Dive Brief:
- 37 low-performing schools in Michigan that had been at a risk for possible closure will remain open after a partnership was struck between the state’s Education Department, School Reform Office and the districts containing the schools, according to Michigan Live.
- The schools had been placed in the bottom 5% of the state’s schools for three years in a row, and the agreement stipulated that districts would retain control but needed to be able to show performance improvements in 18 and 36 months or face increased action from the SRO.
- The schools hope to incorporate a wide array of input and expertise from community groups, including universities and human service agencies, to help find new ways to help improve the stressed schools.
Dive Insight:
Under the weight of increased centralized standardization, schools have been under increased pressure to deliver, and school closures remain a real danger and one that should be avoided. School closures have been shown to disproportionately affect students in communities of color and low-income communities, the areas that often have the fewest array of options to begin with. Often, students from closed schools were subsequently placed in schools with lower math and reading scores, which does nothing to help their plight.
If more states follow New York’s lead in preparation to be compliant with the Every Student Succeeds Act by asking schools to report the amount of resources they receive, it might be easier to determine which schools in danger of closure are not having their financial needs met, and if this could be attributing to their performance shortfalls. In the meantime, schools like the ones in Michigan could benefit from attempting more unconventional approaches to curriculum and more integration with local businesses and industries, depending on how the state establishes the performance metrics on how the schools shall be judged.