Getting to eGLCEs:
One Center Program’s Journey
Wing Lake Developmental Center
Bloomfield Hills, MI
Thomai Gersh, Supervisor of Special Education
1982-83

Members of 6 Oakland County center programs began to work
on the development of a common county curriculum.

Developmental sequences from the Washtenaw and Ingham
County curricula (as well as the Carolina and Hawaii) were
reviewed. What resulted from this county-wide effort became
known as the Wing Lake SMI/SXI Outcome-Based Curriculum.

The curriculum was functional, based on the development of
communication/socialization, productivity (fine motor),
mobility (gross motor), recreation/leisure and personal (selfhelp).

Many revisions of the Wing Lake Curriculum were done over
the years.
1995-96
 Trainings for use of the Wing Lake Curriculum were
done across Oakland County.
 Over 80 copies of the curriculum were distributed
and became widely used by SMI/SXI center
programs.
2002-03
 The AUEN framework was introduced as the basis for the
development of a state-wide alternate assessment (MIACCESS).
 The Wing Lake SMI/SXI Outcomes-based Curriculum was
revised again, aligning it with the AUEN framework.
Again, WL staff traveled throughout the state teaching the
use of the Wing Lake SCI?SXI Outcomes-Based
Curriculum.
 Piloting and then formal use of MI-ACCESS began
throughout the state.
2005-06
A state-wide curriculum project was sponsored by SLIP
of MAASE. The result of that on-going project was a
melding of the Wing Lake Outcomes-based
Curriculum, along with the best of many others, into a
new format. This new “curriculum” was crossreferenced with AUEN.
This became known as the Michigan Model
Curriculum—now named the Michigan Model
Curriculum Supports-- (Participation and
Supported Independence levels).
2006-07
MI-ACCESS testing included Math and
English/Language Arts items with no prior
notification to center programs who had
focused instruction on functional/daily-living
skills.
2007-08
Wing Lake staff was challenged to develop instructional
activities aligned with eGLCEs. They were given copies of
the Michigan Standards—Extended Grade Level
Expectations for English/Language Arts, Mathematics and
Science.
Each month, WL teachers took turns presenting lessons
(some old, some new) and any and all eGLCEs that were
addressed in each lesson. Lesson plans were shared with
all other staff.
This process was presented to the Bloomfield Hills School
Board and to all WL parents at our Open House.
2008-09
Grade Level (Elementary, Middle School, High School) eGLCEs became the
narrowed focus of instruction for WL classroom teachers. Working in three level
teams, staff reviewed the eGLCEs for each content area.
Teacher/therapist groups at each “grade” level did curricular mapping in order to
identify yearly content/standard goals in each grade level. The curricular maps
were to cover a 3-4 year cycle. The yearly plans prioritized the core skills to be
mastered in each content area.
Subjects of English/Language Arts, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies were
plotted into each classroom schedule as a reminder of the shift of instruction to
include eGLCEs as well as functional and therapeutic goals.
Mid-year, Unique Learning Systems came to our attention as an option for
planning instructional units.
2009-10
Continuing with the Unique Learning Systems Thematic
Units for the basis of instruction of English/Language Arts,
Math and Science, level teams collaborated on
development of unit books and activities. Functional skill
development was still embedded into the day, along with
the pre-academic content areas.
Each teacher wrote one IEP goal that corresponds to an
eGLCE for each student. (Although I thought that there
would be no SCI/SXI students who “need” a reading,
math or science goal, each teacher was able to find an
appropriate, relevant eGLCE to include in the IEP.)
2010-11
Use of the Standards-Based IEP
We’re almost there!
Contacts:
Wing Lake Developmental Center
6490 Wing Lake Road
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302
248-341-7900
Thomai Gersh: tgersh@bloomfield.org