Q. What is the Education YES! Report Card?
A. In the next few weeks, you'll see or hear about a letter grade
given to the public school in your neighborhood. Your school might
get an A, B, C or D/Alert under this new grading system known
as the Education YES! Report Card-the state's latest way to gauge
how schools are doing. While it's not the only way to measure
a school's success, it is the newest way.
Q. Why do we have it?
A. Education YES! is required by state law and was created, in
part, to be Michigan's answer to the federal No Child Left Behind
(NCLB) Act that requires each state to have an approved accountability
system. Developed by Michigan experts, the Education YES! system
was recently approved by the federal government, so that eligible
Michigan schools can receive federal funding for children in need
of extra help and schools in need of improvement can be identified.
Q. How often will the schools be graded?
A. The Education YES! grades will be given once every school year.
The single letter grade will be computed using students' scores
on Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) tests, a comparison
of those MEAP scores over time, and some other factors like parent
involvement in the schools.
Q. What does it measure?
A. The Report Card's single letter grade is a shorthand way to
show how our schools are doing. Just as a child's report card
is an accounting of how he or she did on tests and assignments
throughout the year, Education YES! is an accounting of how students
in specific grades did on selected tests at a given time during
a school year. But a school-like a student-is much more than a
letter grade. A student's report card is just one way we assess
his or her progress. Likewise, the Education YES! Report Card
is just one way we assess each school's progress.
Q. What doesn't it measure?
A. The Report Card doesn't tell about the hundreds of success
stories that happen everyday within the school walls. It misses
the thousands of exciting learning moments each day when the "light
goes on" for a student and he finally understands about fractions
or when she "sees" how the human heart works or when
he plays a perfect trumpet solo or when she gives a convincing
performance in the school play. It can't adequately reflect the
quality of interaction between teachers and students. It doesn't
measure the valuable lessons learned each day that don't fall
under the statewide, pre-determined test items. In other words,
just like it's impossible to know a child's whole nature by a
single grade, it's impossible to judge a school's whole essence
by a single grade. That's why we will continue to report our progress
in many different ways.
Q. How else are we accountable to you?
A. We believe you're entitled to know the entire story about how
our schools are doing. That's why we report on them regularly
through our annual reports, school newsletters and school website.
And, that's what we will continue to do, even after the Education
YES! Report Cards are issued.
Q. How can you get more information about how
our schools are doing?
A.
Q. Who can I contact in the district to find our more information?
A. If you have any questions about NCLB please contact the East
Detroit Office of Instruction at 586-445-4425.
Top