Michigan's funding system is falling short for all students, especially Michigan's most vulnerable children. This means that students who are in most need are not receiving the funding that would allow them to overcome barriers and opportunity gaps. This report outlines a set of nonpartisan, research-informed guiding principles and a framework for…

A growing body of research shows that having access to teachers of color benefits all students--and can be particularly transformative for students of color. Yet, only 20% of teachers in the U.S. are teachers of color. Moreover, the lack of diversity of the teacher workforce relative to the student population is one of the key drivers of inequity…

As community colleges across the country look for ways to promote student success, the need for scaling effective approaches is critical. This guide builds on a framework of four phases of scaling developed in Job For the Future's (JFF's) previous publication, "Thinking Big: A Framework for States on Scaling Up Community College…

Background: The Michigan Model for Health™ (MMH) is the official health curriculum for the State of Michigan and prevailing policy and practice has encouraged its adoption. Delivering evidence-based programs such as MMH with fidelity is essential to program effectiveness. Yet, most schools do meet state-designated fidelity requirements for…

Social and emotional learning (SEL) involves the processes through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.…

The Detroit Healthy Youth Initiative is a 10-year partnership between the Detroit Public Schools (DPS) and Wayne State University (WSU) with the goal of improving the quality of school health and physical education programs throughout the city schools. Drawing on the experiences of WSU and DPS faculty, administrators, teachers, and project staff,…

Sustained school-university partnerships are recognized as a means by which school physical education can move forward and sustain itself. Yet, these partnerships have been more the exception than the rule. There is little public knowledge about the benefits of sustained partnerships or of the process to achieve them. This article summarizes the…

The purpose of this project was to identify target language benchmarks for the German program at Michigan State University (MSU) based on national and international guidelines and previous research, to assess language skills across course levels and class sections in the entire German program, and to adjust the language benchmarks as needed based…

The civic education policy framework and gap analysis tool are intended to guide state leaders as they address the complexities of preparing students for college, career and civic life. They allow for adaptation to state- and site-specific circumstances and may be adopted in whole or in piecemeal fashion, according to states' individual…

In recent years policymakers have increasingly looked to Extended Learning Time (ELT) as a means of improving student outcomes. As a result, some school districts have increased academic time for students by adding time to the school day or days to the school year. In other communities, schools and community-based organizations have partnered to…

In 2016, Dr. Martin Reinhardt and Dr. Jioanna Carjuzaa produced a series of three webinars concerning Indigenous language immersion programs. The first webinar focused on broad curriculum development ideas including core relationships, guidelines and principles for effective pedagogy, and models. The second webinar focused on the elements of…

All students, including students with disabilities, must be included in state accountability systems as required by law. In April 2007, federal regulations provided states the flexibility to offer another assessment option--an Alternate Assessment based on Modified Achievement Standards (AA-MAS) for some students with disabilities. The AA-MAS is…

Dramatic changes in the higher education landscape and the recent recession have intensified the challenges students face in postsecondary enrollment and completion. In response, some states, communities, and institutions have developed "postsecondary opportunity programs (POPs)"--comprehensive college access and success programs…

In 2007, Michigan undertook a bold mission: to retrain tens of thousands of adults to qualify for jobs in emerging and expanding sectors of the economy. The state's proposal to jobless, dislocated, and low-income residents was simple but appealing: enroll in up to two years of postsecondary education, and Michigan would cover up to $5,000 in…

Peer educators have a critical role to play in the delivery of a wide variety of important programs on college campuses. Nowhere is this more evident than in learning assistance programs. These programs, typically housed in a learning center or learning assistance office, include tutoring and mentoring and often take the form of individual and…