The Michigan Senate approved House Bill 5526 yesterday to improve school accountability using an easy-to-understand A-F school grading system.
In states across the country, an accountability system that grades schools on an A-F scale creates a sense of urgency for excellence, heightens focus on school quality, generates community support and empowers parents with better information.
“Michigan has made a good step forward to increase transparency for parents. I encourage parents, educators, the business community and education leaders to continue working together to help all Michigan students succeed. We commend Representative Tim Kelly for his leadership on this critical issue.”
Patricia Levesque, CEO of the Foundation for Excellence in Education (ExcelinEd)
With the passage of A-F school grading, Michigan has taken a step forward to increase transparency so that parents can easily understand the school’s performance and educators and policymakers can prioritize strategies and resources to improve student growth and achievement.
Parents and educators would further benefit from an overall A-F rating while highlighting the school’s strengths and areas for improvement. Calculations for growth that focus on all students reaching grade level and holding all students to the same rigorous expectations will likely maximize the impact of an A-F school grading system.
Further, releasing grades over the summer, rather than waiting until September 1 would give parents time to use the data to make an informed choice about where the enroll their child in school and would afford educators time to plan strategies and align resources for the upcoming school year.
For more information on the power of school accountability, please visit the ExcelinEd policy library.
