The purpose of the Great Lakes East Comprehensive Center is to build state-level capacity in the region (Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio) and to work with state departments of education to provide them with high-quality, customized technical assistance in meeting their state's No Child Left Behind (NCLB) goals. Each issue of the News for the Region e-newsletter shares the latest updates about the collaborative work between Great Lakes East and the three states. It provides access to carefully selected news items from the three states and the nation that can inform the region of the success stories or the lessons learned related to NCLB efforts. It also offers select resources on the latest issues and developments at the regional and national level as well as a calendar of upcoming events to help the states have easy access to information as they work hard to help their districts and schools improve the academic performance of their students.
2011
Fall 2011—The NCLB Waiver Season (Adobe® Reader® PDF 1.2 MB) In this issue: This issue offers an insightful commentary on No Child Left Behind waivers. A handful of the states, including Indiana, have submitted their applications with the November deadline, and many others (including Michigan and Ohio) are gearing up to apply in February. We hope that this issue will help you make informed decisions regarding your application process. This issue also features a live welcome message from Barb Youngren, the director of Great Lakes East.
In this issue: Collaboration and informed action steps can turn things around and make meaningful, sustainable change. This issue's Special Report brings three stories from the Great Lakes East states that have one definite perspective in common: a success story in progress that reveals a reality of two schools and a state overcoming traditional barriers to education improvement.
Special Reports:
Collaboration at Work to "Beat the Odds" in Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio
Hawthorne Partners: "Together We Can Make a Difference" (by Frank De Rosa)
Making Strides at North Godwin Elementary School in Michigan (by Bersheril Bailey)
Ohio's Statewide System of Support Builds Systemic Capacity for Districts and Schools (by Mark Mitchell)
In this issue: The new School Improvement Grants (SIG) program targets schools that are persistently low achieving. Across all three Great Lakes East states, multiple school improvement approaches are being implemented. This issue's Special Report highlights these approaches and describes the courageous steps the states have taken to carry out bold reforms and ensure that these reforms are systemic and aligned.
Special Reports:
Systemic Approaches to School Improvement in Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio (by Jayne Sowers, Ed.D., Anne L. Hansen, Ph.D., Mark Mitchell, Jeanne Paliotto, and Cynthia Lemmerman)
In this issue: Turning around the lowest performing schools in the country is at the center of the national radar as states are undertaking rigorous school interventions and reforms under the new School Improvement Grant (SIG) program. Expectations for dramatic outcomes are sky high, and one of the biggest concerns is the needs of high schools. This issue's special report provides a quick overview of the SIG implementation approaches in Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio high schools. In addition, our Midwest region is hosting a two-day SIG Regional High School Conference on May 18–19, 2011, in the Chicago area, in support of states, districts, and schools implementing SIGs.
Special Reports:
School Improvement Grants for High Schools: A Look at Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio (by Megan Lebow and Joseph Harris, Ph.D.)
REL Midwest Update on New Research Reports, Research to Practice Events, and Practice Guides (by Marianne Kroeger)
In this issue: Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio have taken bold steps to increase high school student achievement and graduation. Among various initiatives, a particular focus has been on multiple pathways to graduation and how states could support and develop these pathways. Our special report in this issue describes Ohio's credit flexibility policy and how it was created and implemented.
Special Report:
Credit Flexibility Provides Students in Ohio With Multiple Pathways to Graduation (by Victoria Cirks)
In this issue: As response to intervention (RTI) gets rooted in school and district reform efforts, state education agencies (SEAs) are looking for ways to support educators and chart the pathway for a successful RTI journey. This e-newsletter issue brings two stories from Indiana and Michigan about RTI implementation efforts in their states. The National Center on Response to Intervention also is featured and provides links to the most recent RTI resources for states.
Special Reports:
Collaborative Response to Intervention Efforts in Full Swing in Michigan (by Gary Appel)
Indiana's Response to RTI: A Focus on Instruction for All Students (by Frank De Rosa)
National RTI Assistance to States: The National Center on Response to Intervention (by Whitney Donaldson and Darren Woodruff, Ph.D.)
In this issue: June 2010 marks a historic event in education in the United States. The Common Core State Standards for mathematics and English language arts were released by the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). What follows next is the implementation of these standards. As states continue to plan the adoption of the new standards, this issue brings the latest developments from the Great Lakes East region and provides resources for standards implementation.
Feature Article:
Institute Helps States Begin Localizing the Common Core State Standards (by Jennifer Reed)
In this issue: What does it mean to be an effective leader? What are some leadership practices that nurture the overall well-being of our education system? This issue features several special reports on effective leadership in education and focuses on state leadership in the future, qualities of strong education leaders, and examples of what state education agencies can do to move their reforms forward.
Special Reports:
Michigan's State-Level Strategy: Cross-Office Team Concept (by Gary Appel)
State Leadership and the Future of Education (by Paul Kimmelman, Ed.D.)
Effective Leadership in Education: What State Education Agencies Need to Know (by Ellen Behrstock, Ph.D.)
In this issue: The national push for voluntary common education standards, known as the Common Core State Standards Initiative, aims to raise the bar for academic achievement in all states in order to maintain the country’s competitive edge nationally and internationally. What does this initiative mean for the states? This e-newsletter issue introduces a four-step process that the states can go through now to be ready for the standards adoption in 2010.
Special Reports:
Localizing the Common Standards (by Beth Ratway)
Rebuilding the Assessment System in Ohio (by Nick Pinchok)
In this issue: Is innovation a mere catchword or a complicated concept and substantive incentive? This e-newsletter issue discusses innovation and its meaning in education at all levels (state, district, and local) but particularly at the national level.
Feature Article:
Great Lakes East Responds to ARRA With a Regional Dialogue Series (by Jennifer Reed)
Special Reports:
Education and Innovation (by Paul Kimmelman, Ed.D)
Looking Inward for Innovation (by Trish Brennan-Gac)
Michigan's Call to Action: English Language Learners Count (by Dennis Terdy)
In this Issue: A special edition of the e-newsletter provides thoughtfully selected resources to help readers understand what the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) means for Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio.
Special Reports:
Stimulus Status and Connections in the Region (by Trish Brennan-Gac)
Federal Resources to Stimulate Change: Are We Ready? (by Paul Kimmelman, Ed.D)
In this Issue: Every day, in every classroom, educators make small, ongoing changes in their instruction to increase student learning. Their perpetual efforts are of critical importance in this age of knowledge and innovation. This newsletter provides readers with multiple resources on topics such as response to intervention and tools to enhance instruction.
Special Reports:
SEC Work in Our Region: How States Can Help Improve Instruction in a Data-Driven Culture (by Gary Money)
In this Issue: Great Lakes East continues to address the topic of teacher quality and how a diverse group of leaders at the state, district, and local levels need to work together for the same result: student proficiency. What are some conditions for the meaningful change to occur? This edition highlights school working conditions as one of the priorities.
Feature Articles:
Indiana Institute for School Leadership Teams: The Story of a
School in Improvement (by Jayne Sowers, Ed.D.)
The Ohio Improvement Process: A Systemic Approach to Improving
Education for All Students (by Mark Mitchell)
Special Report: Why Working Conditions Matter for Quality Teaching and Learning (by Joyce Lieberman, Ed.D.)
In this Issue: This edition offers several stories and current information about issues affecting teacher
quality. Teacher talent management is a topic in focus in all three states. We
take a look at our collaborative work with the SEAs and the exciting moments of
learning and capacity growth.
Feature Articles:
Moving Beyond Great Lakes East's Technical Assistance: A Story
From Indiana (by Jayne Sowers, Ed.D.)
Establishing a System for Professional Learning in Michigan (by
Gary Appel)
Special Report:
Improving Teacher Quality Through Human Resource Management (by Joyce
Lieberman, Ed.D.)
In this Issue: This edition
highlights a story from Michigan that brings attention to one of the nation's
continually growing student populations—English language learners
(ELLs)—and how the state's five-year strategic plan has been put into
place to ensure that all ELLs are succeeding. This experience from working with
Michigan is complemented with research from the Center for Applied Linguistics
and a policy commentary.
Feature Article:
Creating a Comprehensive Approach to English Language Learners in Michigan (by
Dennis Terdy)
Special Reports:
Practicality Needs Alignment, Particularly With English Language
Learners (by Paul Kimmelman, Ed.D.)
A Look at Newcomer Programs for Secondary Schools (by Grace
Burkart)
In this Issue: It is easy to
say that all children can learn when supported with ample time and resources;
believing it with all your heart, however, is something different. Changing
students' attitudes from "I can't" to "I can" is critical. All involved in the
student learning process have an obligation to help students develop into more
active, responsible, and successful adults. This edition explores the work in
each of the three Great Lakes East states and how the work is designed to
foster the skilled mediators and facilitators of educational improvement within
our communities, schools, districts, states, and even within ourselves.
Feature Articles:
Designing and Implementing a Curriculum in Indiana: A Strategy
for Increasing Student Achievement and Changing Teacher Instructional and
Assessment Practices (by Jayne Sowers, Ed.D.)
Michigan Addresses Disproportionate Student Representation in
Special Education (by Darren Woodruff, Ph.D.)
Focused Improvement Planning Process in Ohio (by Mark Mitchell)
Special Report: Leveraging
Partnerships to Improve Student Achievement (by Paul Kimmelman, Ed.D.)
In this Issue: This
e-newsletter responds to the recent federal requirement for SEAs to collaborate
with their districts on a redesign of high schools that continue to fail under
NCLB. In its detailed look at the National High School Center's research, it
offers a feature article on the important leadership role SEAs will be expected
to take with high school reform under the new NCLB standards for high school
improvement.
Feature Articles:
Working Across Technical Assistance Centers to Serve All Students
(by Jayne Sowers, Ed.D.)
Sharing Stories and Perspectives on Statewide Systems of Support
at the Heart of the Second Annual Institute for School Improvement and
Education Options (by Asta Svedkauskaite)
Special Report: State
Leadership Opportunities for High School Innovation (by Paul Kimmelman, Ed.D.)
In this Issue: As Great
Lakes East reaches a midpoint of its work as a center, it takes a comprehensive
look at its collaborative work with states from a statewide systems of support
(SSOS) perspective. This issue features an article from the Center on
Innovation & Improvement about differentiating services and sustaining
change under SSOS initiatives.
Feature Article: The
Statewide System of Support (SSOS): Differentiating Services and Sustaining
Change (by Sam Redding and Lauren Morando Rhim)
Special Report:
Reauthorizing No Child Left Behind: Beyond Compliance and Toward Innovation for
a 21st Century Education System (by Paul Kimmelman, Ed.D.)
In this Issue: Great Lakes
East reviews the work in the states that focuses on teacher quality, assessment
and accountability, innovation and improvement, and instruction. This issue
takes a special look at the data-driven decisions for academic achievement
collaborative work in Ohio.
Special Report: Ohio's
Data Landscape (by Mark Mitchell and Stephen Barr)
In this Issue: Great Lakes East
examines how NCLB has challenged public education to improve. State education
agencies face an imposing challenge to build local capacity and to take a more
active role in supporting districts. This edition aims to define and describe
the concept of capacity building.
Special Report: State Education Agencies: A Different Future and Their Role in Building
Organizational Capacity (by Paul Kimmelman, Ed.D.)
In this Issue: The more relationships, the more resources, and the stronger
the networks—the greater the chance to succeed and reach set goals. Great
Lakes East takes a look at the relationships that have been built and how they
are impacting the work in the states.
Special Report: The Center on Innovation and Improvement Hosts Inaugural Institute
In this Issue: Great Lakes East looks back at its work with states during its
first nine months. The technical assistance primarily concentrated on assisting
the states to form work teams, each focusing on state-identified NCLB topic
areas. The issue also looks ahead at the goals for the coming year.
Special Report: Indiana—Taking the Lead With Districts in Corrective Action (by Jayne
Sowers, Ed.D.)
In this Issue: The first edition of the News
for the Region quarterly e-newsletter welcomes its first readers and
describes the overall purpose and charge of the Great Lakes East Comprehensive
Center. The e-newsletter is designed to keep readers informed of the efforts
taking place across Great Lakes East's three-state region: Indiana, Michigan,
and Ohio. It aims to provide key news and resources in the technical assistance
activities in the states as well as the latest information on key NCLB areas.
Spring 2011—Systemic School Improvement (Adobe® Reader® PDF 1 MB)
