State educations leaders have not provided the coordination and financial support as in some other states, leaving Michigan school districts to develop their own programs or take other approaches to stemming learning delays.
Isabel Lohman
Isabel reports on early childhood, K-12 and higher education for Bridge Michigan. She loves visiting schools and analyzing how policies made in Lansing affect students and educators. Previously, she was the children’s issues reporter for the Knoxville News Sentinel in Tennessee. There, she reported on the state's third-largest public school district's COVID-19 response and how a community copes after losing teenagers to gun violence. Isabel grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and has also lived in Missouri, Tennessee and Belgium. Isabel moved to Ann Arbor in January 2022 where she experienced her first Michigan winter. She has a warm winter hat with a snap-on puff ball. You can reach Isabel at ilohman@bridgemi.com.
Posted inTalent & Education
Central Michigan University faces civil rights probe for cutting track team
A federal civil rights agency is looking into why CMU ended men’s track and field and then revived its men’s golf program. University President Bob Davies said a tight budget (track costs more to run than golf) not racial bias was the reason.
Posted inTalent & Education
Republicans add transgender athlete ban to Michigan education budget bill
Across the country, conservative legislatures are trying to exclude transgender athletes from girls sports. A few sentences in a K-12 budget proposal could have a similar impact in Michigan.
Posted inTalent & Education
Q+A with Central Michigan University leaders on the plan to rebuild school
CMU’s president and board chair say they understand the difficulty of reversing steep enrollment declines and have big decisions to make in the next budget cycle.
Posted inTalent & Education
Citing cash crunch, Central Michigan University pauses new student housing
CMU acknowledged that new housing is necessary as part of a larger strategy to attract new students following steep declines. But its board said Thursday “now is not the right time” to advance new housing plans given ongoing economic uncertainty.
Posted inTalent & Education
Michigan summer camps rebound: Kids ‘eager to get back out into the world’
After two pandemic summers of social isolation, Michigan parents want fun activities for their children that also help them build social skills. From overnight and sports camps to local programming, it’s about allowing children to be kids again.
Posted inTalent & Education
Shake-up in Central Michigan University admissions after enrollment drop
As CMU works to turn around a 43-percent drop in enrollment since 2012, the director of undergraduate recruitment had his last day on April 7, the university confirmed.
Posted inTalent & Education
1-in-4 Michigan students tested through 8th grade showed no learning growth
As schools try to make up for lost classroom time during COVID, an analysis of student benchmark data shows that remote learning hurt academic growth and some students will need more targeted help to catch up.
Posted inTalent & Education
U-M, MSU thrive while Michigan regional universities scramble for students
It’s a tale of two university systems: The state’s flagship schools, along with Michigan Tech, have expanded enrollment in the past decade while 12 other public universities lost a collective 46,000 students, amid a smaller pool of high school graduates.
Posted inTalent & Education
Two Michigan educators work to keep new teachers in classrooms after COVID
Anthony Barnes and Brittney Tylenda say they know when to ask for help, but worry about their less-experienced peers who have had to learn on the fly during COVID-19