Education Achievement Authority

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The Education Achievement Authority, or EAA, is a specialized public school system sponsored by the Michigan Department of Education. It is considered a "turnaround district," and is specially designed to use innovative methods of learning to increase proficiency levels in students.

Overview

The EAA uses a variety of strategies to encourage student growth. Students spend 1,600 hours in a calendar year in EAA schools. This is possible through an extended school day of 7.5 hours, and a 210-day school year. Unlike in standard public schools, students are not confined to certain subject matter based on their grade level. For instance, if a student completes all 9th grade coursework with proficiency, she will progress to 10th grade work immediately, even if the school year has not ended. Inversely, if a student requires more than one school year to complete 11th grade work, she will not be penalized. Flexible coursework allows for students to progress at their own pace and receive individualized feedback based on their progress. Coursework is done using a blended learning approach, where students split time between technology and standard classwork. Results have generally been favorable for this approach: reports conducted by the EAA for the 2012-2013 school year revealed 64 percent of students in EAA schools showed at least a year's growth in reading and 68% showed at least a year's growth in math. Even so, the program has been under scrutiny by the media and other education organizations, as discussed below.

Criticisms

Almost immediately following the creation of the EAA, there have been many criticisms of its practices. The most flagrant accusations have been towards the conditions, budget and transparency of the district. There have been numerous reports of declining enrollment, poor treatment of students in special education, and even violence from students and faculty alike. Requests by the EAA to expand have been met with opposition from the public and state lawmakers. The district's longer schedule and other operating costs demand a sizable budget, but enrollment has decreased in these schools. Under Michigan state law, 90 percent of the budget for public education is determined by October class sizes. With fewer students, the state does not have an incentive to provide a larger budget. Furthermore, many seeking information about the EAA have been met with difficulty, prompting some to resort to filing access claims under the Freedom of Information Act. Difficulty in obtaining information about the EAA is enough for many to criticize its leadership.

In addition to the media and public criticism, some education experts have also weighed in against the EAA. According to Detroit's Metro Times, Thomas Pedroni, an education specialist and associate professor at Wayne State University (MI), reports that the findings published by the EAA regarding achievement improvements conflict with the results of the state's standardized Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) tests. The MEAP results report a number of students in EAA schools showed no change in proficiency, or even regressed to a lower level. The discrepancy in results has yet to be explained in detail, but many use it to cast further doubt on the program. The same article by Metro Times, however, did report in detail that there are still proponents of the system who have noted improvements in students enrolled in EAA schools.

External links

• EAA page
• InsidetheEAA.com

Footnotes

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