Monthly Communication

for Continuous Improvement and State & Federal Programs

MonthlyCommunicationfor Continuous Improvement and State & FederalPrograms

January 2022

Welcome to the monthly Continuous Improvement and State & Federal Programs communication. The purpose is to contextualize Continuous Improvement into our daily work, to efficiently complete all State and Federal Program tasks, and to promote moving these tasks past simple compliance.


This communication is sent to administrators in Congressional District 2, but is applicable statewide. If this was forwarded to you, you are welcome to subscribe.

In This Issue

  • Important Dates
  • Continuous Improvement Announcement
  • AER Roundup
  • Consolidated App Status
  • Upcoming 98b Progress Reports

Important Dates

  • January 18 - Title I Carryover Waiver Deadline
  • January 24 - NEW Consolidated App Initial Application Due Date
  • February 1 - MICIP Collaboration Series: Session 1
  • February Board Meeting - Progress report on goals and benchmark assessment scores
  • February 15 - AER Posting Deadline

Continuous Improvement Announcement

The band is getting back together! Hilda (Dearborn), Mike (OAISD), and I will once again host a statewide MICIP PD series (Full Details | Registration). There will be plenty of new content this year, and participants are welcome to attend all sessions or just the sessions that apply to them (see info below). We encourage teams to participate as we will provide facilitated work and collaboration time at each session.


  • Session 1 – February 1, 2022 – Continuous Improvement 101 - This is a condensed version of the 2021 series where participants will build understanding of the current state of their own MICIP plans and will have collaboration time to discuss areas of strength and improvement with their systems, processes, and plans.
  • Session 2 – February 15, 2022 – Strategies and Activities - The first two hours will focus on strategies and activities, with the final optional hour will focus on the basics of MiStrategyBank.
  • Session 3 – March 1, 2022 – Monitoring and Adjusting - The first two hours will focus on monitoring and adjusting while the final optional hour will focus on several case studies regarding building a culture of continuous improvement.
  • Session 4 – March 15, 2022 – Facilitated Work Time and Team Coaching - Content for the first part of the session will be determined by participants; the additional time will provide opportunities for team work as well as time to work with coaches on a 15-30-minute rotation.

Annual Education Report (AER) Resource Roundup

The AER is due to be posted to district and school transparency links no later than February 15, 2022. Here are some resources:

Consolidated App Status

MDE has granted an extension to submit the initial consolidated app to January 24th. There are also still carryover issues for some sites. Important: Please see this memo for details on how to handle different carryover issue scenarios.


The following information I communicated last month appears to still apply:

  • Here is a timeline for the consolidated app as of 1/7/2022
  • As of this writing, carryover is still not populating correctly for many sites. This brings up some different scenarios:
  • Scenario 1 - You need your federal dollars now and you don't mind having to do an amendment to get them. You could complete the consolidated app now and get an obligation date of July 1, 2021 and start drawing down funds once approved. When carryover is corrected, you will have to do an amendment to accept and obligate all funds before March 15, 2022.
  • Scenario 2 - You don't need your federal dollars immediately and would rather not do the consolidated app twice. In this case, you could wait until the carryover glitch is fixed and do just one application before the January 24 deadline. If the carryover is populated, you accept all the funds and obligate all the funds, you won't have to do an amendment.
  • One of the main things OES will be looking for is that all the numbers align between the Equitable Services Worksheet, NexSys, and MEGS+. These numbers all have to be entered by hand between the systems, so double check for accuracy.
  • Reminder: the app in NexSys is called the "Consolidated App" and the app in MEGS+ is called the "Consolidated App".
  • Here is a recording of a NexSys November 15th training session.

Sec 98b Progress Reports

The next requirement for 98b/104a comes at your February Board Meeting. Districts are required to provide a progress report on building goals to the board and to upload those progress reports to the district transparency webpage. A few notes about this:

  • Districts do not have to submit the progress reports to MDE.
  • Here is an optional progress report template that meets all the requirements of the law. While districts can choose to use a different progress report format, this one was created in collaboration with MDE and MAISA/GELN.
  • Full details on 98b/104a (Graphic | Info)

MASFPS Professional Learning in 21/22

2021-2022 MASFPS Directors’ Workshop Series (Formerly Known as Boot Camp)

  • 11 full and half day virtual sessions to support new and veteran educators directing and/or implementing State and Federal Programs.
  • Registration Link


2021-2022 MASFPS Professional Learning Institute (Replacing the Fall and Winter Institutes)

  • 6 half day virtual sessions & one face to face full day session, to support new and veteran educators directing and/or implementing State and Federal Programs.
  • Registration Link

Regional S&F Program Meetings

Muskegon Area ISD (Anyone can join, no registration)
  • January 26 at 9:00 (Zoom)
  • March 23 at 9:00 (Zoom)
  • May 6 - Save the date for MDE Spring Workshop


Ottawa Area ISD (Registration Link - Free, in-person only)

  • February 23 at 11:30 (note updated date)