MEMSPA, Michigan Virtual and BloomBoard will collaborate to deliver a program that will provide school principals with an opportunity to earn advanced certification.
The Michigan Association of Elementary and Middle School Principal’s Association (MEMSPA), Michigan Virtual and BloomBoard have entered into a formal agreement to develop, implement and evaluate the “Early Career Principal Induction Program.”
The program will provide school principals with the opportunity to earn micro-credentials in research-based, state-of-the-art, competency-based professional learning experiences leading to advanced certification. The work of this initiative will span the 2016-17 school year, and begin with a cohort of 25 Michigan principals.
“As we continue to support Michigan’s K-12 education system, we must ensure that future professional development models leverage the power of technology tools to personalize learning, allow demonstration of competencies, achieve new efficiencies and make learning more job-embedded,” said Jamey Fitzpatrick, President and CEO of Michigan Virtual. “This initiative will demonstrate the power of innovative professional learning models.”
MEMSPA, a critical knowledge network and voice for principals in Michigan, seeks to help develop and support principals into highly skilled, confident instructional leaders. Michigan Virtual, a not-for-profit corporation with more than 15 years of leadership experience in online and blended learning, can provide important capacity building support to MEMSPA in this endeavor. BloomBoard, the leader in competency-based professional learning and a key partner of Digital Promise, develops personalized educator professional learning options and is providing consultation, design and development services for the micro-credentialed learning modules for the Induction program.
Paul Liabenow, Executive Director of MEMSPA, said he is delighted to partner with two leading organizations to provide high-quality, competency-based professional learning options for MEMSPA’s 1,200 members.
“I believe personalized, micro-credentialed professional learning, provided in a blended modality with high-touch, peer-to-peer interaction and expert facilitation, is the future of professional learning. The work of this initiative will be critical in leading early career principals to increased skill sets and motivation to lead Michigan education,” Liabenow said.
Jason Lange, CEO and co-founder of BloomBoard, echoes Liabenow’s enthusiasm.
“Forging this collaborative partnership with MEMSPA and Michigan Virtual will allow rapid development and piloting of innovative competency-based professional learning opportunities for Michigan’s educational leaders,” Lange said. “The BloomBoard team is excited to work with our Michigan partners.”
Contact MEMSPA (517.694.8955) or Michigan Virtual (517.324.5373) for more information.
About Michigan Virtual
Michigan Virtual is a private, nonprofit Michigan corporation established by the State of Michigan in 1998 to serve as a champion for online learning. It is the parent organization of the Michigan Virtual for Students and Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute.
About MEMSPA
MEMSPA is a community of principals dedicated to advocating, leading and learning. MEMSPA recognizes the evolving nature of the principal’s role and supports those committed to this important work.
About BloomBoard
Founded in 2010, BloomBoard is the leading professional development platform for empowering continuous, personalized, competency-based learning for K-12 educators. With BloomBoard, district administrators can provide meaningful professional learning experiences, improve how they support, scale, and grow effective teachers. For educators, BloomBoard provides a place to learn, share and discuss the best teaching ideas and earn micro-credentials aligned to skills and competencies they’ve learned.
