 Professional Preparation Resources
Michigan Department of Education (MDE), Office of Professional Preparation—The MDE Web site offers information on items such as Michigan’s Teacher Certification Code for individuals entering the field, the Michigan Educator Talent Bank for job openings, and various options available for professional development. For more information, visit www.michigan.gov/opps. The MDE Web site also offers resources for improving outcomes for high school students. For more information, visit www.michigan.gov/highschool.
LearnPort—The Michigan Department of Education (MDE) and Michigan Virtual University (MVU) have created a statewide online professional development portal for Michigan educators called Michigan LearnPort. Through a unique multi-year partnership between MDE and MVU, Michigan LearnPort will create new Michigan-specific courses, acquire high-quality content from respected national content providers, conduct workshops, and provide technical assistance and support to Michigan LearnPort users. For more information, visit www.learnport.org.
Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL)—McREL draws on more than 30 years of education research to create practical, user-friendly products that help educators create classrooms that provide all students with opportunities for success. For more information, visit www.mcrel.org.
Teacher Leaders Network—The Teacher Leaders Network connects and supports educators who believe that the nation's teachers are a "splendid resource for leadership and reform." The Web site serves as a virtual gathering place for those who want to join in advancing teacher leadership in the classroom, the school, and the community. The site is supported by the Center for Teaching Quality. For more information, visit www.teacherleaders.org.
National Education Association’s (NEA) Teacher ToolKit—The NEA Teacher ToolKit is a fully integrated Web-based application designed to help teachers make curriculum decisions with confidence. The toolkit also promotes student evaluation and achievement as well as communication with parents and students. For more information, visit www.neateachertoolkit.com.
Downloadable Lesson Plans for Teachers—The following sites, equipped with searching and browsing capabilities, offer free resources and lesson plans for teachers. The sites include the following:
National Staff Development Council (NSDC)—The NSDC is a non-profit professional association committed to ensuring success for all students through staff development and school improvement. The Council views high quality staff development programs as essential to creating schools in which all students and staff members are learners who continually improve their performance. For more information, visit www.nsdc.org.
A New Guide for Supporting Foster Youth’s Postsecondary Education, It’s My Life: Postsecondary Education and Training—This document, published by Casey Family Programs, is geared to help foster youth successfully prepare for and complete postsecondary education or training. Topics include fostering high academic aspirations, long-term planning and preparation for postsecondary education, support in taking standardized tests, obtaining financial aid, and more. For more information, visit www.casey.org and click on “Tools and Resources” then “Publications.”
The College Ladder: Linking Secondary and Postsecondary Education for Success for all Students—This publication reviews 22 programs that provide opportunities for high school students to earn college-level credit or take college-level courses. The publication determines the impact of these programs on a range of student outcomes such as credits earned during high school, performance on high school tests, high school graduation rates, college-going rates, college remediation, college grades, retention in college, and degree and job market attainment. For more information, visit www.aypf.org/projects/LuminaProjectonSPLOs.htm.
Students Must Prepare for College Better, Earlier—This policy brief from The Education Commission of the States High School Policy Center stresses that students can be better prepared for college by learning about college entrance requirements early in their high school careers. To read the brief, visit www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/70/37/7037.pdf.
New Visions College Planning Guide—It’s never too early for students to start thinking about what they are going to do after high school. This college planning guide from Citigroup, News Corporation, and New Visions (a local education fund), includes tips and tools for students and families to use in plotting their path toward a college education. The easy-to-read guide contains year-by-year checklists, timelines, myth debunkers, and other resources to help inform and inspire families in navigating the college admissions and financial aid process. For more information, visit www.newvisions.org/teaching_learning/downloads/2006collegeguideweb.pdf.
Research Points—The American Educational Research Association’s (AERA) quarterly series, Research Points, connects research to education policy. AERA established the series to help ensure that decision-makers have accessible, sound, and important research on timely education topics. Each issue brings current information on education research to public policy-makers in Washington, D.C., as well as to education leaders and policy-makers in all 50 states. In addition, suggested action steps are outlined for policy makers, and a bibliography is included. For more information, visit www.aera.net/publications/?id=314.
Teach for America—Teach for America is the national corps of outstanding recent college graduates from all academic majors. Members commit two years to teach in urban and rural public schools and become leaders in the effort to expand educational opportunity. For more information, visit www.teachforamerica.org.
CareerForward™ (cFWD)—CareerForward is Michigan’s new free online career course designed to help Michigan students plan their work lives and career opportunities in today’s global economy. cFWD satisfies the new Michigan Merit Curriculum requirement for an online course and was developed through a partnership between the Michigan Department of Education and the Michigan Virtual University. Major funding has been provided by Microsoft Corporation’s U.S. Partners in Learning. Online delivery support is provided by Blackboard, Inc. cFWD may be integrated into any school district’s current curriculum. It can be used as a stand-alone career exploration tool, or districts may choose to deliver cFWD through their own learning management system or other career exploration programs. For more information, visit www.mivhs.org/careerforward. Training sessions are now available for school districts in Michigan at no cost. To view a training schedule and to sign up for trainings, visit www.solutionwhere.com/inghamisd/cw/main.asp.
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