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Please ensure your email address is up-to-date in the Michigan Online Educator Certification System (MOECS) to receive important certificate notifications.

See archived newsletters for other important information that affects licensure.

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Reminder: Annual Educator Effectiveness Data Appeals Window Remains Open

The yearly appeals window for correcting inaccurate educator effectiveness ratings in the Registry of Educational Personnel (REP) is still open through the first business day in December. Districts, intermediate districts, and public school academies may continue to submit appeals for any of the past five years. Please remember that this process is strictly for updating inaccurate data in the REP—it is not intended to challenge the result of an evaluation.

Once corrections are made, updated ratings for teachers in instructional roles will appear in MOECS immediately.

As a continuing reminder, changes to educator evaluation law beginning with the 2024‑25 school year require that a teacher be marked “unevaluated” for the year if any of the following conditions apply:

• the teacher worked less than 60 days in that school year;
• the teacher's evaluation results were vacated through the grievance procedure described in law; or,
• there were extenuating circumstances, and the teacher and the school district, intermediate school district, or public school academy agree to designate the teacher as unevaluated because of the extenuating circumstances.

Starting in October, Center for Educational Performance and Information (CEPI) users will be able to revise 2024‑25 and 2025‑26 ratings to ensure they accurately reflect this “unevaluated” requirement.

Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23) Grow Your Own (GYO) Final Expenditure Reports Reminder 

The FY23 GYO Staff grant (funded through section 27b of the School Aid Act) ended September 30, 2026.

As a reminder, grantees must submit their Final Expenditure Report (FER) no later than November 29, 2026. FER screens were opened in NexSys on Thursday, October 1, 2026. Instructions for completion are available on the GYO School Staff Grant webpage.

A financial closeout checklist has been shared via email to grant contacts outlining documentation expectations to help ensure grantees remain audit-ready and compliant with federal grant requirements.

In addition, the GYO Team will offer one final “Office Hours” with open Q&A time for any questions related to the FER in NexSys. This session is highly recommended for district business staff. Make sure you use a valid and active email address when registering via the link below. Participants must register in advance; a general attendance link will not be provided.

For urgent questions about expenditure reports, the FER, or any other FY23 grant closeout topics, please include the phrase “GYO CLOSEOUT” in the Subject line when sending an email to the GYO Team at MDE-EdWorkforceGrants@Michigan.gov.

Updates to Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) GYO Educator Development Grant

In June of this year, 74 Michigan school districts were awarded FY26 GYO Educator Development awards (funded through section 27b of the School Aid Act). For these new grantees, the GYO Team has the following important reminders:

• Please download the newest version of the FY26 GYO Educator Development Monitoring and Guidance Document (updated September 2026) from the GYO School Staff Grant webpage. Please discard all previous versions, as the newest version has important updates that supersede the older version.
• New Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) have been posted to the associated FAQ webpage, from questions brought forward from grantees during recent Office Hours sessions. Grantees are encouraged to review the FAQ webpage if they have not done so recently.
• If they have not yet done so, grantees must submit their signed agreements with educator preparation programs (EPPs) or educator development programs (EDPs) using the instructions found in Appendix A of the FY26 GYO Educator Development Monitoring and Guidance Document. Please note the following:
  • Grantees must have approved EPP/EDP agreements on file with the GYO team before participants begin their development pathways.
  • Please allow up to 10 business days for approval or a response regarding edits needed from the GYO Team for each submitted EPP/EDP agreement.
  • For EDPs, a letter of intent will be sufficient in order for participants to start their development pathways. It must still be signed by both parties.

As always, please direct all questions to the GYO Team at MDE-EdWorkforceGrants@Michigan.gov. 

Coming Soon: Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27) GYO Educator Development Grant Applications

The application window for the FY27 GYO Educator Development Grant will open in NexSys later this month. Michigan intermediate school districts (ISDs) and local educational agencies (LEAs), both traditional public school districts and public school academies, who are interested in applying are encouraged to review the grant information available on the MDE Grants Repository webpage for details.

For the FY27 GYO Educator Development grants, $25 million is available across four funding tiers. This year, districts will use a fillable PDF template according to their target tier and upload it along with their application information and requested budget in NexSys.

The fillable PDF application templates for each of the four tiers, with instructions and notes, are already available on the GYO School Staff Grant webpage. Once applications are open on NexSys, please follow all instructions found there, including upload of additional documents required besides the application PDF, as applicable.

As always, please direct all questions about the newest round of GYO grant funding to the GYO Team at MDE-EdWorkforceGrants@Michigan.gov.

Coming Soon: Applications for FY27 EXPLORE 504 Grants

A busy month is ahead—the application window for FY27 EXPLORE 504 Grants will also open in NexSys later this month!

For the newest round of EXPLORE 504 Grants, $500,000 is available to Michigan ISDs, LEAs, both traditional public school districts and public school academies, and non-public schools for the purposes of:

• creating, sustaining, or expanding EXPLORE programs for students in grades 6-12, to a maximum of $10,000 per school; and/or
• providing tuition grants for recent EXPLORE graduates who are enrolled in a pathway to traditional teacher certification and are employed by the applicant, to a maximum of $10,000 per candidate.

Grant information is available on the MDE Grants Repository webpage as well as on the EXPLORE 504 Grants webpage. Interested districts and non-public schools are encouraged to download the Word version of the application to prepare in advance.

Please contact EXPLORE at MDE-EdWorkforceGrants@Michigan.gov with any questions.

Coming Soon: Future Proud Michigan Educator (FPME) Military Veterans Grant Applications for 2026-27

#GoOpen Michigan

#GoOpen Michigan is a free platform where Michigan educators can discover, create, and share high‑quality open educational resources (OERs). Whether you're looking to enrich your curriculum or collaborate with colleagues across the state, #GoOpen Michigan offers flexible tools and materials designed to support teaching and learning in every Michigan classroom.

MDE Office Closures Through 2026

• November 3: Election Day
• November 11: Veterans Day
• November 26 and 27: Thanksgiving
• December 24 and 25: Christmas
• December 31: New Year's Eve