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Talent & Education
To prosper, Michigan must be a more educated place. Bridge will explore the challenges in education and identify policies and initiatives that address them.
Articles
15,000 Michigan kids take two years of kindergarten. Is Lansing listening?
More families, most of them white and more affluent, are enrolling children in two years of kindergarten, saving child-care costs and giving schools more state money. In effect, parents are stepping in when Lansing won’t.
Choice of Michigan college can make a (million-dollar) difference
A college degree still pays off, but pays off more at some universities than others, according to a new study. Compare the return on investment at Michigan two- and four-year colleges.
Community college costs soar in Michigan. Blame sinking state aid.
The cost of attending a community college varies widely in Michigan, with schools in suburban Detroit half the cost of colleges elsewhere in the state.
Detroit Chamber: Metro students must finish degrees to find good jobs
The Detroit Regional Chamber’s first State of Education report bemoans high dropout rates in postsecondary education, leaving students with debt but not the credentials to get solid jobs with local employers.
After 3 years of substitute teachers, this Michigan girl may flunk 3rd grade
Sabrina, 8, is caught in the crossfire of two state education crises – the state’s new third-grade “read-or-flunk” law and an explosion in the use of uncertified long-term substitute teachers in state classrooms.
Why do Detroit kids miss so much school? Hint: Don’t just blame the schools
A new Wayne State University study finds that factors outside of school have a huge impact on school attendance, such as asthma, poverty and crime rates.
In Detroit, going door-to-door to get students back in school
If you miss too many days of school in Detroit, be prepared for a knock on the door.
Michigan expanded preschool funding. Reading scores show it works.
The good news: Low- and moderate-income 4-year-olds who enroll in the Great Start Readiness Program become better readers than those who don’t. The bad news? One-in-three qualified kids still aren’t enrolled.
Michigan schools are now average. That’s progress.
The NAEP test, known as “the nation’s report card,” shows that state students are treading water on test results, as other states’ scores are going down. As a result, Michigan has risen to middle-of-the-pack status.
SLIDESHOW: How Michigan schools boosted national ranking
Michigan’s public school students continued gains on national tests, improving their ranking just a few years after falling to nearly the bottom of the nation.
Still last among big cities, Detroit gains big in math on national test
“These are the greatest gains that Detroit has seen since it started taking the assessment,” said one education expert.
If literacy is a right, who pays bill, judge asks in Detroit schools suit
A closely watched Detroit case is heard by a three-judge federal panel in Cincinnati. At stake could be nothing less than a complete overhaul in how Michigan schools are funded.
Wayne State bets the word 'free' will lure students like it has at U-M
Most low-income Detroit high school grads already can attend Wayne State University tuition-free. But by making that an explicit, Wayne hopes more city students will see a future in college.
Is literacy a constitutional right? A Detroit legal case could decide
Education advocates hope to overturn the dismissal of a case that argued that access to literacy was protected by the U.S. Constitution. The implications for Michigan and the nation are sweeping.
The Test: ‘Read-or-flunk’ law looms over Michigan third-graders
Bridge begins a series following four third-grade classes as they prepare for a test determining who moves on to fourth grade, and who stays behind.
Fewer Michigan college students want to be teachers. That’s a problem.
Declining enrollment in teacher prep programs means bigger teacher shortages, which leads to more uncertified teachers leading Michigan classrooms.
Rich districts profit by sending substitutes to Michigan private schools
Michigan’s exploding use of long-term substitute teachers isn’t confined only to charter and poor schools. Richer districts also profit through a program that allows them to send uncertified teachers to private schools.
Who’s leading classes? Uncertified teachers for thousands of Michigan kids
New data show permits for long-term substitute teachers are on pace to equal or surpass last year in Michigan, continuing a surge in the use of lower-paid teachers who can have as little as two years’ education.
Check to see how many long-term subs are in your Michigan school
The use of long-term substitute teachers – who may have as little as two years of college – has soared in Michigan. Use this database to search how many are in your school so far this academic year.
Tiny school districts to Lansing: Stop acting like ‘middle-schoolers’
Superintendents in some of Michigan’s most isolated districts blame Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Repubican leaders for a budget fight that they say threatens their future and treats students like political pawns.