What is 54321 Michigan?

54321 Michigan started as a presentation at the MACUL 2011 conference in Detroit, Michigan. I joked that it was my Jerry Maguire, blue-folder vision statement. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder was in the process of releasing his Any Time, Any Place, Any Way, Any Pace vision for education. The five elements are what I believed public education needs in order realize this vision:

5. Internet-ready device with unencumbered access to the Internet for every student.

4. Consolidation of back-office systems and services to maximize efficiency and build capacity.

3. Capacity building for every educator to facilitate the transformation of classroom instruction.

2. Digital education resources and online, real-time assessments that creates 24/7 access to learning.

1. Innovative, whole-school transformation models that engage students and deliver personalized, individualized instruction.

Instead of getting me fired, the 5 points clarified what others already knew: schools, by and large, are missing these key elements needed to innovate. These like-minded leaders have joined in developing ways and means of providing these building blocks for change to schools in Michigan.

We have two prominent partnerships: in September 2011, the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators (MAISA) adopted 54321 as a work plan and hired connectors and collaborators to start the process of implementation. At approximately the same time, the Center of Innovation for Michigan (CIE) formed a non-profit, public-private partnership to serve as a platform for connecting, sharing, and scaling innovation.

We need your help. First, this blog is meant to help "crowd source" an annotated bibliography that provides empirical support for the five points. We realize that Jerry Maguire or Gov. Snyder didn't need a bib to submit their treatises to the world; however, you can help build the evidence base that schools are stuck in current models and need the basic elements of innovation to transform. Our goal is to move 54321 Michigan beyond a rant or response into action and we need to provide an evidence-based industry like public education with support that good things can and should be done.

So what do you think, will you help, will you join us? To get started, pick one of the points and make comment. Support it with a citation and link to a resource. Try to use APA if you can.