Seeking Replacements | Minimum Recommended Materials List
Before a product is approved for use in the Michigan Model® Curriculum it must pass a rigorous review process. Therefore when one of these materials is no longer available because it is not published, released or manufactured anymore, a similar review process is required for replacing it.
The first step in materials replacement is to determine if the material is essential to the lesson. In other words, can the learning objective(s) of the lesson be met without this material? If so, the material will be listed on the "no longer available" list. This means that if you have the material, keep using it. There is nothing wrong with it. However if you do not have it, continue to teach the lesson without it. Most of the materials on this list were integration ideas or optional activities.
If the material is determined to be essential to meeting the lesson objectives it becomes part of a "call for materials." Letters of request are sent to publishers, producers and distributors asking that they review the lesson and suggest any product or products from their offerings that might be suitable replacements. In addition, a web search and visits to local book stores present options as well. Once the materials are gathered, they are reviewed for content to make certain they meet the needs of the lesson. Those that do appear to meet that need are sent on to the Materials Review Committee which is comprised of a minimum of one representative each from the Michigan Department of Community Health, the Michigan Department of Education and the Comprehensive School Health Coordinator's Association.
Materials that pass that review process are then accepted to the curriculum. The contracting of the rewriting of the lesson is next. The lesson(s) where the new materials will be used are rewritten to provide an either-or option, allowing the use of the original material if still in use or the new material for newly implementing schools. Those rewrites are then included in the next printing of the teacher manual. To keep manuals current, the rewrites are also presented here on the web in the form of pdf addenda. To view the addenda for the Michigan Model®, click here.
This process is designed to keep the curriculum teachable and current. If you would be interested in assisting with the search for replacement materials, please review the list of those currently be sought and e-mail titles you think would be appropriate for review. View the materials needed list by clicking here.
This page last revised 11/21/02