LANSING, Mich. (MDE) – Students at Grand Rapids Public Museum School participate in experiential learning through access to hundreds of thousands of artifacts and archives from the West Michigan community and beyond.
Students and staff from the school spoke at shared at the September State Board of Education meeting how they’re part of a transformation of the high school experience that led to Michigan gaining national recognition from XQ, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that earlier this year released a report identifying 10 policy actions to make high school more rigorous, engaging, and career-connected.
Grand Rapids Public Museum School, which is part of Grand Rapids Public Schools, is an example of how Michigan became one of the leading 13 states that met six of XQ’s 10 policy goals for modernizing high schools to prepare students with the skills they need for careers. No state met more than six goals.
Lady Friend, 14, a sophomore at Grand Rapids Public Museum School, was among the presenters at the State Board of Education meeting.
“It’s shown me that I just don’t have to sit and listen to a teacher talk about English language arts and math and such,” she said. “I can actually learn those things and combine them into one big project.”
Last year, Friend participated in a project in which she and other students taught other high school and middle school students about African American history rooted in Grand Rapids that they learned in part by exploring downtown. "It helps me learn more, because I’m the type of person who needs something in front of her, and I need to be able to interact and to be able to feel downtown and be able to get to talk to people who I just met a week ago and have a strong connection with,” she said.
As part of the project, the students asked “Jeopardy”-style questions about Grand Rapids history that they learned about by exploring their hometown.
“Michigan has put Students First by transforming the high school experience so our youth can be better-prepared to excel in rewarding careers,” said State Superintendent Dr. Glenn Maleyko.
State Board of Education President Dr. Pamela Pugh added: “This work moves us toward goals 4 and 5 in Michigan’s Top 10 Strategic Education Plan—to expand secondary learning opportunities for all students and to increase the percentage of all students who graduate from high school. The State Board of Education is proud that Michigan is among the national leaders in transforming high school.”
The XQ Institute study is called “The Future Is High School: A Strategy for State Leaders to Accelerate Learning, Work, and American Renewal.”
“Recognition from XQ reflects years of work across the state to give students and educators greater flexibility, expand access to advanced and career-connected learning and focus more intentionally on what graduates should know and be able to do,” said Michigan Department of Education Chief Deputy Superintendent Maysam Alie-Bazzi. “We should celebrate that Michigan is being recognized nationally for this work thanks to the outstanding efforts of high school educators and students.”
Michigan met policy actions regarding:
- Mastery-based credits, which means all school districts are granted flexibility to give students credit for learning based on competency rather than seat time in classrooms.
- Identifying the core competencies necessary for high school graduates.
- Postsecondary credits, by offering advanced coursework options to all students.
- Internships and apprenticeships.
- Professional development, by supporting educators in project-based learning.
- Success data, by transparently reporting on postsecondary enrollment by high school on its K-12 report card.
Michigan has partially met two other policy goals—implementing “next-generation” high school assessments that measure a broader set of knowledge (Michigan is developing a catalog of performance-based assessments) and redesigning student transcripts to communicate the full breadth of student competency. No state has fully met those two policy goals.
“Thanks to leadership in this room and across the state, Michigan is among the states leading the way in high school policy,” said Stephanie Shultz, deputy chief of policy for XQ Institute.
The other 12 states setting the pace with Michigan with six policy actions in place are Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Utah, Virginia and Washington.
