EPIC IN THE NEWS
How the pandemic hit students in Michigan’s most disadvantaged schools hardest
DATE: March 6, 2021
Michigan has over 800 school districts that all individually felt the pain of COVID-19, but the state’s Partnership schools and districts were among the hardest hit by the pandemic.
At-risk students
According to an October study done by Michigan State University’s Education Policy Innovation Collaborative (EPIC), Partnership schools are largely made up of at-risk students and students of color.
The districts work with the state to design individualized three-year improvement plans, set goals and design accountability measures to ensure that the districts are in a better position once they move out of the program.
In October 2019, EPIC released its report looking into Partnership schools turnaround which found that through the course of the program, most schools experienced achievement gains and had greater teacher retention, but there was still room for improvement in improving student outcomes.
One year later, the report was less optimistic, in that the progress of these schools was uneven and there was not a significant improvement in on-time gradations or high school dropout rates.
Read the full news article here.
