Mission

Since 1997, Michigan State University’s Office of K-12 Outreach has had a commitment to outreach and service as part of MSU’s land-grant mission. We work to connect research with practice in schools and districts across Michigan, the U.S. and the world. The Office of K-12 Outreach provides information, expertise, and insight to policymakers at the local, state and national levels. We work with K-12 educators, administrators, philanthropic organizations and policymakers to increase personal, institutional and system-wide capacity focused on improving education for all students.

The Office of K-12 Outreach grounds its work in a student-centered, systemic model. Our approach emphasizes capacity building, collaboration and deep support. We view the schools and districts with which we work as partners. We customize our programs and services to meet each partner’s specific needs. At the heart of our work, lies our commitment to closing student achievement gaps among students of color, lower income students, English language learners and students with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs).

Building Capacity

• MSU specialists build capacity in schools and districts to use data to diagnose barriers to student success, then use best practices and research to select strategies most likely to result in rapid turnaround.
• Specialists are diverse and have deep professional experience as successful superintendents, central office administrators and building leaders.
• MSU offers customized support for each school and district to address their unique challenges.

Closing Achievement Gaps

Identify causes and strategies to close gaps, including:

• Providing expert support focused on data
• Aligning targeted interventions
• Monitoring intervention progress

Providing expertise and resources around four gap areas:

• Males of Color
• Students in Poverty
• English Language Learners
• Students with IEPs

High Priority Districts and Schools (Lowest 5%)

• Engage in the data dialogue process to identify underlying causes and conditions for lack of success.
• Support the development of state required Transformation/Reform and Redesign Plan.
• Assist in prioritizing and implementing plan elements.
• Support districts in transformation and system alignment to respond to student needs.
• Provide customized resources, support and training for systems change.

Systematic Approach to Turnaround

• Working to implement school and district turnaround to increase student achievement and eliminate gaps.
• Identifying tools, processes and protocols for diagnosing the needs of schools and districts, and employ data diagnostic instruments.
• Recruiting, hiring, training and deploying highly qualified individuals as MSU specialists.