August 2022 MICIP Continuous Communication

Welcome back to the 2022-23 School Year!

The MICIP Team is excited to welcome you back to the 2022-23 school year. We hope you had a fun and rejuvenating summer break!

As you welcome staff back, make sure that new staff—or staff with new roles—are up-to-date with the latest Continuous Improvement information:

1. Share this link to subscribe for Continuous Communication
2. Get started with Professional Learning Bites
3. View the resources available on the MICIP web page
4. Share previous issues of MICIP Continuous Communication

This issue of Continuous Communication includes the requirements for this academic year continuous improvement requirements, updated MICIP resources, information about the Fall Continuous Improvement Conference, and more!

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Continuous Improvement Requirements for 2022-23

For the 2022-23 school year, all districts must have a minimum of one active goal with the associated strategies and activities in the MICIP platform.

For districts that used the template process in 2021-22, those plans must be transferred into the MICIP platform. An active goal is one that the district is currently trying to achieve through implementation, monitoring and adjusting.

Additional considerations include the following:

• New goals for which a district is seeking funding must go into the MICIP platform.
• Strategies and activities not in the MICIP platform which were previously approved or which are connected to goals that have been previously approved may be put directly into the Consolidated Application.
• Districts should use the MICIP platform to initiate the monitoring and evaluation of goals in the MICIP platform to meet federal program requirements.
• Districts must also monitor and evaluate goals not in the MICIP platform though other district processes to meet federal program evaluation requirements.

Upcoming Deadlines:

• District continuous improvement goals should be entered into MICIP by August 12 for a July 1 obligation date.
• To meet the requirements of state law MCL 380.1277, school level plans must be made available to MDE by September 1.

School plans can be accomplished by using the MICIP reporting function to print plans assigned to the school through the tagging process, by using active school-level plans in ASSIST, or by using a format of the district’s choosing.

The Michigan Department of Education official memo can be found at this link: Continuous Improvement Plan Requirements for the 2022-2024 School Years.

For information about the 2023-24 requirements, see the June 2022 Continuous Communication.

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Enhancements and Bug Fixes

It has been a busy summer for the MICIP development team. We released R2.2 that included many enhancements and bug fixes and am working on R2.3 that is slated to be released at the end of August.

Visible Features:

• Interim target measures are a required element to a new plan
• New label for building type – junior high and junior/senior high

Visible Fixes:      

• Impact notes on goal monitoring page should be in order by date and time
• Interim and end target measures are in order by due date

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Upcoming Opportunity to Provide Feedback

Annually, we conduct focus groups and a survey to solicit feedback on how MICIP is functioning and to gather suggested enhancements. This information is valuable when future planning by the MICIP team. In fact, the enhancements that have been made in the past 6 months have been from the last survey.

In October, there will be an opportunity for you to work with your ISD to provide the MICIP team with your comments and ideas via a survey. There will be more information to come in the September Continuous Communication.

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Current Recommended Process in the MICIP Platform

There are times when code changes occur to other applications that impact MICIP or bugs are found that take time to fix. Below are two suggestions that will improve a user’s experience when these circumstances happen.

Blinking MiSchoolData Objects

If you are experiencing blinking MiSchoolData objects, it is due to a change in Chrome. To stop the blinking, you can change your cookie settings or use another browser, like Firefox.

To change your cookie setting, click on the three dots (ellipse dots) located in the upper right-hand corner of a chrome window. A menu will appear, select settings (window 1).

Under settings, select privacy and security then select cookie and other site data (window 2).

Click Allow All cookies and close modal (window 3).

Losing Work

There are a few instances where a user may lose work or override work.

It has been reported that when opening MICIP a user maybe presented with the option to restore last session. If the user selects yes, there is a possibility that it will restore to a previous work session but may not include new items added to the plan.

It is recommended that you select No rather than Yes so you will not lose your edits. To avoid receiving the restore notice, a user would log out rather than just closing the window or allowing the platform to time out.

If multiple users are working on a district’s plan, before saving, please hit the refresh button then save. This way a user would not lose a colleague’s edits to a plan.

There is a bug in the system that occasionally prevents a user from saving a plan into the portfolio. If a plan contains multiple strategies that are being added to the portfolio at the same time, the user may not be able to save or move to portfolio. To prevent this from happening, create one strategy at a time and move to portfolio.

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Managing User Accounts

Maintaining an accurate roster of MICIP district administrators and users is important to maintaining a strong cybersecurity. MDE MICIP team regularly monitors district MICIP administrator inactivity in accordance with state cybersecurity protocols and policies.

Any MICIP administrator who has never logged into MICP will receive two-week notification that their account will be deactivated.

In addition to notifying the administrator who has never logged into their account, an email will also be sent to an active MICIP administrator in the same district. The MICIP district administrator can avoid deactivation by simply logging into MICIP using their district’s credentials.

Starting at the end of August, MICIP administrators, who have gone 335 days or more without logging into MICIP, will receive a deactivation notice.

In addition to notifying the administrator who has gone 335 days since logging into their account, an email will also be sent to an active MICIP administrator in the same district.

The inactive MICIP administrator has 30 working days to avoid deactivation by simply logging into MICIP using their district’s credentials.

Please note that a district maintains its district user access and MDE only manages the district administrators.

Reminder: districts who have a change in leadership should contact Renie Araoz (araozr@michigan.gov) to update their MICIP district administrators access.

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Fall 2022 Continuous Improvement Conference

The Fall 2022 Continuous Improvement Conference will take place on Tuesday, October 18 at the Lansing Center under the theme:

Continuous Improvement: Providing Connectedness, Safety, and a Sense of Belonging in Today’s World.

The conference will feature a virtual keynote presentation by Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond, Professor of Education Emeritus at Stanford University as well as a virtual featured presentation by Shane Safir and Dr. Jamila Dugan, authors of the popular book, Street Data.

Attendees will hear in-person presentations from State Superintendent Dr. Michael F. Rice and the MICIP team and will also have an opportunity to participate in two series of breakout sessions.

Topics include:

• EWIMS/MTSS
• Social Emotional Learning
• Disciplinary Literacy
• Summer Learning
• Assessment
• Student Voice
• Equity
• and more!

Continuous improvement-focused sessions will include:

• MICIP 101
• How to Address Systems Through MICIP
• What Does Continuous Improvement Look Like in MICIP, a District Perspective

All conference sessions will be recorded and will be available for ninety days following the conference for in-person attendees. There is also an option to register only for access to the conference recordings.

The conference schedule and registration information can be found at MDE Fall 2022 Continuous Improvement Conference | Michigan Association of Superintendents & Administrators (gomasa.org)

The process for MDE employees wishing to register for the conference is slightly different than in past years. Rather than simply submitting your name to your manager, you must submit the form at this link: MDE Employee CI Conference Registration. Please read the information at the top of the form prior to submission. More information is available from your office director. Contact Diane Dick at ddick@gomasa.org with questions about the form.

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MICIP Resources

The MICIP team has been busy this summer developing new resources and updating others:

• Social Emotional Learning: The newest Learning Bite is entitled MICIP and Social Emotional Learning.
• Building Equity: We are close to releasing another Learning Bite entitled Building Equity Through MICIP.
• Equity-Focused Decision Making: Also new to the website is a resource developed by the Great Lakes Equity Center under Professional Learning/MICIP Mindset/Equity: Data System Integrity Tool for Equity-Focused Decisions.
• Process Guide: By the end of the summer we hope to complete a revision of the Process Guide.
• Web Page Updates: We are in the process of updating the MICIP Web Page, including removing outdated materials and updating some that are still relevant.

Watch the Continuous Communication for details.

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Regional Assistance Grant Webinar for ISDs/ESAs

ISDs/ESAs who administer the Regional Assistance Grant (RAG) are invited to join the Regional Assistance Grant (RAG) webinar on Tuesday, August 16, from 1:30 – 3:00 p.m.

We will provide updates for the upcoming 2022-23 RAG, review allowable RAG-funded activities, and facilitate your questions. Note: this webinar is for ISDs/ESAs only.  

Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81080672141?pwd=VFNsZjJRcUhqNU9yTzREbmxXejFLQT09

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Please share Continuous Communication

Please feel free to forward Continuous Communication to anyone you feel would like to receive information and updates about MICIP. To subscribe or unsubscribe, please click on this link.

Previous issues of MICIP Continuous Communication are available on the MICIP web page.

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Feedback is Essential for Continuous Communication!

Have a question, an idea, a suggestion, or a compliment? The MICIP team is always eager to hear your feedback! Send us an email using the MICIP email address (mde-micip@michigan.gov).