A new report on Michigan’s partnership school districts has found “modest but potentially positive results” in the state’s lowest performing schools.
The state has partnerships with 29 school districts performing in the bottom 5% in terms of student graduation, proficiency, and growth, among other benchmarks.
Bill Pearson is the Director of Partnership Districts for the Michigan Department of Education. He said the program began in 2017 as an alternative to closing underperforming schools, which was unpopular.
“I think this is a better model because we’re trying to break down barriers, work with school districts to increase their student achievement, and put systems in place, strategic planning, that will last regardless of who is there,” he said.
Pearson said he's happy with some modest gains in math and english test scores, but they have found problems.
In particular, he said partnership districts have struggled in getting certified teachers in front of every classroom.
The reportsurveying the partnership program was compiled Education Policy Innovation Collaborative (EPIC) at Michigan State University.
Dr. Katherine Strunk worked on the report. She said partnership school districts showed improvements in both Math and English Language Arts test scores and in teacher retention.
“What we’re showing in this first year report is that there were some achievement gains in both math and ELA in partnership schools,” she said. “There were also some decreases in teacher exits and increases in teacher hiring.”
Strunk said the partnership program allows the state and school districts to come up with some site-specific benchmarks and improvements.
“Some of these districts really wanted to try unique things that were specific to their contexts,” she said. “Letting them have that opportunity would seem to be really important.”
According to Strunk, the overall gains were likely driven by some large improvements in Detroit Community Schools but she says the findings were still positive.
She said this report is the first report of a four-year study, so the evidence is only suggestive at this point.
Pearson, with the Department of Education, said Detroit utilized some state funds made available to the partnership districts in order to retain teachers.
Districts partnering with the state include Saginaw, Flint, and Baldwin Community Schools.