North Central Accreditation Standards and Michigan Merit Curriculum

NORTH CENTRAL ACCREDITATION

Many Michigan School Districts are accredited from North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. National Standards

Michigan Merit Curriculum

Here are State of Michigan Curriculuar Framework Standards:

Career and Employability Skills Content Standards
Below is an overview of the 10 standards for Career and Employability Skills content in the Michigan Curriculum Framework.

Standard 1
Applied Skills
All students will apply basic communication skills (e.g., reading, writing, speaking, and listening), apply scientific and social studies concepts, and perform mathematical processes in work-related situations.

Standard 2
Career Planning
All students will acquire, organize, interpret, and evaluate information from career awareness and exploration activities, career assessment, and work-based experiences to identify and to pursue their career goals.

Standard 3
Developing and Presenting Information
All students will demonstrate the ability to combine ideas or information in new ways, make connections between seemingly unrelated ideas, and organize and present information in formats such as symbols, pictures, schematics, charts, and graphs.

Standard 4
Problem Solving
All students will make decisions and solve problems by specifying goals, identifying resources and constraints, generating alternatives, considering impacts, choosing appropriate alternatives, and evaluating results.

Standard 5
Personal Management
All students will display personal qualities such as responsibility, self-management, ethical behavior, and respect for self and others.

Standard 6
Organizational Skills
All students will identify, organize, plan, and allocate resources (such as time, money, materials, and human resources) efficiently and effectively.

Standard 7
Teamwork
All students will work cooperatively with people of diverse backgrounds and abilities and will contribute to a group process with ideas, suggestions, and efforts.

Standard 8
Negotiation Skills
All students will communicate ideas to support a position and negotiate to resolve divergent interests.

Standard 9
Understanding Systems and Using Technology
All students will understand complex systems, including social and technical systems, and work with a variety of technologies.

Standard 10
Using Employability Skills
All students will integrate employability skills into behaviors which prepare one for obtaining, maintaining, advancing, and changing employment.

Technology Content Standards Overview
Below is an overview of the six standards for Technology content in the Michigan Curriculum Framework.

Standard 1
Using and Transferring
All students will use and transfer technological knowledge and skills for life roles (family member, citizen, worker, consumer, lifelong learner).

Standard 2
Using Information Technologies
All students will use technologies to input, retrieve, organize, manipulate, evaluate, and communicate information.

Standard 3
Applying Appropriate Technologies
All students will apply appropriate technologies to critical thinking, creative expression, and decision-making skills.

Standard 4
Employing Systematic Approach
All students will employ a systematic approach to technological solutions by using resources and processes to create, maintain, and improve products, systems, and environments.

Standard 5
Applying Standards
All students will apply ethical and legal standards in planning, using, and evaluating technology.

Standard 6
Evaluating and Forecasting
All students will evaluate the societal and environmental impacts of technology and forecast alternative uses and possible consequences to make informed civic, social, and economic decisions.

English Language Arts Standards
Below is an overview of the 12 standards for English Language Arts content in the Michigan Curriculum Framework followed by overall remarks on the ELA Curriculum.

Standard 1
Meaning and Communication: Reading
All students will read and comprehend general and technical material.

Standard 2
Meaning and Communication: Writing
All students will demonstrate the ability to write clear and grammatically correct sentences, paragraphs, and compositions.

Standard 3
Meaning and Communication in Context
All students will focus on meaning and communication as they listen, speak, view, read, and write in personal, social, occupational, and civic contexts.

Elaboration of Standards 1-3

Standard 4
Language
All students will use the English language effectively.
Elaboration of Standard 4

Standard 5
Literature
All students will read and analyze a wide variety of classic and contemporary literature and other texts to seek information, ideas, enjoyment, and understanding of their individuality, our common heritage and common humanity, and the rich diversity of our society.
Elaboration of Standard 5

Standard 6
Voice
All students will learn to communicate information accurately and effectively and demonstrate their expressive abilities by creating oral, written, and visual texts that enlighten and engage an audience.
Elaboration of Standard 6

Standard 7
Skills and Processes
All students will demonstrate, analyze, and reflect upon the skills and processes used to communicate through listening, speaking, viewing, reading, and writing.
Elaboration of Standard 7

Standard 8
Genre and Craft of Language
All students will explore and use the characteristics of different types of texts, aesthetic elements, and mechanics—including text structure, figurative and descriptive language, spelling, punctuation, and grammar—to construct and convey meaning.
Elaboration of Standard 8

Standard 9
Depth of Understanding
All students will demonstrate understanding of the complexity of enduring issues and recurring problems by making connections and generating themes within and across texts.
Elaboration of Standard 9

Standard 10
Ideas in Action
All students will apply knowledge, ideas, and issues drawn from texts to their lives and the lives of others.
Elaboration of Standard 10

Standard 11
Inquiry and Research
All students will define and investigate important issues and problems using a variety of resources, including technology, to explore and create texts.
Elaboration of Standard 11

Standard 12
Critical Standards
All students will develop and apply personal, shared, and academic criteria for the enjoyment, appreciation, and evaluation of their own and others oral, written and visual text.
Elaboration of Standard 12

Overall Remarks on ELA Curriculum
English language arts education in Michigan incorporates the teaching and learning of reading, writing, speaking, listening, and viewing. Integration of the English language arts occurs in multiple ways.

First, English language arts curriculum, instruction, and assessment reflect the integration of listening, speaking, viewing, reading, and writing. The English language arts are not perceived as individual content areas, but as one unified subject in which each of the five areas supports the others and enhances thinking and learning.

Secondly, there is integration of the teaching and learning of content and process within the English language arts. The common human experiences and the ideas, conflicts, and themes embodied in literature and all oral, written, and visual texts provide a context for the teaching of the processes, skills, and strategies of listening, speaking, viewing, reading, and writing.

Finally, literacy educators believe that the knowledge, skills, and strategies of the English language arts are integrated throughout the curriculum, enabling students to solve problems and think critically and creatively in all subject areas.

In grades K-12, a locally developed English language arts curriculum, embodying these state content standards, will ensure that all students are literate and can engage successfully in reading, discovering, creating, and analyzing spoken, written, electronic, and visual texts which reflect multiple perspectives and diverse communities and make connections within English language arts and between English language arts and other fields.

Mathematics Standards
Below is an overview of the 15 standards for Mathematics in the Michigan Curriculum Framework. They are divided into six categories or "strands": Patterns, Relationships, and Functions | Geometry and Measurement | Data Analysis and Statistics | Number Sense and Numeration | Numerical and Algebraic Operations and Analytical Thinking | Probability and Discrete Mathematics.

Strand I
Patterns, Relationships, and Functions
Elaboration of Strand MAT.I

Standard I.1
Patterns
Students recognize similarities and generalize patterns, use patterns to create models and make predictions, describe the nature of patterns and relationships, and construct representations of mathematical relationships.

Standard I.2
Variability and Change
Students describe the relationships among variables, predict what will happen to one variable as another variable is changed, analyze natural variation and sources of variability, and compare patterns of change.

Strand II
Geometry and Measurement
Elaboration of Strand MAT.II

Standard II.1
Shape and Shape Relationships
Students develop spatial sense, use shape as an analytic and descriptive tool, identify characteristics and define shapes, identify properties and describe relationships among shapes.

Standard II.2
Position
Students identify locations of objects, identify location relative to other objects, and describe the effects of transformations (e.g., sliding, flipping, turning, enlarging, reducing) on an object.

Standard II.3
Measurement
Students compare attributes of two objects, or of one object with a standard (unit), and analyze situations to determine what measurement(s) should be made and to what level of precision.

Strand III
Data Analysis and Statistics
Elaboration of Strand MAT.III

Standard III.1
Collection, Organization and Presentation of Data
Students collect and explore data, organize data into a useful form, and develop skill in representing and reading data displayed in different formats.

Standard III.2
Description and Interpretation
Students examine data and describe characteristics of a distribution, relate data to the situation from which they arose, and use data to answer questions convincingly and persuasively.

Standard III.3
Inference and Prediction
Students draw defensible inferences about unknown outcomes, make predictions, and identify the degree of confidence they have in their predictions .

Strand IV
Number Sense and Numeration
Elaboration of Strand MAT.IV

Standard IV.1
Concepts and Properties of Numbers
Students experience counting and measuring activities to develop intuitive sense about numbers, develop understanding about properties of numbers, understand the need for and existence of different sets of numbers, and investigate properties of special numbers.

Standard IV.2
Representation and Uses of Numbers
Students recognize that numbers are used in different ways such as counting, measuring, ordering and estimating, understand and produce multiple representations of a number, and translate among equivalent representations.

Standard IV.3
Number Relationships
Students investigate relationships such as equality, inequality, inverses, factors and multiples, and represent and compare very large and very small numbers.

Strand V
Numerical and Algebraic Operations and Analytical Thinking
Elaboration of Strand MAT.V

Standard V.1
Operations and Their Properties
Students understand and use various types of operations (e.g., addition, subtraction, multiplication, division) to solve problems.

Standard V.2
Algebraic and Analytic Thinking
Students analyze problems to determine an appropriate process for solution, and use algebraic notations to model or represent problems.

Strand VI
Probability and Discrete Mathematics
Elaboration of Strand MAT.VI

Standard VI.1
Probability
Students develop an understanding of the notion of certainty and of probability as a measure of the degree of likelihood that can be assigned to a given event based on the knowledge available, and make critical judgments about claims that are made in probabilistic situations.

Standard VI.2
Discrete Mathematics
Students investigate practical situations such as scheduling, routing, sequencing, networking, organizing and classifying, and analyze ideas like recurrence relations, induction, iteration, and algorithm design.

Science Standards

Below is an overview of the 15 standards for Science in the Michigan Curriculum Framework. They are divided into five categories or "strands": Constructing New Scientific Knowledge | Reflecting on Scientific Knowledge | Life Science | Physical Science | Earth Science.

Strand I
Constructing New Scientific Knowledge
Elaboration of Strand SCI.I

Standard I.1
Constructing New Scientific Knowledge
All students will ask questions that help them learn about the world; design and conduct investigations using appropriate methodology and technology; learn from books and other sources of information; and communicate findings of investigaitons, using appropriate technology.

Strand II
Reflecting on Scientific Knowledge
Elaboration of Strand SCI.II

Standard II.1
Reflecting on Scientific Knowledge
All students will analyze claims for their scientific merit and explain how scientists decide what constitutes scientific knowledge; show how science is related to other ways of knowing; show how science and technology affect our society; and show how people of diverse cultures have contributed to and influenced developments in science.

Strand III
Using Life Science Knowledge
Elaboration of Strand SCI.III

Standard III.1
Cells
All students will apply an understanding of cells to the functioning of multicellular organisms, including how cells grow, develop and reproduce.

Standard III.2
Organization of Living Things
All students will use classification systems to describe groups of living things; compare and contrast differences in the life cycles of living things; investigate and explain how living things obtain and use energy; and analyze how parts of living things are adapted to carry out specific functions.

Standard III.3
Heredity
All students will investigate and explain how characteristics of living things are passed on through generations; explain why organisms within a species are different from one another; and explain how new traits can be established by changing or manipulating genes.

Standard III.4
Evolution
All students will explain how scientists construct and scientifically test theories concerning the origin of life and evolution of species; compare ways that living organisms are adapted (suited) to survive and reproduce in their environments and explain how species change through time.

Standard III.5
Ecosystems
All students will explain how parts of an ecosystem are related and how they interact; explain how energy is distributed to living things in an ecosystem; investigate and explain how communities of living things change over a period of time; describe how materials cycle through an ecosystem and get reused in the environment; and analyze how humans and the environment interact.

Strand IV
Using Physical Science Knowledge
Elaboration of Strand SCI.IV

Standard IV.1
Matter and Energy
All students will measure and describe the things around us; explain what the world around us is made of; identify and describe forms of energy; and explain how electricity and magnetism interact with matter.

Standard IV.2
Changes in Matter
All students will investigate, describe and analyze ways in which matter changes; explain how visible changes in matter are related to atoms and molecules; and explain how changes in matter are related to changes in energy and how living things and human technology change matter and transform energy.

Standard IV.3
Motion of Objects
All students will describe how things around us move, explain why things move as they do, and demonstrate and explain how we control the motions of objects; and relate motion to energy and energy conversions.

Standard IV.4
Waves and Vibrations
All students will describe sounds and sound waves; explain shadows, color, and other light phenomena; measure and describe vibrations and waves; and explain how waves and vibrations transfer energy.

Strand V
Using Earth Science Knowledge
Elaboration of Strand SCI.V

Standard V.1
Geosphere
All students will describe the earth's surface; describe and explain how the earth's features change over time; and analyze effects of technology on the earth's surface and resources.

Standard V.2
Hydrosphere
All students will describe the characteristics of water and demonstate where water is found on earth; describe how water moves; and analyze the interaction of human activities with the hydrosphere.

Standard V.3
Atmosphere and Weather
All students will investigate and describe what makes up weather and how it changes from day to day, from season to season and over long periods of time; explain what causes different kinds of weather; and analyze the relationships between human activities and the atmosphere.

Standard V.4
Solar System, Galaxy and Universe
All students will compare and contrast our planet and sun to other planets and star systems; describe and explain how objects in the solar system move; explain scientific theories as to the origin of the solar system; and explain how we learn about the universe.

Social Studies Standards
Below is an overview of the 25 standards for Social Studies in the Michigan Curriculum Framework, followed by overall remarks on the Social Studies curriculum.

Strand I
Historical Perspective
Elaboration of Strand SOC.I

Standard I.1
Time and Chronology
All students will sequence chronologically the following eras of American history and key events within these eras in order to examine relationships and to explain cause and effect: The Meeting of Three Worlds (beginnings to 1620); Colonization and Settlement (1585-1763); Revolution and the New Nation (1754-1815); Expansion and Reform (1801-1861); and Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877); The Development of the Industrial United States (1870-1900); The Emergence of Modern America (1890-1930); The Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945); Post War United States (1945-1970); and Contemporary United States (1968-present).

Standard I.2
Comprehending the Past
All students will understand narratives about major eras of American and world history by identifying the people involved, describing the setting, and sequencing the events.

Standard I.3
Analyzing and Interpreting the Past
All students will reconstruct the past by comparing interpretations written by others from a variety of perspectives and creating narratives from evidence.

Standard I.4
Judging Decisions from the Past
All students will evaluate key decisions made at critical turning points in history by assessing their implications and long-term consequences.

Strand II
Geographic Perspective
Elaboration of Strand SOC.II

Standard II.1
Diversity of People, Places, and Cultures
All students will describe, compare, and explain the locations and characteristics of places, cultures, and settlements.

Standard II.2
Human/Environment Interaction
All students will describe, compare, and explain the locations and characteristics of ecosystems, resources, human adaptation, environmental impact, and the interrelationships among them.

Standard II.3
Location, Movement, and Connections
All students will describe, compare, and explain the locations and characteristics of economic activities, trade, political activities, migration, information flow, and the interrelationships among them.

Standard II.4
Regions, Patterns, and Processes
All students will describe and compare characteristics of ecosystems, states, regions, countries, major world regions, and patterns and explain the processes that created them.

Standard II.5
Global Issues and Events
All students will describe and explain the causes, consequences, and geographic context of major global issues and events.

Strand III
Civic Perspective
Elaboration of Strand SOC.III

Standard III.1
Purposes of Government
All students will identify the purposes of national, state, and local governments in the United States, describe how citizens organize government to accomplish their purposes and assess their effectiveness.

Standard III.2
Ideals of American Democracy
All students will explain the meaning and origin of the ideas, including the core democratic values expressed in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and other foundational documents of the United States.

Standard III.3
Democracy in Action
All students will describe the political and legal processes created to make decisions, seek consensus, and resolve conflicts in a free society.

Standard III.4
American Government and Politics
All students will explain how American governmental institutions, at the local, state, and federal levels, provide for the limitation and sharing of power and how the nation’s political system provides for the exercise of power.

Standard III.5
American Government and World Affairs
All students will understand how the world is organized politically, the formation of American foreign policy and the roles the United States plays in the international arena.

Strand IV
Economic Perspective
Elaboration of Strand SOC.IV

Standard IV.1
Individual and Household Choices
All students will describe and demonstrate how the economic forces of scarcity and choice affect the management of personal financial resources, shape consumer decisions regarding the purchase, use, and disposal of goods and services and affect the economic well-being of individuals and society.

Standard IV.2
Business Choices
All students will explain and demonstrate how businesses confront scarcity and choice when organizing, producing, and using resources, and when supplying the marketplace.

Standard IV.3
Role of Government
All students will describe how government decisions on taxation, spending, public goods, and regulation impact what is produced, how it is produced, and who receives the benefits of production.

Standard IV.4
Economic Systems
All students will explain how a free market economic system works, as well as other economic systems, to coordinate and facilitate the exchange, production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.

Standard IV.5
Trade
All students will describe how trade generates economic development and interdependence and analyze the resulting challenges and benefits for individuals, producers, and government .

Strand V
Inquiry
Elaboration of Strand SOC.V

Standard V.1
Information Processing
All students will acquire information from books, maps, newspapers, data sets, and other sources, organize and present the information in maps, graphs, charts and timelines, interpret the meaning and significance of information, and use a variety of electronic technologies to assist in accessing and managing information.

Standard V.2
Conducting Investigations
All students will conduct investigations by formulating a clear statement of a question, gathering and organizing information from a variety of sources, analyzing and interpreting information, formulating and testing hypotheses, reporting results both orally and in writing, and making use of appropriate technology .

Strand VI
Public Discourse and Decision Making
Elaboration of Strand SOC.VI

Standard VI.1
Identifying and Analyzing Issues
All students will state an issue clearly as a question of public policy, trace the origins of the issue, analyze various perspectives people bring to the issue and evaluate possible ways to resolve the issue.

Standard VI.2
Group Discussion
All students will engage their peers in constructive conversation about matters of public concern by clarifying issues, considering opposing views, applying democratic values, anticipating consequences, and working toward making decisions.

Standard VI.3
Persuasive Writing
All students will compose coherent written essays that express a position on a public issue and justify the position with reasoned arguments.

Strand VII
Citizen Involvement
Elaboration of Strand SOC.VII

Standard VII.1
Responsible Personal Conduct
All students will consider the effects of an individual’s actions on other people, how one acts in accordance with the rule of law, and how one acts in a virtuous and ethically responsible way as a member of society.

Overall Remarks on Social Studies Curriculum
The social studies curriculum should be designed so that students meet 25 standards that are indicators of responsible citizenship. These standards, expressed as attributes we envision for our graduates, are the intended results of students' experience with the curriculum.

Students make continuous progress toward meeting the standards at each level of schooling. All of the standards are pursued at every grade level of the curriculum from kindergarten to graduation.

Although the standards refer to areas of knowledge and skill that no one ever masters completely in a total sense, benchmarks are established for each to designate clearly what students are expected to know and be able to do by the end of the primary grades, the upper elementary grades, middle school, and high school.

Arts Education Content Standards
Below is an overview of the five standards for Arts Education content in the Michigan Curriculum Framework followed by overall remarks on the Arts Curriculum.

The five standards are applied across each of four arts disciplines: Dance, Music, Theatre, and Visual Arts.

Standard 1
Performing
All students will apply skills and knowledge to perform in the arts.

Standard 2
Creating
All students will apply skills and knowledge to create in the arts.

Standard 3
Analyzing in Context
All students will analyze, describe and evaluate works of art.

Standard 4
Arts in Context
All students will understand, analyze, and describe the arts in their historical, social, and cultural contexts.

Standard 5
Connecting to other Arts, other Disciplines, and Life
All students will recognize, analyze, and describe connections among the arts; between the arts and other disciplines; between the arts and everyday life.

Overall Remarks on Arts Curriculum
All students should achieve at the basic level in each of the arts disciplines and achieve proficiency in at least one art discipline.

The emerging use of technology in our culture has had, and will continue to have, a profound impact on the individual arts disciplines, the relationship between the disciplines, and the development of artistic media technologies through the tools of technology. It is, therefore, important to include artistic applications of technological tools in our expectations for students, within and across arts disciplines.