On Tuesday, April 28, 2009, the Governor’s Education Summit in Lansing focused on efforts to get more students prepared for and into college. Here are some highlights.

Goveror announces 10 Promise Zone Designations
Gov. Jennifer Granholm has named the 10 "Promise Zone" communities that will offer their children at least a free associate's degree as long as they can find a group of private entrepreneurs to get the program off the ground.

As part of Promise Zones, once the zone gets the OK from the Department of Treasury it can raise money by capturing one half of the growth in the state education tax (SET) to keep the promise of a free higher education to students.

The zones were approved for the public school districts in Baldwin, Battle Creek, Benton Harbor, Detroit, Hazel Park, Jackson, Lansing, Muskegon, Pontiac and Saginaw. All of the districts are in communities that meet or exceed the state's average poverty level for families with children under 18. Four applicants were not accepted.

"The promise of a college education for all has the power to transform communities across our state, replacing poverty and despair with opportunity and hope," Lt. Gov. John CHERRY, Jr., told the crowd gathered for the Summit. "In addition to higher educational attainment levels, Promise Zones can spur investment, economic development and home ownership."

Source: MIRS News Service 4.28.09

Governor launches college access network , warns of continuing tough times
The state still has its goal of doubling the number of college graduates. But that will have to come despite less funding for education, Governor Jennifer Granholm told the Governor's Education Summit in Lansing April 28, 2009.

But she warned that the state funding to support that education at all levels will at least not be what educators would like. "I hope you're not discouraged by the challenges the budget will present," she said. "We are going to have to cut the important to fund the essential."

Ms. Granholm announced the launch of the Michigan College Access Network (MCAN) to accelerate the state's efforts to diversify the economy by doubling the number of Michigan's college graduates.  The initiative will promote postsecondary education by supporting local college access programs, which help citizens learn about higher education options, get into college, and earn their degrees. 

The bad news: the network is not expected to be up and running until the fall of 2010. 

Meanwhile, the state released a report Tuesday showing, based on surveys and interviews, that Michigan has substantial racial gaps in both high school and college graduation and that the state is below the national average for college graduation for all racial groups.

Among the recommendations in the report:

• Having college readiness programs reach students before high school.  
• Regionalizing statewide efforts to create college access programs, particularly in areas not currently served by some kind of community scholarship fund.
• Identifying and cataloging existing college access providers
• Building capacity of existing programs
• Interveneing early to help put students on a path to success

Source: Gongwer Michgan Report 4.28.09

Haycock presents alarming data about Michigan’s schools
Michigan schools are, in general, struggling relative to the rest of the nation and the world. And if they want to change that, they have to stop blaming race and poverty and take the steps needed to improve, said Kati Haycock, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Education Trust, at the 2009 Governor's Education Summit in Lansing on Tuesday.

Ms. Haycock said Michigan must expect more from students and teachers and make the changes in schools and curricula that allow them to meet those expectations.
While she said poverty and race have been correlated to poor performance, schools and teachers also traditionally expect less of those groups that historically performed below average.

"There is no way you can blame our performance on poor kids, kids of color or the schools that serve them," Ms. Haycock said. "What schools do matters hugely. ...What colleges do turns out to matter as well."

"We appreciate the honesty but we've got work to do," said Governor Jennifer Granholm of Ms. Haycock's presentation, which had been provided earlier at a cabinet meeting.   "We had just come off patting ourselves on the back for the MEAP scores."

The schools that are performing well for low-income and minority students are looking beyond the traditional performance correlations and concentrating on the things they can do to improve achievement, Ms. Haycock said. And she said there are colleges and universities making similar efforts to improve their graduation rates above schools serving similar populations.

"The schools that really work succeed by focusing like a laser on the things they can do, things they can change, not by wasting a lot of energy on the things they can't," she said. "They don't leave anything about teaching or learning to chance."
Superintendent of Public Instruction Mike Flanagan argued in many cases schools and districts still do not understand where they stand in relation to other schools or the rest of the world.

"You have to have clarity about what your record is because if you don't know where you stand you can't improve," Mr. Flanagan said.
A sampling of data shared by Ms. Haycock:

• The United States is now 17th in the percentage of students it sends through traditional high school programs, down from first.
• The United States is second among 29 nations for the gap between higher income and lower income students.

Some 75 percent of upper income students have a bachelor's degree by age 24 compared to 9 percent of lower income students.