A Brief Look at Blue Ribbon Schools in Michigan

For more than 12 years, Dr. Christine Johns has functioned as superintendent of schools with Utica Community Schools in Sterling Heights, Michigan. Over the course of her tenure as superintendent, Dr. Christine Johns has established a graduation rate of 93.6 percent. Of the 36 schools under her guidance, 28 have been recognized as Michigan Blue Ribbon Exemplary Schools of Excellence.

The state of Michigan is home to 48 Blue Ribbon Exemplary Schools of Excellence, an honor that distinguishes a school as academically advanced in the eyes of the United States Department of Education. The student to teacher ratio at Michigan Blue Ribbon schools is 18:1, while 27 percent of the student body at these schools consists of minority enrollment. The state added 13 new Blue Ribbon schools at the end of 2017.

Blue Ribbon honors are open to both public and private schools from the elementary level through high school. In addition to the overall quality of academic offerings, important aspects of a Blue Ribbon institution include the school’s ability to address and correct achievement gaps between specific student subgroups. In total, more than 8,500 schools in America are part of the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program.

Utica Community Schools' Use of eSpark Learning Apps

Since 2006, Dr. Christine Johns has served as superintendent of Utica Community Schools, the second-largest school district in Michigan. As superintendent, Dr. Christine Johns has led the incorporation of eSpark technology into the classroom.

Utica Community Schools has integrated eSpark apps into its classrooms as part of a blended learning strategy. The change came at a time when the district was transitioning from half-day to full-day kindergarten, and blended learning was designed to enhance student engagement despite limited school funding for equipment.

By contracting with eSpark, the district avoided the logistic nightmare of having individual teachers purchase learning apps for more than 28,000 students. Instead, eSpark served as a third-party curator and facilitated distribution of apps to students so they could develop individualized learning plans.

As innovative, engaging tools, the apps provide students with immediate feedback as they respond to questions on curricular material. The apps also allow students to provide feedback to teachers on each learning activity, getting students in the habit of taking ownership of their learning as early as kindergarten.

Digital Promise and Verizon Innovative Learning Schools

With master’s and doctorate degrees from Harvard University, Dr. Christine Johns serves as superintendent of Utica Community Schools in Sterling Heights, Michigan. Alongside her activities as superintendent, Dr. Christine Johns has worked closely with education groups such as Digital Promise. 

In its efforts to accelerate innovation in education, Digital Promise engages educators, researchers, and entrepreneurs in activities that support and advance teaching strategies and technologies to improve student outcomes. The organization oversees a variety of people-driven projects and networks, including Verizon Innovative Learning Schools (VILS). 

Supported by the Verizon Foundation and Verizon Wireless, the VILS initiative aims to close the digital learning gap by improving access to technology for students and teachers. The initiative currently serves 28 school districts across the country. In addition to working directly with participating schools, the program provides a variety of resources and tools to help other schools better use technology for learning. 

Based on insight from participating educators, VILS has a created a guidebook for implementing schoolwide technology initiatives. The guidebook features chapters on technology management, digital literacy and responsibility, and progress monitoring. VILS also has compiled a number of online resources for teachers interesting in using mobile technology to support and advance classroom activities. More information about VILS and other Digital Promise projects is available at www.digitalpromise.org.

Digital Promise Promotes Innovation in Education

The superintendent of Utica Community Schools in Sterling Heights, Michigan, Dr. Christine Johns has fostered academic excellence for 12 years, in part by spearheading efforts to achieve a 93.6% graduation rate. To this end, Superintendent Dr. Christine Johns participates in Digital Promise, a nonprofit created in 2008 to enhance progressive learning opportunities. 

Guiding the Digital Promise program is Challenge Based Learning (CBL), in which students, families, and teachers cooperate to explore significant ideas and issues. CBL works by employing experiential learning with new practices in computer technology and media. Students of the program combine classroom activities with critical reflection, discussion, and writing. 

CBL guide students through three phases:

- Engage. Students learn to translate abstract concepts into practical action steps.

- Investigate. Participants collaborate in considering solutions while meeting academic benchmarks.

- Act. Learners develop evidence-based solutions for results-oriented evaluation.

Practitioners will meet in July 2019 for the Digital Promise Challenge Institute in Monterey, California. The event will create a peer network between educators and leaders to encourage innovations specific to participants’ schools and districts.

Benefits of Montessori in the Elementary Grades

Since 2006, Dr. Christine Johns has served as superintendent of the Utica Community Schools district in Michigan. As superintendent, Dr. Christine Johns offers families a rich suite of options for elementary education, including a Mandarin Chinese program and a Montessori program that serves kindergarten through sixth-grade students. 

In Italy near the turn of the 20th century, a physician by the name of Dr. Maria Montessori developed an innovative method to educate some of her city's most economically disadvantaged children. The philosophy of the Montessori Method centers on a child's natural curiosity and drive toward learning. The teacher, or directress, presents the students with a carefully prepared environment and allows the child ample time to work with his or her chosen materials, while responding to each child's learning needs as they arise.

Although Montessori itself focuses on individual growth rather than testing, this child-centric and hands-on method has measurable academic benefits. A 2003 study showed that students who attended a Montessori program between the ages of 3 and 11 had notably higher standardized test scores in math and science when they entered high school. In addition, a study conducted in the East Dallas Community School system showed that students who attended the district's two Montessori schools performed among the top 36 percent of student sin the country in both reading and math.

Research also has shown increased subject-specific content knowledge among Montessori students, even when those students entered the Montessori program struggling to grasp the topic at hand. A study published in the journal Science showed that students with a Montessori education produced more sophisticated writing by the age of 12, while also showing higher-level social and interpersonal skills than students in non-Montessori programs. Similarly, a 2012 study published in the Journal of School Psychology showed notable gains not only in core academic skills, but also in social problem-solving as well as overall executive functioning.