Universal Education Facilitates Life Long Learning for All

A Framework for Educational Policy Development in Michigan

by Elizabeth W. Bauer, Michigan State Board of Education

The Vision

Every individual’s success is important to our society. Each person deserves and needs a concerned, accepting educational community that values diversity and provides a comprehensive system of individual supports from birth to adulthood. “Universal Education” is a framework for educational policy development that removes barriers, provides flexible and responsive supports, and facilitates life-long learning for all.

The Principles of Universal Education

The principles of Universal Education reflect the belief that in order to support desired educational outcomes for ALL, there must be:

• A learning community that values diversity, engages working partnerships in removing all barriers, recognizes the essential roles of families and primary caregivers, and involves a broad base of stakeholders that influence public policy and practice.
• A learning environment that creates a culture of safety, support, and acceptance—a culture that honors the right of all students to learn together and is guided by a commitment to educational excellence, democracy, and social justice. The learning environment assures access to resources and provides support for teachers and students. It supports policies and practices to prevent learning problems stemming from physical, environmental, and social factors and promotes leadership among stakeholder groups that guides continuous instructional improvement so that all may progress in public education.
• Adult and student learning that ensures effective educator pre-service and ongoing professional development. These principles implement effective instructional practices…moving the student from the edge of competence forward. Student performance and growth data are used to assess student achievement and guide professional learning.

The vision and principles of Universal Education are helping policy makers make public education in Michigan more relevant to all learners today.

Michigan’s Universal Education Vision and Principles support a building’s school improvement planning and can guide individual learning plans for students. The vision and principles encourage initiatives to support students to stay in school, end bullying, fund early intervention and after school programs, and more. Because the vision and principles apply to ALL students, they help to focus attention on unserved and underserved youth and the need for rigor, relevance, and meaningful relationships in all public education domains.

Elizabeth W. Bauer, M.A., is an elected member of the Michigan State Board of Education. She participated in the Universal Education referent group and was involved in many of the earlier advocacy efforts to achieve this framework for policy development. For more information, contact: Elizabeth Bauer, (517) 373-3900, ebauer7400@aol.com.

Source: Adapted from the April 20, 2006 edition of the National Association of State Directors of Special Education Counterpoint newspaper. A copy of the full article has been reprinted in FOCUS on Results, Issue 7, Volume 2, GATA 06-06. To view or download the full article, visit: www.cenmi.org/focus/index.asp.