The School Improvement Framework Plays a Key Role in Michigan's School Accreditation System

by Paul Bielawski, Special Assistant, Office of Educational Assessment and Accountability, Michigan Department of Education

In a nutshell, the Michigan School Improvement Framework will provide a new basis for measuring student achievement in the state’s school accreditation system. The 26 benchmarks are proposed to replace the current performance indicators.

History of Michigan’s Accreditation System

In 2001, in order to comply with Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) under the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), the Michigan State Board of Education (SBE) undertook revision of the school accreditation system that resulted in Education YES!–A Yardstick for Excellent Schools. Education YES! includes a broad set of measures that looks at school performance and student achievement in multiple ways. Under the current Education YES!, each school is graded on its student achievement based on several interlinked components to present a complete picture of performance at the school level. The measures of student achievement in Michigan’s current school accreditation system include:

• Achievement status to measure how well a school is doing in educating its students.
• Achievement change to measure whether student achievement is improving or declining.
• Achievement growth (delayed until 2006-2007) to measure whether students are demonstrating sufficient academic growth for each year of instruction.

In addition, the SBE developed Indicators of School Performance to meet the Michigan School Code requirement that accreditation standards “not be based solely on pupil performance on Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) tests.” The achievement and indicator components are blended to calculate a preliminary score and letter grade for the school. A school’s preliminary letter grade is adjusted based on the school’s AYP status. Visit www.michigan.gov/mde to learn more about Education YES!

Indicators of School Performance

Eleven measures make up the Indicators of School Performance. These measures represent the investments schools make in improved student achievement. Michigan schools have reported their self-assessed ratings, including evidence to support these ratings, since 2002-03. The scoring and grading for the Indicators of School Performance have been based on the school’s self-rating of each component for each indicator. However, the Michigan School Improvement Framework will provide new Indicators of School Performance in Michigan’s school accreditation system. Thus, the accreditation measures will now be based on research.

School Improvement Framework to Guide School Accreditation

When the Framework is included in the accreditation system, schools will continue to annually update their self-assessments and evidence of success data. The Framework will now provide the basis for schools’ self-assessment measurement through the collecting of data based on the 26 benchmarks.

The MDE has begun development of rubrics (rules) for each of the characteristics in the 26 benchmarks contained in the Framework. The rubrics will offer a structure for schools to make self-assessments (see MDE Creates a Framework for Continuous School Improvement). Schools will continue to report evidence in support of their self-assessment ratings. The MDE recommends that school improvement teams be convened to collectively carry out the self-assessment and to organize and submit the evidence. School district superintendents will have the opportunity to review and approve the self-assessment and evidence for each school in the district.

There is much work to be done before the Framework can be used for school accreditation. Once the rubrics have been developed, the following activities will need to occur:

• Editing the rubrics.
• Field testing of the self-assessment.
• Design of a data collection system.
• Testing of the data collection software.
• Development and dissemination of training materials.
• Conducting data collection.
• Development of a scoring scale for the self-assessment.
• Setting standards for the self-assessment.
• Reviewing Report Card appeals submitted by school districts.
• Reporting of the accreditation system to the public.

The Office of Educational Assessment and Accountability looks forward to measuring and reporting on the Framework as part of Michigan’s system of school accreditation. Use of the Framework for accreditation will reinforce the research-based foundation of the Framework.

For more information, contact: Paul Bielawski, Special Assistant, Office of Educational Assessment and Accountability, Michigan Department of Education, P.O. Box 30008, Lansing, MI 48909, (517) 335-5784, bielawp@michigan.gov.

 

 

 

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