With the push toward personalized learning, many districts are finding that teachers are unprepared for a completely new method of teaching. In this article, the authors describe a professional development program from Ottawa Area Intermediate School District in western Michigan called FuturePREP'd. In the program, teachers experience personalized…

Discusses programs at the school district and intermediate service district level to build banks of promising programs that were developed at the local level. (IRT)

Teachers in Highland Park, Michigan, conducted research and began an interactive reading-instruction program for students who were not succeeding in school. Reciprocal teaching, which trains students to use four strategies (generating questions, summarizing, clarifying, and predicting) for improving reading comprehension, raised hopes,…

A parent and communications professor describes his family's long-standing participation in home schooling, highlighting efforts to provide socialization and service education, uphold academic standards, and integrate learning activities into everyday life. Home schooling is a labor of love. Children benefit from experiencing the focused attention…

Describes research evaluating the success of the Pontiac I.I.P. in changing student behavior and in improving academic achievement of potential drop-outs. (AN)

The Michigan Education Assessment Program (MEAP) has developed both formal and informal reading assessments reflecting current reading theory. A test development committee created a MEAP blueprint of four elements: constructing meaning, knowledge about reading, attitudes and self-perceptions, and topic familiarity. Includes two references. (MLH)

When citizen groups opposed their reform efforts, one Michigan district was intimidated by an ultrafundamentalist media campaign and petition drive, whereas the other welcomed democratic discussion and gradually regained public confidence. Opposition groups capitalized on the districts' lack of preparation, filling the void with their own…

When 29 percent of final grades for students at Bendle Middle School showed up as Ds and Es, teachers knew something had to give. Kenkel, Hoelscher, and West describe how the ABCI approach, based on mastery learning, shook up a community culture of low expectations for working class kids, and opened the way for more appropriate teaching methods…