From the State Board of Education

As the official entity setting Michigan’s education policy, it is the place of the State Board of Education to play a leading role in establishing a concrete plan for improving our schools. By welcoming the Michigan School Improvement Framework into this plan, the Board has provided a vision for making our great Michigan schools even greater. The Framework is an important tool that schools can utilize on a regular basis to improve the education of students. I predict it is a document that will play a large part in improving Michigan schools for years to come.

The Michigan School Improvement Framework provides a vision and structure to assist schools as they plan and implement coherent, comprehensive, research-based foundations to improve their educational systems. This Framework will help guarantee increased opportunities for the success of all Michigan children. The Framework offers a process for improving systems that are already working well and those needing more in-depth improvement. Through the Office of School Improvement, the Michigan Department of Education and the State Board now offer this Framework to assist districts and schools in the planning and implementation of their meaningful school improvement efforts.

Adoption of the Michigan School Improvement Framework continues the State Board of Education’s long history of policy setting to improve our state’s school system. It is our hope that this Framework, along with the new rigorous and relevant high school graduation requirements, will promote the continued success of Michigan’s schools. These efforts go far toward strengthening Michigan’s role as an education leader.

The Board also recently approved high school curriculum content expectations for math and English language arts. The high school content expectations offer guidelines for what students should know and understand in each of the curriculum areas. Descriptions of the specific content expectations help school districts align curriculums to the new 2011 graduation requirements.

As policymakers, we can create new policy and programs on paper, but it is ultimately the educators who implement and make them meaningful for Michigan’s children. The Framework and high school content expectations are just two parts of this exciting and historic time in the field of education. As Michigan’s educational communities come together, we all work toward ensuring that the children of today are prepared for a better tomorrow.

For more information on the School Improvement Framework, visit www.michigan.gov/schoolimprovement. For more information on new high school content expectations for math and English language arts, visit www.michigan.gov/highschool.