According to the Michigan Department of Education, the latest Michigan Merit Exams shows that Social Studies saw a decline in test scores, with 79% scoring proficient or advanced compared to 81% the previous year and 83% in 2007.

According to the MDE, “The rigorous state high school graduation requirements signed into state law four years ago are paying off with higher test scores.” Michigan high school students are continuing to improve their performance on the Michigan Merit Examination (MME), which includes the ACT college entrance test.  The percentage of students scoring in the proficient or advanced categories was at its highest level ever in four subject areas: math, science, reading, and writing.

Likewise, the more than 110,000 students taking the MME this spring scored an average 19.3 on the ACT portion of the test, marking the third consecutive year with an increase (up from 19.0 in 2009 and 18.8 in 2008).

“Four years ago we created a college prep curriculum for high school students with the goal of doubling the number of college graduates in Michigan,” said Governor Jennifer M. Granholm.  ”We must have a well-educated workforce if Michigan is to compete globally and attract jobs and investment here.  These test scores show student performance is improving which is the best proof that the more rigorous curriculum is working.”

Recommended to the Legislature by the State Board of Education, the state high school graduation requirements include four credits each of math and English language arts; three credits each of science and social studies; two credits of world language; one credit each of health/physical education and visual/performing arts; and one online course.

The high school juniors who took the Michigan Merit Exam this past spring are the first students required by law to complete the new high school requirements in order to graduate. The two-credit world language requirement first takes effect for the graduating class of 2016.

While acknowledging that scoring at a “proficient” level equates to having only a basic understanding of the subject content, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Mike Flanagan is encouraged by the early results of the new high school graduation requirements.

“We were confident that when all students were taught the rigorous subject content, like Algebra II and chemistry, they would be able to learn the basic concepts, if not more,” said Flanagan, the original architect of the state’s rigorous graduation requirements. “This is a very positive trend and shows hope for the future.”

Flanagan added that younger students will benefit even more as Michigan continues to ratchet-up its college- and career-ready standards.

For more on the MME results, click here.

On June 25, 2010, the Michigan Department of Education has released a “Top to Bottom” ranking of public schools in Michigan, based on student achievement data from 2007-09.

Math and English Language Arts test scores showing student achievement and academic growth from the 2007-09 school years are the basis for the rankings. This is not the list that will be used to identify the “lowest five percent,” as prescribed in the state’s new school reform laws. That list will come out later this summer.

“We wanted to show communities how their schools measure up with other schools across the state,” said state Superintendent Mike Flanagan. “We don’t want the focus of education to be just on the lowest performing schools, but also on those schools that are excelling.”

Flanagan encouraged communities to find their schools on the list and have open discussions with their school districts on where they go from here to ensure the highest quality education for their children.

Access the Michigan Schools Top to Bottom Ranking at:

www.michigan.gov/mde-schoolranking

REGIONAL PLANNING MEETING
REPS FROM STATES AND PROVIDENCE GATHER TO PLAN WAR OF 1812 COMMEMORATIVE EVENTS

July 1, 2010

Lansing, Mich. — On Friday, June 18 at the Dossin Museum on Detroit’s Belle Isle, representatives of states, provinces, and national organizations gathered for the first regional planning conference focusing on the bicentennial commemorative events surrounding the War of 1812. The meeting was hosted by the Michigan Commission for the Commemoration of the Bicentennial of the War of 1812.

Representatives from Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Rhode Island and the Province of Ontario attended with the goal of coordinating efforts in order to appropriately honor those who sacrificed their present for our collective future during the War of 1812.

The American Sail Training Association Executive Director, Bert Rogers, attended from Newport, Rhode Island, speaking to the role of Tall Ships on the Great Lakes from 2012 through 2014. Ron Dale of Parks Canada and Kym Shouldice, Manager of Celebration and Commemoration Directorate Canadian Heritage, attended to represent the Canadian government’s War of 1812 Bicentennial plans. Representatives from Put-in-Bay and other historic sites were also present.

Those in attendance were encouraged by a high level of enthusiasm and another meeting was scheduled for October 1, 2010, at Perry’s Victory and International Peace Monument on Put-in-Bay, Lake Erie.

“My appreciation for the efforts of fellow Commissioners James McConnell and Dennis Moore, both of whom worked to assure a great agenda and superb attendance,” said Phil Porter, commission chairman and director of Mackinac State Historic Parks.
The following day, attendees took tours of historic sites in the area which may play a role in commemorating upcoming events, including Fort Detroit, the battlefields of Brownstown, Monguagon, River Raisin and Fort Meigs.

The conference unfolded on the 198th Anniversary of the Declaration of War by the United States upon England, for reasons stemming from the impressments of American sailors, trade grievances, and American War Hawks with designs upon that part of England then known as “Upper Canada,” now Ontario. Those residing in what is now Michigan found themselves on the front lines, testing the loyalties and determining the futures of those with French, English, Native and American bloodlines and cultural ties.

For a copy of the meeting summary, visit www.michigan.gov/war1812.

According to the National Trust for History Preservation, the Saugatuck Dunes, in the Village of Saugatuck on the West Michigan shoreline is one of eleven spots in the United States considered to be the most endangered. The National Trust for Historic Preservation said that the Saugatuck Dunes are:

“It is an area of striking beauty. Along the shores of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Kalamazoo River, the 2,500 acres that comprise the Saugatuck Dunes Coastal Area boast a sparsely-developed landscape of spectacular beach, rare freshwater dunes, water, woods and wetlands; habitat to several endangered species; and home to a large number of significant historic and archeological sites. Nestled into the rolling dunes are the 100-year old Ox-Bow School of Art (part of the Chicago Art Institute), several 19th century summer camps and cottage communities, America’s oldest operational hand-cranked chain ferry, and one of only a handful of remaining dune rides. In addition to Native American grounds and trails, an old lighthouse cottage and century-old pilings from an early fishing village, the area contains “Michigan’s Pompeii,” the buried remains of Singapore, an early 19th century mill town and port.”

For more information on the status of the Saugatuck Dunes and the other ten most-endangered sites, please see the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s page.

Fifty-two Michigan students competed at National History Day outside of Washington , DC recently. Three students from Michigan reached the top tier of competitors making the final rounds of competition. Over 2,400 students competed from across the nation in National History Day this year, held on the campus of the University of Maryland in College Park. Only a handful of students advanced in each category to the final round. These top tier Michigan students presented their very best projects at National History Day 2010.

“National History Day was a resounding success. It represents the culmination of nearly a year’s worth of work on projects in a variety of categories. Competing here is a great achievement for our students,” commented Shannon White, Historical Society of Michigan Assistant Director and Michigan ‘s State Coordinator for National History Day. More info on the Michigan History Day program is available at the Historical Society of Michigan website.

Each fall the Michigan Council for History Education hosts a conference for elementary, middle, and secondary education teachers, professors in education and history, and college students on history, pedagogy, and the challenges of creating dynamic teaching strategies. This year’s conference will take place on Thursday, November 4th and will focus on “Bringing History Home: Local Stories, Global Context”.

Download the Conference Registration Form here and if you mail your registration and payment by October 22nd, the conference fees are only $50 for MCHE Members, $80 for Non-members (MCHE and NCHE membership is included in this price), and $25 for college students. Conference fees will go up after October 22nd, so reserve your spot for this important event!

Once again, the fleet of tall ships will return to the Great Lakes, the world’s second largest body of fresh water, as part of the Great Lakes United TALL SHIP CHALLENGE 2010 race series. The American Sail Training Association invites you to join us as the tall ships race through all five Great Lakes for the first time. In addition to port appearances, two initiatives will sail along with the tall ships: water conservation education and youth on board.

This year’s tall ships challenge will be visiting Bay City, Michigan, July 15th through the 18th.
For more information, download a pdf flyer here.

On June 15 the Michigan State Board of Education unanimously adopted the National Governors Association Common Core Standards, pledging to integrate it into the state’s existing curriculum standards.  The state says it will provide “training and support” to teachers on implementing the standards teachers “by the fall of 2012″ and begin testing to the standards two years after that.

Very little of the Common Core standards related to the social sciences or humanities addresses history or historical thinking as an intellectually distinct activity.  Context, content, and historical consciousness are pretty much absent from the standards in their present form, which instead emphasize literacy: the interpretation of texts and the development of abilities to write about them.

MCHE board members have set the date and theme for the 17th Annual Conference for November 4, 2010, at the Ramada Inn in Lansing, Michigan. This year’s theme is “Bringing History Home: Local Stories, Global Context” and seeks to explore the teaching and learning of history in different sites including classrooms (elementary, middle, high school), museums, and other public history sites. The theme also explores how connections are made in these sites between local, state, national, and global histories, as well as the connections between literacy and teaching history. MCHE welcomes paper proposals that address this broad theme as well as submissions addressing other aspects of history education.

If you would like to submit an abstract for a paper, please download our Presenter Application. Applications received by September 15, 2010 will be given primary consideration.

Recently we’ve seen a growing and spirited defense of history and the humanities as distinct academic disciplines in the schools.  The Chronicle of Higher Education has been running op-eds, blogs, and discussions about the “value of the humanities,” and now David Brooks and Stanley Fish have joined the conversation with their calls in the New York Times for a return to basics in schools, including the study of history, civics, and literature, subjects that have received a battering in the past decade’s rage for testing and vocational education.  Diane Ravitch, who as assistant secretary of education was one of the spiritual and scholarly architects of the No Child Left Behind Act, has experienced her own epiphany, and in a series of high-profile speeches, articles, and a new book on public education, questions the Act’s emphasis on reading and math at the expense of history, the humanities, arts, and civics.   The study of history as a distinct subject, as well as a way of thinking, is creeping back into state standards through the back door under the guise of promoting literacy.  Will Michigan’s standards writers join the chorus and restore history to its central place in public education?