May 7, 2020
Your ISD News & Updates
Device Survey to Support
Continuity of Learning Plans
MAISA has received a request by the Governor's office to assist in facilitating a response to their survey below.

As mentioned during the May 5, 2020 MAISA General Membership meeting, the State of Michigan has secured a number of devices to support Continuity of Learning Plans as Michigan adapts to the educational realities of students being unable to physically attend school. They have asked MAISA to send their survey below to gauge the following:

  1. If given the opportunity to purchase these devices, at the prices indicated in the survey, would you buy?
  2. Which ones would you buy, and how many?

While this is not a first come, first served opportunity, by completing the survey, the State of Michigan designee or vendor representative will be able to send additional information to you as it becomes available. Completing this form does not commit you to purchase, or guarantee availability.

If your ISD/districts would like to purchase devices using the REMC SAVE process, please do so. This process remains the same as years past and is recommended for high-volume purchases.

If you may be interested in the State of Michigan devices, please help the Governor's office reach school leaders across Michigan by filling out the survey below. They would like survey responses by noon on Wednesday, May 13, 2020.

Considerations for Re-Entry
In looking ahead towards what re-entry into the classroom might look like, Genesee ISD prepared the following presentation for their Superintendent's Association and has offered to share it with our members (see link below) . The hope is to begin thinking about re-entry challenges, options and opportunities as soon as realistically possible, based on what is known now.


Additionally, the following resource has been shared with MAISA as a "roapmap" with good considerations to reopening schools:


EduPaths New Courses Published
As you develop School Improvement Goals for 20-21 and connect them to training resources, EduPaths is available to provide you with cost-effective on-demand training options.

As indicated by the 1,300 new users to EduPaths last month alone, this free professional development resource is ready to assist your educators now!

Newly Published Courses:
Preparing for MICIP
using the Readiness Checklist
MICIP is being planned for a full launch in January, 2021. To prepare to use the MICIP process, you can use the MICIP Readiness Checklist . Consider starting with conversations around the following: What is your current perspective on continuous improvement? Is your approach more about compliance or is it seen as an ongoing sequence of implement-monitor-adjust-evaluate?

  • You may also want to consider your team’s capacity and ability to facilitate change, especially during these unprecedented times. Does your team understand the components that need to be present to successfully implement change? How do you address these components in the continuous improvement plan? What additional knowledge and skills might be needed?
  • Additional questions to consider are: What is the overall district climate and culture? Is it collegial and collaborative? Are there challenges that you might need to address?

The answers to these questions may lead your district to identify professional learning that will position your team well for continuous improvement.

What is your organization doing to get ready for MICIP? Send your ideas to mde-micip@michigan.gov so we can share them in future issues of MICIP Continuous Communication.

In the next issue of Continuous Communication: Building a Successful Team!
Request for your High School
Graduation Stories during COVID-19  
The Michigan Department of Education has an immediate request, with a short turnaround, (by tomorrow), for a national high school graduation celebration event.
Each of the state school chiefs in the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) received the following communication, which reads in pertinent part:
Dear Chiefs,
Join a national effort to recognize and celebrate high school graduates this year! CCSSO is pleased to partner with XQ Institute on Graduate Together: America Honors the High School Class of 2020 , a one-hour primetime show paying joyful tribute to high school seniors, their extraordinary teachers, and their families. XQ is partnering with The LeBron James Family Foundation, The Entertainment Industry Foundation, and a broad coalition of education, philanthropic, and corporate partners to develop this commercial-free special, airing on ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC on Saturday, May 16, at 8 p.m. ET/PT, 7 p.m. CT/MT. The show will also be available through partners such as Complex Networks, Facebook, Instagram, PEOPLE, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube. #GraduateTogether also offers a robust website and multiple opportunities for students, educators, and families to engage digitally.
 
Through our partnership, XQ will create a national page on the Graduate Together website, with a list of all states and territories. During the show, high school seniors and other viewers will be invited to visit the website and click on their state to see specialized content for their graduating class. We need your help to make this specialized content happen! Please submit the following by Friday, May 8

  • At least one story that highlights a student, school, or teacher in your state and their resiliency or innovation during this pandemic. The story can be communicated in writing or video. Written stories should be no more than 500 words and in Microsoft Word format where possible. Additionally, written stories should be accompanied by a photo or other visual asset. Videos should not exceed 3 minutes in length and done in landscape mode. Please note: some stories submitted may be featured on the telecast or other streaming platforms.

MDE would like to make Michigan’s information as inclusive and statewide as possible. We would welcome any very quick submissions from any of your districts to me at ackleym@michigan.gov . We must receive the submissions by 4:00 p.m. on Friday, May 8 to give us time to review and submit to CCSSO.