The National Math + Science Initiative (NMSI) is a nonprofit organization committed to improving educational outcomes that traces its roots back to the early 1990s. NMSI's College Readiness Program (CRP) is a long-standing program with the goal of promoting STEM education in high schools to improve students' preparation for college. The three-year…

Many states are passing "free" college plans, and policymakers at both the state and federal level continue to debate the merits of national "free college" or "debt-free college" proposals, also known as Promise programs. Both federal and state "free" college proposals are geared toward a policy objective of…

In July 2008, Riverbend Public Schools (RPS) in Western Michigan and Grand Valley State University (GVSU) received a grant from the Wallace Foundation that supported the development of a specialized educational leadership program. The project was designed to customize an existing degree program in the university's College of Education, focusing on…

Home visiting is one tool used to prevent child abuse and improve child well-being by providing education and services in families' homes through parent education and connection to community resources. This toolkit provides state policymakers and advocates with strategies for extending and expanding access to state- or federally-funded home…

This article presents findings from an investigation of the overall effectiveness of Michigan's Freedom to Learn (FTL) One-to-One initiative. The major goal of the FTL initiative was to help students to gain 21st century knowledge and skills while increasing their learning and achievement through the integration of over 20,000 laptop computers…

The Afterschool Alliance and MetLife Foundation are proud to celebrate a fifth round of the MetLife Foundation Afterschool Innovator Awards. For the past five years, we have collaborated to highlight the work of quality afterschool programs that support children, families and communities across the nation. This compendium is a compilation of four…

The accountability required by school-reform measures such as No Child Left Behind has placed increased emphasis on data analysis for appraising schools, administrators, teachers, and students. The focus of accountability-driven initiatives is developing policies and procedures that collectively influence the district, the school, and most…

This four-part paper on competency-based teacher education (CBTE) in Michigan contains the following sections: (a) the development of CBTE in Michigan, consisting of a chronology of events dating from 1971, and a listing of CBTE grants programs in 1974; (b) a survey of CBTE programs in Michigan, including an overview of the programs and status…

Meeting the demands of teaching in the digital age requires the identification of effective types of educational technology and ways of encouraging its use, and that was the aim of a "Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to use Technology (PT3)" grant to the University of Michigan-Dearborn, from the United States Department of Education. This…

Michigan State University's Center for Urban Affairs is contributing their expertise, research skills, and volunteer time to help Benton Harbor revitalize. Faculty members and students have already completed studies on street repairs, the homeless, and hotel development. (MLW)

This document briefly describes school improvement opportunities in Michigan, including 19 projects, programs, grants, and plans for school improvement in grades K-12; 2 accreditation processes; 2 school improvement opportunities for intermediate school districts; and 3 opportunities for professional development. Each description contains…

A university-wide coalition at Michigan State University called Families and Communities Together (FACT) offers a model for university-community engagement that is responsive to increasing public demand for relevance in higher education through a novel institutional arrangement that drives scholarship, catalyzes multidisciplinary collaboration,…

Selected information is displayed in the form of charts, tables, and graphs about: (1) the State Student Incentive Grant (SSIG) program and other state-level student financial assistance programs; (2) the primary state agency or organization responsible for administering these programs; and (3) the general state characteristics relating to student…

The 12 states comprising the North Central Region have been affected in similar ways by the farm crisis of the 1980s. Statewide surveys show sizeable proportions of farm operations that are experiencing moderately high levels of financial stress. The problems caused by chronic stress on family structure and functioning, the loss of mainstreet…