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October 02, 2024
LANSING – A growing number of the state’s high school students are using a personal curriculum to take courses aligned to their post-high school educational and professional goals while completing the Michigan Merit Curriculum high school graduation requirements.
During the 2022-23 school year, 12,840 Michigan students had a personal curriculum, which represented 2.7% of students. That’s up from 9,656 students, or 1.9% of students, five years earlier.
“So you’re looking at 3,200 more young people who had a personal curriculum in the 2022-23 school year compared to five years before that, an increase of about one-third,” State Superintendent Dr. Michael F. Rice said. “The personal curriculum gives more children more opportunities to pursue what they need in life.”
State Board of Education members received an update about the personal curriculum during a recent meeting.
The personal curriculum option also improves students’ attendance and chances of graduating, said Ms. Rashell Bowerman, educational consultant for the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) Office of Educational Supports.
The personal curriculum aligns with the Michigan Merit Curriculum, which ensures that all students who earn a diploma, at a minimum, have demonstrated proficiency with the content outlined by the state academic standards or guidelines. The personal curriculum is a process to modify specific content expectations or credit requirements based on the individual learning needs of a student. It is designed to serve students who want to accelerate or go beyond Michigan Merit Curriculum requirements and students who need to individualize learning requirements to meet the requirements.
“The personal curriculum contributes to Goal 5 of Michigan's Top 10 Strategic Education Plan, to increase the percentage of students who graduate from high school,” said Dr. Delsa Chapman, deputy superintendent of MDE’s Division of Assessment, School Improvement, and Systems Support.
The purpose of a personal curriculum is to align students’ high school courses and experiences with their educational development plan and post-high school career plan. Students will have a course of study that aligns with their passions and goals. MDE officials emphasize that a personal curriculum is not a way to remove courses that are too difficult or that a student does not want to take, or a last-minute decision to help a student graduate.
For example, a student might waive credit in a non-core content area by taking extra credit in core areas or completing a career and technical education program.
While personal curricula are for students both with and without disabilities, they can be particularly important for students with disabilities. In such cases, the personal curriculum needs to align both to the student’s education development plan – which is the plan created by all students in Michigan mapping out their educational and career goals – and the individualized education program – which is a written document for students with disabilities that outlines their educational needs and goals and any programs and services that will be provided to help the student make educational progress.
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