MEMSPA Legislative Update

With the Legislature in Recess, What is Left Undone for the Year?

With the Legislature in recess for most of the summer, Lansing should be relatively quiet as focus will shift to the upcoming November election. A number of education-related bills still await further action before the end of the current two-year legislative session in December. With seven or eight weeks of legislative session days remaining this year and only two tentative session days on the schedule until September, the scope of issues the Legislature may yet choose to consider will begin to narrow. Following is a recap of legislative issues of importance to MEMSPA that may yet see action this year:

3rd Grade Reading
Representative Amanda Price’s 3rd grade reading legislation, House Bill 4822, continues to await action before a joint House-Senate Conference Committee, given substantially different versions of the legislation passed out of each chamber. At this point in time, the Senate appears reluctant to accept the more stringent House-passed provisions requiring retention of 3rd graders not reading proficiently at grade level. Unless both sides are able to come to an agreement this fall, the legislation will continue to languish before the conference committee. MEMSPA supports the increased focus on early literacy and early intervention in the bills, but does not support the mandatory retention provisions in the House-passed bill.

Mentoring/Professional Development/Continuing Education Reforms
House Bills 5156-5159, which would enact reforms to mentoring, professional development, and continuing education, passed the House in March but have not yet seen any action in the Senate Education Committee. MEMSPA generally supports the compromise reforms in the package, but we do not support House Bill 5159, which would take away 5% of a district’s state aid if the district was found to be in noncompliance with the reforms. It is our understanding that the legislation is not a high priority in the Senate, so we likely will know by September or October whether these reforms ultimately will be enacted this year.

GSRP
The House Education Committee held a hearing recently to take testimony from MDE with respect to GSRP. Committee members from both sides of the aisle asked pointed questions of the Department with respect to how MDE measures and evauates the success of GSRP, and whether newer, updated, and innovative approaches to GSRP curriculum should be considered in order to continue to move the needle with respect to kindergarten readiness. MEMSPA believes GSRP has provided tremendous benefits to students in Michigan since inception of the program, but that we must also continuously evaluate whether we can do even better. We look forward to continuing to work cooperatively with the Legislature and MDE to ensure children in GSRP have opportunities to succeed.

Assessment Update
State Superintendent Brian Whiston this week spoke out with respect to changes he may suggest with respect to the state’s testing landscape for the 2017-2018 school year.

First, he would like the state to transition to benchmark assessments in elementary and middle school grades, or grades 3-7, with a writing component in order to provide more rapid feedback for teachers and parents, partially to address complaints about turnaround time on the M-STEP, but also to provide parents with information as to their child’s grade level.

Second, he suggested that M-STEP or an “M-STEP-style test” with a problem-solving component be taken once each in elementary and middle school to further reduce testing time. Whiston noted that most districts currently give a benchmark assessment and M-STEP, and under his proposal, districts would only need to give one.

The Department may go out to bid this fall for a vendor to provide the benchmark test. Whiston also indicated his willingness to push back on what the federal government may or may not allow under ESSA, noting that instead of worrying about what the federal government may or may not approve, he would rather focus on reducing testing time and doing what is best for kids in Michigan.

Evaluations
The Legislature did not include additional funding for teacher evaluations in next year’s budget, beyond what funding remains available at MDE from prior appropriations. However, as we are in the middle of implementation of the new teacher and administrator framework passed by the Legislature earlier this session, it may be helpful to remember a few key changes coming this fall as noted below.

For the upcoming 2016-2017 school year, 25% of an annual year-end teacher evaluation will continue to be based on student growth and assessment data. That percentage will not increase until 2018-2019. However, beginning this fall, the portion of a teacher’s annual year-end evaluation not based on student growth and assessment data must based primarily on a teacher’s performance measured by a district or PSA’s chosen evaluation tool. Additionally, beginning this fall, a school administrator responsible for a teacher’s performance evaluation must conduct at least one classroom observation, while additional observations may be conducted by other observers trained in the use of the chosen evaluation tool. The school district or PSA must ensure that the teacher is provided feedback from the observation within 30 days.

Additionally, beginning this fall, school districts and PSAs must provide training to teachers, evaluators, and observers on the evaluation tool or tools used, with posting requirements on the district’s or PSA’s website of information pertinent to the chosen evaluation system.

As the implementation of the new teacher and administrator evaluation legislation continues to be phased-in, we certainly expect questions and concerns from MEMSPA members, and encourage you to share feedback from the field.
Peer-Mediation and Restorative Practices Training
From our friends at the Oakland Mediation Center

Peer Mediation Funding Opportunity: Schools in Oakland County will receive comprehensive training and consultation from Oakland Mediation Center to implement Peers Making Peace, a peer mediation program. This has been made possible with funding from the Joshua & Eunice Stone Foundation, The Village Club Foundation, Staples Foundation, and Oakland Mediation Center’s Fund Development Committee. The selected schools are responsible for only contributing $500 each which saves the school over $3,500! Peers Making Peace is an evidence based peer mediation program. The application deadline is 6/30/16. More information about Peers Making Peace is outlined in the attached application. OMC is also happy to speak with the school’s leadership team about the program. Please contact Kenzi Bisbing, OMC’s Education Manager, at kbisbing@mediation-omc.org or 248-338-4280 Ext. 216 to arrange a meeting.

Training on Restorative Practices: Given the pending legislation on restorative practices, this training is ideal! “Restorative Practitioner: principles, skills, and processes” is a 3-day highly interactive training that equips school personnel with the necessary skills to build community through the circle process and to facilitate the conferencing process to repair harm. Training Dates: August 24, 25, 26, 2016 from 8:15am to 4:15pm. Please see the attached flyer and the following link for more information. https://www.mediation-omc.org/Restorative_Practitioner.html