really figuring out what is the core mission, and how can the federal department of education really support and enhance the role of the departments in the states. Because really, when it comes down to it, education and the provision of education is really a state and local responsibility to a large extent…
All 50 states and the District of Columbia have now submitted their plans for the Every Student Succeeds Act, and U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and her team are ready to examine the dozens of plans submitted by the second deadline last month.
Thirty-four states and Puerto Rico turned in their ESSA plans in September and October. (The official deadline for submitting plans was September 18, but hurricane-ravaged Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, and Texas got extensions). And all of those plans have now been deemed “complete” by the feds. That means the plans aren’t missing key details, at least according to the department’s initial review…
President Donald Trump has finally, finally started to nominate people to fill the top political ranks at the U.S. Department of Education. Recently, for example, the White House announced its pick for deputy secretary (former South Carolina state chief Mick Zais) and for assistant secretary for career, technical, and adult education (Michigan state Rep. Tim Kelly.)
But the Trump team is still really behind the eight-ball when it comes to staffing 400 Maryland Ave.
How far behind? We went back and looked to see when the Obama administration named its picks for some of the agency’s top players. In just about every instance, it was months ahead of the Trump crew…
Congress is late in turning in two important assignments that affect young children: Both the Children’s Health Insurance Program and a federally funded program that provides counseling to vulnerable families expired Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year.
Neither program will run out of money immediately, and both programs have support from Republicans and Democrats. But the expiration, even if it proves temporary, illustrates how difficult it has been for Congress to address other legislation as it has wrestled, unsuccessfully, with repealing the Affordable Care Act.
The highest-profile of the two programs to expire is the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which Congress failed to extend by the end of September, could put a financial strain on states—and eventually jeopardize coverage for the roughly 9 million children covered by the program…
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos today announced the U.S. Department of Education’s 2017 cohort of School Ambassador Fellows. This year’s cohort includes four teachers, one principal and one counselor.
“This year, we are thrilled to announce we are expanding the scope of the Teaching and Principal Ambassador Fellowship into the School Ambassador Fellowship. This expanded program will allow all school-based staff members—not just teachers and principals—the opportunity to participate in this important program and provide valuable contributions to the national education dialogue,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. “The Fellowship program is designed to improve education for all students by involving practitioners in the development and implementation of national education policy. The Fellows also work directly with Department staff members to inform our understanding of how policies and programs are implemented and experienced by students, educators and families at the local level.”
The six new Fellows were at the Department this week for a three-day summit to become more familiar with federal education policy and Department staff, as well as to begin exchanging ideas for enhancing communication between teachers, stakeholders and education policy leaders.
This year’s full-time Washington, D.C., Fellow is:
Melody Arabo, a third-grade teacher in a hybrid role at Keith Elementary School and the 2015 Michigan Teacher of the Year from West Bloomfield, Michigan.
This year’s part-time Fellows are:
Elmer Harris, a 5th Grade Teacher at Christa McAuliffe Elementary School from Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Matthew Scott Crisp, principal at Jackson Hole High School from Jackson, Wyoming.
Patrick O’Connor, an Assistant Dean of College Counseling at Cranbrook Schools, from Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
Megan Power, an Elementary Teacher at Design39Campus from San Diego, California.
Jennifer Ramsey, a Science Teacher, KIPP DC Heights Academy from Washington, D.C.
The 2017 Fellows build on the work of the previous cohorts, who have now collectively reached and connected with more than 110,000 educators through more than 153 discussions and events with stakeholders from all 50 states, D.C., four territories and two foreign countries.
It’s one of the most controversial questions about the Every Student Succeeds Act and accountability in general: How should schools be graded?
Since nearly all states have at least turned in their ESSA plans, and many ESSA plans have been approved, we now have a good idea of how states are answering those questions. Keep one thing in mind: ESSA requires certain low-performing schools to be identified as needing either targeted or comprehensive support. States have no wiggle room on that. But beyond that, states can assign things like A-F grades, stars, or points. Based on the states that have turned in their plans—and remember, not every state has—We did some good old-fashioned counting and came to the following conclusions, in chart form:
Here are a few notes about that chart.
1) Many states use some kind of points system only as a starting point, since they then use those systems to arrive at final grades or scores that are presented differently to the public…
The grinding, two-year process of drafting accountability plans under the Every Student Succeeds Act has upended states’ K-12 political landscape and laid bare long-simmering factions among power brokers charged with putting the new federal education law into effect this school year.
The details tucked into dozens of plans being turned in to U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos this week were hammered out by a hodgepodge of elected and appointed officials—from governors and legislators to state school board members and local superintendents—during sometimes sparsely attended meetings, caucuses, and task force sessions.
Further complicating matters, 12 governors, half the nation’s state superintendents, and half of legislatures’ education committee chairpersons are new to office since the passing of ESSA in December 2015, when significant policy leeway was handed back to the states from the federal government.
“The problem with devolution and decentralization is that, by definition, you’re going to get a lot of variation … in terms of effort, political will, and the effectiveness of those efforts,” said Patrick McGuinn, a political scientist at Drew University in New Jersey who has studied state and federal policy and followed the implementation of ESSA.
In many cases, politicians, lobbyists, and membership organizations used their political prowess, technical expertise, and longevity to successfully push their agendas in the crafting of 51 state-level ESSA accountability plans.
Friction Points
Hammering out plans for the Every Student Succeeds Act has been a source of tension for rival policymakers in many states.
Governors
Governors in Louisiana, Maryland, North Carolina, and Wisconsin rejected their states’ ESSA plans after the required 30-day review process. The plans can be submitted without governor approval—indeed, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos approved Louisiana’s plan—but such a thumbs-down indicates to the federal Education Department that there’s not political consensus over details.
State Boards of Education
In states such as Delaware, North Carolina, Washington, and West Virginia, legislatures attempted to strip the powers of their state boards of education over key education policy areas even as the states readied their approaches to ESSA implementation. In North Carolina, the state board sued the legislature over an education law passed during a special session that board members said violated the state’s constitution.
Legislatures
Lawmakers in states such as Maryland, Minnesota, Ohio, and West Virginia passed bills that dictated components of states’ ESSA plans regarding school accountability and testing. That left local superintendents and state board members frustrated.
State Chiefs
State superintendents in Alabama, Colorado, and New Mexico resigned in the middle of the ESSA-planning process after high-profile debates over key policies, leaving practitioners in the lurch and states in some instances making last-minute changes.
But the nature of state politics left out other groups, some of which will spend the coming months restructuring their spending and staffing priorities to more effectively lobby in the inevitable battles to come over the new law.
“The politics of federalism is going to dramatically change going forward,” said Sandra Vergari, a political scientist at the State University of New York at Albany who has studied federal education policy. Following all 50 states “is going to be a lot more work for us scholars, policy analyst, and advocates.”
Unlike prior federal versions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, ESSA required “meaningful stakeholder engagement” in crafting state plans—without defining who a stakeholder is or how much or what type of engagement needs to be conducted.
Many state superintendents said shortly after ESSA was passed that they had a natural incentive to put an end to years of polarizing debates over standards, accountability, and testing. But as the ESSA planning process unfolded, power grabs ensued in a number of states. Those traditionally in charge of education policy sparred with each other and with lawmakers eager to take on a share of the new responsibility.
In North Carolina, for example, the Republican-controlled legislature—just days before Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper took office this winter—decided during a special session that the state board should no longer oversee key accountability and school turnaround decisions, and that those decisions should be left up to the state’s recently appointed Republican state superintendent.
The board sued, and a judge decided last week to delay the law, which has held up the state’s ESSA planning process.
Delaware’s legislature stripped its state board of several powers, and a pending bill in Washington would scrap that state’s board of the ability to oversee portions of its accountability system.
And after years of infighting, Indiana’s legislature decided this year that the state’s elected superintendent should instead be appointed by the governor.
Hot-Button Issues
In other states, crucial policy decisions over testing, state goals, and how to define an ineffective teacher fanned flames between advocacy groups and politicians.
The governors in Louisiana, Maryland, North Carolina, and Wisconsin all refused to sign off on their states’ plans before sending them to Secretary DeVos. (A plan still can be turned in without the governor’s signature.)
And Michigan Lt. Gov. Brian Calley asked DeVos to send the plan back (something his office is not allowed to do) after he took issue with portions that dealt with special education students. That state’s board-appointed superintendent involved more than 300 people in the development of the plan, a process the lieutenant governor said still left the state’s special education community without a voice.
“What we have in our system is all these interest groups across the political spectrum that have a lot of power and say,” said Calley, who has a child with special needs. “There’s no organized group with PACS and electoral power in our system that represents the parents.”
State superintendents, many with their own political agendas, were left walking a political tightrope in some states. Several didn’t survive.
In a political snub, Hawaii’s since-replaced state Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi wasn’t invited by Democratic Gov. David Ige to sit on the state’s ESSA task force.
New Mexico’s secretary of education, Hanna Skandera, resigned in June shortly after turning in her state’s controversial plan, which upset the state’s teaching force. And just last week, Alabama Superintendent Michael Sentance resigned after a bruising evaluation by the state’s district superintendents who took issue with his leadership style and the ESSA development process.
Advocates Weigh In
National, state, and local advocacy organizations all scrambled throughout ESSA planning to adjust to the fluid situation. A board meeting in California in July, for example, fielded dozens of comments protesting the state’s proposed accountability system.
In other states, advocates skipped state board meetings and went straight to their legislature.
Maryland’s Democratically-controlled legislature, pressured by the state’s teachers’ union, effectively wrote the state’s accountability system into a law called “Protect Our Schools Act.” The bill survived Republican Gov. Larry Hogan’s veto and inflamed state board of education members who accused politicians of trapping students in failing schools.
Ohio’s teachers’ union and parent groups managed to convince the state’s superintendent in the spring to stall the turning in of that state’s plan after they convinced enough people that the plan would ramp up school testing.
And Kentucky’s legislature passed as part of its new ESSA-aligned accountability system a sweeping education bill that mostly scrapped a historic school governance model that had elevated parent voices in the form of school-based-decision-making councils.
The battle pitted Kentucky’s politically weak parent groups against the state’s well-financed superintendents’ association and teachers’ union. It flew in the face of a working relationship the three parties had forged over the years in fighting for more school funding from the legislature as the coal industry collapsed.
“We’ve been together for so long and through so much together,” said a disappointed Lynne Slone, the attorney for the Kentucky Association of School Councils.
In Florida, Rosa Castro-Feinberg, a civil rights activist for minority and English-language-learner students, said she will shift her efforts to the local level if the state’s ESSA plan passes federal muster. Castro-Feinberg launched a petition and letter-writing and media campaign to stop several waiver requests from being attached to that state’s plan, an effort that ultimately failed.
Others, however, see an opportunity for advocates and policymakers to forge ties across state lines in the wake of the sometimes-tense ESSA planning, especially on common issues such as the achievement gap, the effects poverty has on schools, and stagnant student performance.
“For some states that are diving into this more deeply, doing the soul-searching, you’re seeing a lot less partisanship,” said Michelle Exstrom, the Education Program Director for the National Conference of State Legislatures. “Education shouldn’t be a partisan issue. I think when you have a sense of urgency, you figure out that it’s in everyone’s best interest to improve outcomes, and leaders get motivated to go to the table to fix it.”
MICHIGAN — The Michigan Department of Education has re-submitted the state’s plan to the U.S. Department of Education (USED) for the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, responding to USED’s official feedback received two weeks ago.
ESSA is the new federal law that replaced the previous No Child Left Behind Act. Every state is to develop a plan that it will use to improve educational outcomes for children and hold schools accountable and transparent for that success.
The re-submitted plan includes requested technical detail and clarifications to the first submitted plan, as well as better defined information on a school accountability system.
“When the plan first was submitted, it contained three options for school accountability,” State Superintendent Brian Whiston said. “After the legislature adjourned for the summer, it became clear that we would be going forward with a Transparency Dashboard.
“Our staff have been working diligently to fully develop that dashboard and an index from which to identify the state’s most struggling schools,” he said. “Identifying those struggling schools is required by both federal and state law, along with the supports those schools will be receiving.”
Michigan’s ESSA plan is a thoughtful and dynamic plan to keep Michigan schools moving forward. It builds upon the goals and strategies outlined in the Top 10 in 10 initiative and the Governor’s 21st Century Education Commission.”
Due to the short turnaround time USED gave the state to submit its updated plan, education stakeholders were not directly involved in this revision, although it was informed by their previous contributions.
“We will be bringing back the education stakeholders who helped develop the original plan and update them on the re-submitted details,” Whiston said. “The decisions made on the re-submitted plan were based on their input throughout the original process.”
The concept of the federal law is to give schools more flexibility in how they meet the comprehensive needs of their students with tailored strategies for student and educator success, and less focus on compliance to federal requirements.
At its core, Michigan’s ESSA plan centers on Michigan’s children – their opportunity to learn; to access excellent educators and meaningful supports; and to successfully transition to college, career, and life.
The Michigan ESSA plan is the product of nearly a year of work, engaging thousands of stakeholders through work groups, community meetings, focus groups, online surveys, webinars, and general input from the public.
It was developed through the inclusion and consultation with the Governor; State Board of Education; state legislature; and representatives from local school districts, schools, intermediate school districts, Michigan’s 12 federally-recognized tribal education departments, civil rights groups, education organizations, teachers, parents, students, business leaders, community members, and foundations.
“I said from the beginning of this work that we are going to put forward a plan that is best for the students in Michigan,” Whiston said. “This is how we move forward, and I want to thank all of the passionate people who provided input and helped inform this plan. Let’s all work together now to put the plan into action.”
As work moves forward toward implementation and as the conversation continues, particularly around assessment and accountability, the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) will leave the MDE-ESSA@michigan.gov email account open for any additional feedback that anyone may want to submit, based on the re-submitted plan and will consider that feedback as the state works with USED on plan approval and throughout implementation of the plan.
To read Michigan’s ESSA Plan (as it has been updated), an Overview of the plan, and historical documents developed during various iterations of the plan, go to www.michigan.gov/ESSA.
As a School Ambassador Fellow with the U.S. Department of Education, I had the opportunity to help plan and coordinate a visit for First Lady Melania Trump and Secretary Betsy DeVos to Orchard Lake Middle School in West Bloomfield, MI. The school was selected because they had pledged their commitment to anti-bullying initiatives promoting inclusion and acceptance. Orchard Lake Middle School prides itself on diversity and anti-bullying programs, so the principal and staff knew that they would be a good fit for FLOTUS’s bullying prevention platform.
I have spent the last decade focusing on breaking bully stereotypes and shifting the conversation around such a critical topic, so I jumped at the chance to be part of this work at a national level. Most of the bullying I faced as a student occurred in middle school, so I was shocked to see it happen with my third graders. The most surprising part, however, was when I realized which students were doing the bullying. Some of my sweetest, smartest, and most seemingly innocent kids were often the ones doing the most harm. I see the same trends and patterns with every class.
