About Mike Schmitz

Mike is the President of the Conover Company, an assessment company that focuses on transition, social/emotional learning, and independent living skills.

Soft Skills Roundup: August

Here at Conover, we are passionate about emotional intelligence and soft skills. We’ll be looking at six big examples which we think shine a light on how important understanding and developing soft skills can be.   1. News - Stephen Hawking: Black Holes “Are Not The Eternal Prisons” We Once Thought Source: [...]

By |2017-04-30T16:18:24-05:00September 4th, 2015|Education, News, Soft Skills|

Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act

On July 22, 2014, President Barack Obama signed the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) into law.  This is the first legislative reform of the public workforce system in more than 15 years. WIOA replaces the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 and retains and amends the Adult Education and Family [...]

By |2017-04-30T16:18:25-05:00September 18th, 2014|News|

New Budget Deal Spells Relief for SPED Programs

On December 26th, President Obama signed the 2-year budget deal proposed by Paul Ryan and Patty Murray. The bipartisan budget deal will restore about $22.5 billion in fiscal year 2014 of the $26 billion in non-defense discretionary funding cut out of the budget in fiscal year 2013. While it's still [...]

By |2017-04-30T16:18:25-05:00January 3rd, 2014|Education, News|

The Sequester Has Come – Now What?

Well, it finally happened. The sequester has come, and with it a 5% cut to most Special Education budgets. While that’s certainly not good news, it is better than the proposed 9% cut that had been talked about ad nauseum for the last several months. The big question now is: [...]

By |2017-04-30T16:18:27-05:00March 13th, 2013|Education, News|

It’s All About the Data

With the reporting requirements of the IDEA legislation and increased focus on transition and Indicator 13, data-tracking and accountability in Special Education is becoming an even bigger issue. And to be honest, it should. Be Accountable for Student's Success Now let me preface that statement by saying that I can [...]

By |2017-04-30T16:18:28-05:00December 11th, 2012|Education|

Don’t Think Band-Aid, Think big Picture

It’s been said that the first step in solving a problem is recognizing that there’s a problem. One of the biggest problems I hear from school districts all over the country is that they don’t have enough time to properly administer, score, interpret, and catalog assessment results that are required [...]

By |2017-04-30T16:18:28-05:00October 15th, 2012|Education|
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