MAME is asking school library supporters to contact Michigan legislators about the Michigan Department of Education's ESSA Accountability Plan. Explanation of the issue with a sample message for legislators is included below. MDE is close to making a final decision on how it will implement ESSA’s accountability requirement. There were three options in the plan submitted to the US DOE. [See below for the three options.] In all options, “*access to a library media specialist*” is a part of the School Quality / Student Success Accountability Indicator for K-8. In options 1 and 2, “access to a library media specialist” will be included in the overall Grade (option 1) or one of the Grades (option 2) for each K-8 school; thus, receiving more importance than the many items which will be included on the transparency dashboard. In option 3, “access to a library media specialist” will be just one of many items on the transparency dashboard; and, thus, may be “lost in the volume of data” with no particular importance or visibility. Thus, the decision on which option MDE implements will either make school library staffing evident to parents and the community (Option 1 or 2) or will be too nonspecific such that districts may ignore the measure (Option 3). MAME recommends that our legislators choose option 1 or 2 which will provide the most visibility for the community on school library staffing. To ensure that school library staffing information is accessible to school communities, MAME needs school library supporters to contact their legislators to ask them to support either option 1 or option 2 in MDE’s ESSA Accountability Plan. If the legislature does not take action by June 30, MDE will default to Option 3. To reach out to your legislators: 1. Find your Michigan Senator & House Representative: http://www.senate.michigan.gov/fysbyaddress.html http://www.house.mi.gov/mhrpublic/ 1. Write and/or call your legislator Sample message: Dear ___________, I am writing / calling to ask you to support Option 1 or Option 2 of the options given for MDE’s Accountability Plan under ESSA. I believe that one of these two options will incentivize school districts to make positive change for the students in our state. These options will also provide more transparency to parents and the community at large. Action must be taken by June 30th or the Accountability Plan will default to Option 3. Thank you, Your Name Address Phone _________________________________________________________________________ For information purposes -- Three Options for MDE’s ESSA Accountability Plan FROM the MDE document: Michigan’s Approach to the Every Student Succeeds Act: Overview of Michigan’s Consolidated State Plan April 3, 2017 http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mde/Michigan-ESSA- Consolidated-Plan-Overview_558371_7.pdf Option 1. An A-F grading system for all schools that produces a final summative grade. Please note: creating this system was the charge given to the ESSA Accountability Action Team, based on Superintendent Whiston’s direction and the interest of the legislature and governor at that time. Therefore, the bulk of the comment obtained through the four rounds of feedback reacts to this plan. Option 2. An A-F system that provides grades in six core components (proficiency, growth, graduation rate, English learner progress, school quality indicators, and participation in state assessments) but no final summative grade. This system utilizes the same underlying calculations as the A-F summative grade but does not add up to one overall grade. Both Option 1 and Option 2 would be presented along with an additional transparency dashboard, which would include data and information that might be useful to parents or community members. Option 3. A dashboard accountability system. This system is currently envisioned as a combination of the six indicators above, along with the transparency dashboard. However, the Michigan State Board of Education has signaled that they wish to further develop the dashboard. Therefore, the MDE submits to them the dashboard as is, and asks them to make necessary modifications. Any technical details presented in the plan relate to all three systems and the underlying calculations unless otherwise noted. The major difference between the three is the amount of “summarizing” that is done to create a single measure or measures. Kathy Lester, MLIS, MA *ISTE Affiliate Representative, Advocacy Chair, Past-President 2014* Michigan Association for Media in Education (MAME) *SIGLIB Steering Committee* Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning (MACUL) *School Library Media Specialist / Technology Coach* *SL21 Exemplary Ranking - Michigan School Libraries for the 21st Century 2016-2019* East Middle School, Plymouth-Canton Schools *2012 **State Librarian's Excellence Award Winner* kathyL@mimame.org 810.333.5873 <(810)%20333-5873>