Transitions confront Maine education

Maine is experiencing a paradigm shift in the way it educates and assesses students as continuous learners. Recognized as a national leader for its ongoing commitment to school reform, Maine enters the era of performance-based accountability with model standards, high expectations for students, educators and schools, and a strong performance record on state and national tests. But the cost and complexities of sustaining this progress and meeting existing and future challenges are huge.

The Maine Learning Results – statewide content and performance standards with measurable performance indicators at both state and local levels – set clear expectations and strong accountability for quality teaching and learning for all students regardless of the location or wealth of their community. The standards call for using a variety of assessments to encompass the different ways children learn and provide a support system to schools needing improvement.

The reauthorization of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act, known as the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, echoes the high-quality and accountability goals of the state standards. It measures progress through yearly national testing and imposes sanctions on low-performing or “failing” schools.

Maine State Board of Education hearings are currently under way to revamp rules on how teachers are certified. And institutions that prepare educators are examining and redesigning their programs to ensure graduates are successful in a performance-based instructional and assessment system.

The way Maine educates and assesses its children was not approached or intended as a quick fix. More than a decade of examination, pilot projects and tremendously hard work on the part of educators and many other stakeholders resulted in adoption of uniform learning standards for Maine students. Similar work is under way to frame appropriate assessments to measure the progress of each child.

In short, Maine is moving:

. from a system that has sorted children of different abilities, tracked them into various achievement levels and tested them in a fashion that produces a normal distribution with a few high achievers, a few failures and most falling somewhere around “average”;

. to a system that assumes all children can learn at high levels, creates learning standards and assesses students against those standards, employing a wide range of measures that, optimally, permit all students to demonstrate attainment of the standards.

The transition associated with implementing and measuring the state learning standards and meeting the new federal regulations will not be quick, simple or easy on the pocketbook. The Maine Legislature and policy-makers at every level must understand the nature of this fundamental systemic change in education and the complexities and costs of making it happen and succeed.

Here’s a look at a few of the pertinent issues and the questions they raise:

1. Changing the culture of schools

Bringing uniformity to teaching and learning will change more than pedagogy and curriculum. The Maine Learning Results account for predispositions, attitudes and trait-building students need to develop in school, as well as knowledge and specific skills. In addition, new federal regulations call for teachers to regularly demonstrate their competency and for schools to account for student achievement. What changes in teacher behavior and attitude are necessary to implement standards-based learning? What changes in teacher preparation are required?

2. Coordinating the pre-K-16 public-education continuum

The interface of K-12 with post-secondary education and greater emphasis on early childhood development and learning become even more important with implementation of the Maine Learning Results and performance-based assessment. After 2007, school systems must certify that their graduates have achieved the standards. Will the state university and technical college system accept and build off the curricula and learning of incoming students or continue to exist independently of K-12 standards and expectations? Will higher education assure admission for students “certified” by their high schools?

The University of Maine System’s new Public Education Partnership Action Plan is already seeking greater collaboration and connection throughout the education continuum – from early childhood through adulthood. This plan is targeted at improving the effectiveness of transition from one stage to another of the education continuum. With more public schools offering programs for 4-year-olds and more adults returning to earn a high school diploma or update job skills, this continuum is constantly expanding at both ends.

3. Promoting equity and excellence in state funding

A plaguing achievement gap exists between students of low and high socio-economic status in Maine schools. The first step to reduce this gap was the development of Maine’s Learning Results. The second step is being taken in development of an Essential Programs and Services model to fund and sustain the Learning Results standards equitably statewide. The third step – one that calls for bold legislative action – is committing new dollars for EPS funding. Where will this money come from? If the needed dollars are not found soon, will full implementation of the Maine Learning Results need to be delayed?

The state share of local education costs has dropped steadily while schools are pressured locally to keep the same level of programming. The costs for backfilling state decreases have been passed on to local taxpayers who have covered the decreases to save valued programs. In this regard, their commitment has been extraordinary, particularly in proportion to their means. But today, communities have reached the limit of what their property tax base can afford. Without changes in state funding for K-12, we will next see a reduction in programs and levels of service within our schools, which will defeat the intent of the state standards.

4. Recruiting and retaining teachers and administrators

It is increasingly difficult to find and keep highly qualified teachers, especially in the shortage areas of mathematics, physical science, foreign languages and special education, as well as school administrators. Low salaries, too little respect for the profession, the challenging nature of today’s classrooms, barriers in credentialing and the Social Security offset that penalizes retired public employees in Maine are among the problems to address. What will be Maine’s answers to the problem of attracting and rewarding its teaching force of the future?

5. Achieving and maintaining equity amid shifting demographics

The southern migration of Maine’s population coupled with Maine’s low birth rate present serious problems for schools in central, northern and eastern regions. Those losing enrollments struggle to sustain a satisfactory scope of programs, a critical mass of students, and even their community schools. The question of how small a school can become before it loses its effectiveness both in terms of cost and adequacy of learning opportunities is being asked with greater frequency today.

School consolidation is being proposed as a policy strategy, but it often meets strong local resistance. On the other hand, schools in southern Maine face overcrowding, understaffing, lack of sufficient resources, and a funding formula that appears to be unresponsive to new resource needs. Can comprehensive state policies be developed that will equitably address such diverse geographic and demographic needs?

Education of our next generation will determine economic development and, to a great extent, the quality of life in Maine. A key determinant is quality schools, sustained by realistic policy and appropriate resources. Indeed, funding the full cost of implementing Maine’s Learning Results in the face of competing needs and revenue shortages will make budget decisions very difficult and controversial over the next few years. However, while we strive for cost savings, we must maintain our commitment to educational excellence. Our teachers and schools deserve and will need strong support from the state, regional and community levels during this complicated but promising transition.

Robert A. Cobb is dean of the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Maine.