Proposed accreditation changes for Michigan schools could mean trouble for Ypsilanti high schools
The new school accreditation standards promoted by the Michigan Department of Education could mean trouble for Ypsilanti and Willow Run High Schools, according to a report in The Detroit News.
The News report details how the department and state superintendent Mike Flanagan are looking to revise state accreditation standards to make schools more accountable to parents and students. The changes would make accreditation based on standardized test scores and the schools that scored in the lowest 5 percent of Michigan schools would no longer be accredited.
Both Willow Run and Ypsilanti high schools are listed among the state's 92 Persistently Lowest Achieving Schools, which would put them among the lowest achieving 5 percent of schools in the state. The new accreditation rules would strip schools among the lowest achieving 5 percent of their accredited status. Schools that scored in bottom 20 percent of schools in the state but above 5 percent would be considered "interim accredited," and schools above 20 percent would be considered accredited, according to the report.
The effects of a school having its accredited status taken away could be devastating, according to the report.
The Ypsilanti and Willow Run school boards announced a joint meeting in late August on Friday. The school boards are expected to discuss consolidation opportunities between the two districts.
To read the full report, click here.
Kyle Feldscher covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.
Comments
Jade
Fri, Aug 5, 2011 : 10:10 p.m.
Well, I think the failure of WR is because for most part the poor administration. The Superintendant has her inner circle if you don't belong to it, forget it! Don't' even look! Only the ones on the top are in…..Don't take my word for it! WR has a psychologist a doctor that instead of listen, he talks; he controls the meetings it seems like he is the only one that has a word to say, I think he likes to listing to his words instead of listen to others. Parents are confused with his technical words. I thought that psychos' were good listeners perhaps not this one; this one is a real TALKER. He controls the conversations wherever he goes. Don't take my word for it! WR has another down fall. They hired someone to tell the children, Hi how are you son?, Good morning, for a ridiculous amount of 700.00 dollars a day! Hey I want a job like that! That is an easy job for a doctor. Don't you think? I will do it for less of course. Don't take my word for it! To make matters worse, they hired an ESL coordinator that only speaks English, I guess you only need English to teach English. Don't take my word for it! Oh to finish up, A principal with DUI's well the best example for a community that needs to sell a reconfiguration…………… Don't' take my word for it! This is WR. It's easy to verify!
iamgem
Wed, Aug 3, 2011 : 2:06 p.m.
@lumberg48108 Schools that are struggling to address student learning problems require a coherent and focused intervention. Programs that look good from the perspective of people outside the system may in fact be counterproductive given current conditions or internal efforts to improve. EMU is actively involved in a number of collaborative projects in Ypsilanti schools so that indicates to me the district is likely being selective with a purpose.
kermdd7
Tue, Aug 2, 2011 : 12:46 p.m.
I am not a fan of accreditation based on percentages and competing with other schools. No matter what, 5% of the schools will fail, even if all of the schools are doing well. At the same time, more than 5% of the schools in the state may be failing! We need a system that is based on whether or not the schools meet high expectations, not one that compares them.
nekm1
Tue, Aug 2, 2011 : 12:42 p.m.
Why do the schools perform so badly? Try the administration and the parents. I had a friend who taught in Ypsi, and said kids could have cell phones on and working while in class! Protected by the administration! So what kids are learning anything when they are screwing around on their phones with each other! As for the parents.....Too many "baby mama's" and no dads to drive home discipline. Kids arent' getting any direction at home other than TV. I just call it like it is. But the libs will surely say...throw more money at it!
DC
Tue, Aug 2, 2011 : noon
I'm really disappointed with the Detroit News take on the MDE's revised state accreditation system. First, MDE's proposed system is a school ranking system, not an accreditation system. When an entity becomes accredited, it has met external standards of practice by a governing board (i.e. hospital accreditation). It assures quality. If an organization doesn't meet initially the standards for accreditation, it has the opportunity to work to meet those standards and ultimately gain accreditation. Again, Michigan's proposed school accreditation system is an accountability system linked to federal requirements. As currently proposed, schools can never work to meet standards. @Lil ole me, you're right. There is much more to this accreditation (accountability) system. It's a political numbers game in Lansing for the state superintendent and the Governor. Under federal law, states must identify persistently low achieving (PLA) schools. Michigan uses a very convoluted statistics/metrics system to identify the PLA schools. In a true accreditation system, schools would work to meet standards. Schools don't know where they will place on the top to bottom school ranking, and thus may be a PLA. It depends on where all other Michigan schools place. MDE is going out to the hundredths place to determine school rankings. So yes, a very minute metric difference can place a school as accredited or unaccredited. Finally, I disagree with MDE's stance that it will be devastating for a school to be unaccredited through MDE's proposed accreditation system. There are no consequences for a school being unaccredited through MDE system. (PLAs rankings meet federal requirements.) Colleges/universities still use admission criteria that students come from an accredited school--referring to accreditation through one the countries regional accreditation agency, such as the North Central Association (AdvancEd/Michigan), NOT MDE's accountability system.
markk
Mon, Aug 1, 2011 : 11:26 p.m.
Both Ypsi and WR have a much higher proportion of special needs students than the districts around them. Many parents with special needs children come to Ypsi as a school of choice. If they were less friendly to special needs kids and forced them into inadequate charter schools, Ypsi would not have a problem. But because of the high numbers of special need children we run both a higher drop out rate and lower scores on the standardized test. In addition both Ypsi and WR have much higher numbers of single parent households-so more of the educational burden falls on the schools. NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND was designed to destroy school systems like Ypsi, and it will only be a matter of time before districts like Ann Arbor start falling to make yearly progress. Republicans with their faith in standardized test are all about destroying public education---get used to it.
eastsidemom
Mon, Aug 1, 2011 : 8:18 p.m.
@ lumberg48108 What about Ypsilanti High Schools ECA Early College Alliance? Is that not a successful collaboration with EMU?
Thinking over here
Mon, Aug 1, 2011 : 6:42 p.m.
There must be more to the accreditation proposal than listed here. If all schools but one get 100% and the one get 99%, it is in the lowest 5% and will lose accreditation????
Plubius
Tue, Aug 2, 2011 : 6:51 p.m.
This is directly from the Jack Welch book of management. It doesn't work for companies, nor does it work for schools.
alan
Mon, Aug 1, 2011 : 6:57 p.m.
Agreed. There must be more to the story.
Macabre Sunset
Mon, Aug 1, 2011 : 6:08 p.m.
The reason is quite simple: we allow parents to go until kindergarten without any responsibility whatsoever for their children. And those first five years are crucial ones for their development. The battle is already lost before the teachers even have a chance. You get ticketed if you transport junior around without a car seat. That seems so minor when compared to the mental shape so many five-year-olds are in when they first enter kindergarten.
Edward R Murrow's Ghost
Mon, Aug 1, 2011 : 7:29 p.m.
Agree 100% Macabre. Good teaching and good schools are important, but in most cases they cannot overcome poor parenting, destructive behavior, and an unsupportive neighborhood culture. Good Night and Good Luck
Janice Anschuetz
Mon, Aug 1, 2011 : 5:52 p.m.
Why is it that these two school are so horrible when we have one of the best education schools in the nation, EMU, as well as U of M in Ypsilanti & Ann Arbor? Please, let us see some teamwork and cooperation between the public schools and universities to figure out what the problem is and how to fix it and then DO it. In Ypsilanti we pay one of the highest state taxes and have horrible schools. There is no reason for this.
lumberg48108
Mon, Aug 1, 2011 : 6:10 p.m.
Speaking for one department at EMU only, the outreach efforts that are embraced by Huron, Skyline, Belleville, Saline and others are rejected by Ypsi High ... Despite numerous efforts to reachout and get them involved, faculty have not responded to atempts to be part of specific programs aimed at high school students that our department facilitates. Its a source of frustration and a cause for head-scratching for many that we cannot get a high school that is nearly walking distance to the college to embrace our programs. We often ask what the heck is going on over there that they DO NOT want to be involved.