The Student Recovery Advisory Council (SRAC) released the MI Blueprint for Comprehensive Student Recovery, guidance to help districts and schools create recovery plans that support Michigan students in returning to school.

The SRAC was created to identify the critical issues facing students and staff that must be addressed, and build resources to help local education leaders in developing and implementing a comprehensive recovery plan that is multi-year, evidence-based and equity-driven. 

Two CMF trustees, Ridgway White, president and CEO of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, and Faye Nelson, director of Michigan programs at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, serve on the advisory council. White also previously served on the Return to School Advisory Council, along with Tonya Allen, former president and CEO of The Skillman Foundation.

Michigan philanthropy has closely partnered with the state throughout the pandemic in developing an equitable return to school. 

The nonpartisan Governor’s Office of Foundation Liaison (OFL) worked with Opportunity Labs, a national nonprofit organization that collaborates with the public sector and philanthropies across education, health, housing and workforce to create equitable opportunities for children. That work, made possible by a grant to CMF from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, resulted in recommendations to the advisory council that ultimately informed the Blueprint. 

The MI Blueprint for Comprehensive Student Recovery was released in SRAC’s final report. The report provides evidence-based recommendations to address challenges across wellness, academics, school culture and climate, family and community engagement, and postsecondary education.

The blueprint frames how districts and schools can start their student recovery plan by:

•    Providing 10 steps that districts and schools may follow to implement the student recovery plan. 

•    Outlining nine guiding principles that may serve as a starting point for consideration of the core elements of a comprehensive student recovery plan.

The blueprint identifies several challenge areas and addresses the root causes and goals for each. 

Wellness: The comprehensive wellness needs of student, families and school staff, including physical, mental and social-emotional health. 

Academics: The varying experiences of students due to the disruption of in-person learning, including absenteeism and gaps due to unfinished learning.  

School Climate: The inequities and disproportionalities that impact a student’s school climate, including systemic racism, classism, sexism and discrimination based on religion. 

Family and Community Engagement: The strained school-district-community relationships as a result of COVID-19. This includes the lack of accessible community-based afterschool and summer programming, and ineffective family engagement due to increased stress levels.

Post-Secondary: Enrollment for postsecondary education has decreased significantly due to the pandemic because of unfinished learning and inadequate postsecondary advising within schools. 

The blueprint lists five policy recommendations to help implement the recovery plan.  

Some of the recommendations include establishing equitable and sustainable funding, adopting a statewide strategy to attract and retain educators especially educators of color, expanding innovation zones and increasing access to high-quality preschool. 

In early June, join OFL and CMF’s P-20 Education Affinity Group for a comprehensive debrief on the new blueprint. Stay tuned for additional information and registration details on CMF’s events calendar.

Want more?

Read the full MI Blueprint for Comprehensive Student Recovery.