Alignment

Commission on Maine’s Common Core of Learning 1990

Define knowledge, skills and attributes that all Maine students should have upon graduation from high school

Teaching and learning must be an integrated approach

Common Core is a non-disciplinary organization of knowledge, skills and attitudes

Alignment

Commission of Higher Education Governance 1996

Disconnect between the public government and the institutions of higher education

* Increase capacity for technical education

* Education Network of Maine be within the chancellor’s office and viewed as a system-wide service

* Each campus implement a comprehensive improvement plan

* Increased funding in Maine student Incentive Scholarship Program

* Investment in research and economic development

* Study of methods of financing public higher education

Alignment

Commission on Secondary Education 1998

Study public secondary schools and recommend ways to better fulfill the mission

*  Maine schools are graduating the highest proportion of eligible students in the state’s history

*  Secondary school students exhibit more varied and complex learning, social and emotional needs than in the past

*  Significant disparities exist in access to learning for students within the secondary schools of Maine

*  Academic achievement is, on average, high but uneven from school to school

*  Many Maine students (and some secondary educators) find secondary education irrelevant and feel disengaged from learning.

*  Maine students feel disengaged from serious decisions about their own education, about school life, and about their futures; many parents share these feelings

*  The highest percentage of graduates in Maine’s history is accepted at higher education institutions, but their rate of completion is no better than the national average, and they have low confidence in the value of higher education

*  Maine high schools serve many diffuse purposes and struggle to succeed at them all

*  To continue to raise this proportion and to assure that all graduates can perform at skill and knowledge levels as described by the Maine Learning Results.

*  To meet the needs of our increasingly diverse youth population without overtaxing the fiscal and human resources of our secondary schools

*  To assure equal access to learning for all Maine youth regardless of socioeconomic background, gender or educational history; to know well and to value every student and her/his learning styles, needs, and aspirations

*  To provide conditions for students, educators, and parents in all Maine communities that will give all students equal opportunities to meet Maine’s Learning Results and their own personal learning goals.

*  To authentically engage students, teachers and parents in learning experiences that are rigorous and that students find relevant to their current needs and future ambitions.

*  To develop means through which students and their parents can make important decisions about future goals and current educational activities and can participate democratically in shaping school procedures that significantly affect student learning.

*  To provide continuous personal, academic, and career service throughout the transitional years which encompass secondary and higher education to permit every Maine youth to prepare for a productive and fulfilling life

*  To focus the primary resources and energies of every Maine secondary school on its most central mission:  learning; to refocus social, athletic, cultural, and behavioral missions to serve this central mission in a coherent fashion

Creating a Portfolio of Great High Schools

Bill and Melinda Gates

Great high schools have three elements in common:

1. They expect every student to graduate ready for college or a family-wage job.

2. They engage all students in challenging course work that is relevant to their lives and their aspirations.

3. They are likely to be small—most educating no more than 100 students per grade—so that students get personal attention in a safe, respectful environment.

Districts should develop policies for supporting diverse schools:

* Quality assurance

* Options with equity

* Communication

* School formation

* Learning networks

“Locating the Drop-out Crisis”, June 2004)

Center for Social Organization of Schools, John Hopkins University

Three high school reform approaches promise to promote fundamental change to the traditional structure of large, non-selective neighborhood high schools—

* creation of new small schools

* creation of new medium-large theme based schools

* converting large high schools into multiple small learning communities

Professional Development

Commissioner Charged Early Literacy Workgroup 1998

Examine effective literacy practices

Common Characteristics:

* Professional development is shared, ongoing, and supported in a number of ways;

* Student performance data are used to improve student achievement;

* School staff work together to find solutions to instructional issues;

* Effective leadership is present, though it can come from people in different roles;

* Parents and community are engaged in multiple ways; and

* Various resources are used to respond to students’ needs.

*  Ongoing professional development is critical

*  Teachers must be given opportunities to learn from each other

*  Schools must be organized around literacy for all

*  Assessing children’s work to inform instruction is a powerful tool for improvement

*  Literacy starts before school and continuous for life

Technology

Maine Learning Technology Endowment Task Force (2001)

*  Recommend the ongoing structure, governance and oversight of the MLTE fund;

*  Assess the current use of technology in Maine classrooms;

*  Assess the current readiness of faculty to teach using technology

*  Determine the professional development needed to integrate technology into classroom teaching

*  Recommend a strategy and goals for improving and equalizing access to and the use of learning technology in all schools

*  Recommend a phased plan for implementing the MLTE program;

*  Recommend strategies that coordinate the resources and goals of the MLTE with Maine State Library Network and Maine Telecommunications Education Access Fund (State E-rate);

*  Coordinate strategies for K-12 learning technology with initiatives and resources of Maine higher education institutions; and

*  Recommend a plan to track and assess progress in implementing the goals of the MLTE program.

Vision – Developing a bold vision regarding the integration of learning technology in the education of our children;

Lifelong Learning – Supporting lifelong learning for Maine citizens;

Cost-Sharing – Fostering the equitable sharing of costs among federal, state, and local taxpayers and families, the private sector, and philanthropists;

Local Participation and Flexibility – Enabling local school units and communities to determine how the MLTE plan will complement local efforts, and providing the opportunity to use MLTE resources to meet and exceed the standards of the MLTE; and

MLTE Governance and Administrative Structure – Providing a governance and administrative structure that supports the effective investment, management, and implementation of endowment funds and the learning technology resources in accordance with the MLTE plan

State Learning Technology Plan:

1.  Structure and governance 12 member Learning Technology Advisory Board

2.  Finances – DAFS to act as fiscal agent for the endowment

3.  Program

     -  Access to technician for middle and high school level

     - Initial middle school phases

    -  Schools reflect letter of intent to participate

    -  Phase I – 7-8^th grade, Phase II – when practicable

    -  Coordinate with existing technical infrastructure

Alignment

Legislation Enacted Public Law 1999, Chapter 351 (2000)

In consultation with organizations representing school boards, school administrators, leaders, parents and other interested local officials and community leaders.  The Commissioner shall develop statewide standards for “responsible and ethical student behavior.”  State statute, Title 20-A §100(15).  Adoption of student code of conduct on local level.

See actions that individuals can take in roles within the community (p. 8).

*  Use the legislative mandate for codes of conduct, and this report to spark extensive dialogue and real reforms in every community

*  Persist in and expand efforts to change the structures of schools to reflect a more democratic culture that is responsive to individualized learning needs.

*  Partner with existing programs and initiatives that address school climate, violence prevention, intervention, and asset-building, to support the development of the whole child.

*  Support training and development which equips all school staff to take action to support an ethical school culture

*  Establish outcome indicators and model assessment tools that schools can use to measure progress and test effectiveness.

Goals 1-6

Policy Institute for Public Education

Report – High Expectations:  A Ten Year Goal Statement for Maine Public Education 

December 2003

An adequately funded public education system based on the Essential Programs and Services principles is important not only for high student achievement, but also for a vibrant state economy dependent on a well-prepared and highly skilled workforce.  Such a system will also result in a cultural climate which promotes a wide diversity of political, intellectual, and technological expression designed to retain young adults in our state.  Public funding for municipal and educational services linked to reasonable accountability measures, which assess achievement of the Learning Results (1) at the K-12 level, and research leading to similar descriptors of outcomes for public higher education shall ensure equity in taxation for governmental units and individuals and equality of access to all levels of education for Maine citizens.

Three highest priority goals:

*   Need for regionalization or consolidation of school units

*   Importance of school funding based on EPS (by 2012 will be fully established

*   Curriculum built on Learning Results

*   Other related goals

INSTRUCTION

*   An assessment system is in place, which holds individual schools accountable for the academic performance of students and provides for continuous improvement in planning and instruction

*   Maine will have available an adequate pool of talented and committed graduates from pre-service preparation programs.  In addition, there will be incentives, both financial and educational, to attract so-called non-traditional applicants to alternative certification programs.  Differentiated compensation programs will attract qualified applicants to shortage areas such as the physical sciences, mathematics, and speech education.  Disincentives to careers in education will be reduced (retirement benefits, low starting salaries, government pension offsets precluding most teachers from accessing social security benefits).

*   To define the issues, determine strategies, and implement policy to ensure that high quality teaching occurs in every Maine classroom.

*  Special education funding will have been incorporated into the Essential Programs and Services model, similar to other aspects of public education.  Approaches to assuring a consistent approach to identifying those in need of special education services will be applied based upon federal and state laws and guidelines and on a coordinated approach via the regional cooperatives

*   In 2001, the practices that have been found to propel secondary student achievement and development are implemented throughout all Maine secondary schools.  Through evidence collected by the Center of Inquiry on Secondary Education after 12 years of investigation, the Department of Education, with the support of the relevant professional education organizations, created policies and procedures for the conduct and practices of Maine’s secondary schools.  The new policies and procedures promote:  (1) a safe, respectful and caring environment; (2) high universal expectations with a variety of learning opportunities; (3) understanding and actions based on assessments data; (4) teachers’ practices, which values and builds upon the contributions and needs of each learner; (5) equitable and democratic practices; and (6) coherence among mission, goals, actions, and outcomes.

*   Maine students will attend schools which provide environments, instructional capacity, and curricula ensuring that our students complete their education having the tools necessary for pursuing the exploding capacity of technology to provide access to information and analytical tools.

*   A research program will have been established to determine the educational value of the various communications infrastructures within Maine.  This will include a close look at the impact on student learning, accessibility, teacher training and professional development, adult education, and community use.

*   By 2013 every four-year-old in Maine shall have access to a publicly supported education program.  Such programs shall be designed to meet the goal of every child coming to school ready to learn.  In addition, every kindergarten child should be enrolled in an all-day program.

POLICY RESEARCH

*   To assure that current research and practice are part of policy deliberations and considerations when promulgated by the Department of Education, the State Board of Education, and the Legislature.

GOVERNANCE

*   To define a system which has addressed the issues of funding, schedules, and other critical problems and to develop state public policy with regard to vocational education.

*   Each region’s cooperative will include school choice as part of planning effort.  A second specialized magnet school has been established.

*   To place CDS services in the combined Department of Mental Health and Human Services.

*   To acknowledge the role of higher education in the economy and reflect that role in public policy decisions.

*   To support a seamless PreK-16 relationship that incorporates changing standards and increasing accountability for schools, student, and educators.  The University of Maine System (UMS) has made the preparation of teachers both at the bachelor’s and master’s levels a priority.

*  To support the growth of the Community College System to meet the needs of Maine.

*   A core of academic courses for the first two years of education in both Community College and University System campuses insures transferability of credits among institutions.

*   The State of Maine has established through passage of a bond package a fund for the purpose of providing scholarships, loans and other forms of financial assistance for citizens of the state pursuing post-secondary education programs.

*   The role of the school boards as policymakers has been reaffirmed.  Boards grant expanded responsibilities to superintendents who are chief executive officers of the school unit.

*   The State Board of Education is the lead body in the development of short-and long-range plans for K-12 education.  Legislation affirming this role has been enacted.

*   A process of attracting and certifying non-traditionally prepared future teachers and administrators has been established.

*   Ten-year plans for public education are updated regularly.

*   The State Constitution has been rewritten and fully endorsed requiring the State, as well as the local administrative units, to jointly provide adequate and equitable education to each Maine student.

*   An adequate and equitable education-funding program has been established.

*   To ensure student and taxpayer equity.

*   To have lobbied for a broader federal role for funding of public education.

SOCIAL SERVICES

*   In ten years Maine will have established a definition of the role of education including the social service needs of children in learning environments.  Teacher training, support services, family stability, health, nutrition, curriculum elasticity, access to information, understanding of emotional developmental, and mental health issues should be considered when defining the role of education.

*   The public schools will have the capacity to identify and provide a variety of services to Medicaid eligible students.  These services include all of the allied support services:  speech and language, occupational therapy, counseling, and, in some cases, physical therapy.  Public schools have the capacity to either provide these services directly on a fee-for-service basis or to contract with an external agent to provide the same set of services.  Contracting allows the school system to access all of the same benefits without having to manage or pay for the billing system.

*   To have investigated the potential effectiveness of creating integrated services within public schools.

“Responding to the Crisis in College Opportunity” January 2004

“To prepare for the nation’s long-term needs, each state should:

*  Assure transfer opportunity to four-year colleges for all qualified community college students.

*  Initiate a process to specify and implement long-term higher education goals that would increase college access and completion.”

Finance

Essential programs and services

To define and quantify the resources that are necessary for each child in Maine to meet the standards set by the Learning Results

Essential programs are those programs and courses Maine schools need to offer all student so that they may meet the Learning Results standards in the eight Learning Results program areas of:  (a) Career Preparation; (b) English Language Arts; (c) Health & Physical Education; (d) Mathematics; (e) Modern and Classical Languages; (f) Science and Technology; (g) Social Studies; (h) Visual and Performing Arts. 

Distribution of funds based on three prototypical schools and grade configurations: 

Elementary K-5

Middle 6-8

Secondary 9-12

Aspirations

Maine Compact for Higher Education May 2004

*  Partner with existing Maine business, government, education and community organizations to implement forward-looking strategies to raise educational attainment among Maine students and adult learners;

*  Evaluate the results of these initiatives through an annual report on progress;

*  Launch and manage a multi-year campaign to change the values, expectations and behaviors of Maine citizens regarding higher education;

*  Promote innovation and best practices in expanding educational attainment; and

*  Provide a consistent and unified voice that promotes higher education, and asks leaders locally and statewide to take responsibility for achieving the goal of increased educational attainment.

Five Action Steps: 

1.  Create Maine’s Promise Scholarship Program to ensure that no Maine student is defined a college education for financial reasons.

2.  Create the Maine Early College Initiative to encourage students to continue their education beyond high school.

3.  Introduce the Maine College Transition Initiative to help adults earn degrees.

4.  Establish the College for ME Employer Initiative to help employers support the education of their workforce.

5.  Launch a comprehensive College or ME Campaign to change public perceptions of higher education and behaviors toward going to college.

Additional Considerations:

1.  Expanding Learning Results

2.  Require Completion of a College Application or Financial-aid Application for High School Graduation

3.  Use Distance Education to Improve Transitions

4.  Create a Pre-K-to-16 System

5.  Reward Degree Completion

6.  Support Working Adult Students

7.  Hold Summit on Higher Education Attainment

8.  Invest in Public Higher Education

9.  Ensure Uniform Data Collection on Attainment and Performance

10.Reward Institutions for Performance

11.Make College Savings Universal for Maine Families

12.Bolster Existing Financial Aid Programs

13.Forgive Loans for College Graduates Who Live and Work in Maine

14.Extend Student Aid to Adults

Creating a Portfolio of Great High Schools

Bill and Melinda Gates

Great high schools have three elements in common:

1. They expect every student to graduate ready for college or a family-wage job.

2. They engage all students in challenging course work that is relevant to their lives and their aspirations.

3. They are likely to be small—most educating no more than 100 students per grade—so that students get personal attention in a safe, respectful environment.

Districts should develop policies for supporting diverse schools:

* Quality assurance

* Options with equity

* Communication

* School formation

* Learning networks

K-12 Educator Recruitment and Retention Commission (April 2001) est. by Resolve, Chapter 130 as amended by PL 1999 Chapter 790 Part M

Four categories for data analysis:

*   Teacher and Administration Supply and Demand

*   Retention of Teaches and Administrators

*   Recruitment of Teachers and Administrators

*  Strategies used or considered in other states

*   Over 99% of Maine teaches are white

*   71% of Maine teachers are women

*   The average age of Maine teachers is in the low to mid 40’s

*   42% of Maine teachers have 19 or more years of experience

*  Maine higher education programs play a critical role in addressing teacher shortages

*  33% of all Maine teachers have a Masters degree

*  In 1990-00 there were 1493 school administrators

*  Over 99% of Maine administrators are while

*  Maine administrators are older and more experienced than teachers

*  The number of administrators is no longer decreasing

Compensation:  Teachers paid on a salary schedule.

There are more certificates to teach than there are teaching positions.

Educator Compensation recommends:

*   that the Legislature increase the salary of teachers

*   that the Legislature establish a Blue Ribbon Commission on administrator compensation and incentives

*   that the Legislature undertake a study of the Maine State Retirement System

*   that the Maine Education Association and Maine School Management Association undertake a study of local salary schedules

Education Recruitment recommends:

*   that the Department of Education establish the Educator Recruitment and Retention Unit

*   that the Legislature provide scholarships for students who commit to three years of teaching in Maine

*   that the State Board of Education finalize, without further delay, development of alternative routes to certification

Educator Induction recommends:

*  that local school units provide induction support during transitions into teaching

*  that local school units provide induction support during transitions into administration

*  that the Legislature fund the added cost of induction of individuals new to teaching or administration

Educator Retention recommends:

*  that local school units provide opportunities for flexibility in the jobs of educators

*  that the Legislature support teachers seeking National Board Certification

*  that the University of Maine System expand accessibility to specialized coursework

*  that the Department establish a Center for Inquiry on School Leaderhsip

*  that the Legislature establish a commission to examine governance structures and models

Recommendations on Raising the Status of the Education Profession:

*  that the State Board of Education work to improve the image of educators in Maine

Recommendations for the Congressional Delegation:

*  that Maine’s Congressional delegation lead a review and revision to the Social Security system to eliminate “the general pension offset” and the “spousal offset”

*  that Maine’s Congressional delegation lead a review and revision to immigration requirements to permit qualified foreign nationals to teach in Maine.

Wise Stewardship

Achieving Results

January 2003

Development of quality standards which have been adopted as rule in Section 8 of Chapter 125

Quality Standard #1:  (Continuous Improvement)

The system of training and development is a cycle of continuous improvement.

Quality Standard #2: 

(Focus on Results) 

The system of training and development focuses on professional practices that improve the learning and growth of all students.

Quality Standard #3: 

(Organizational Alignment)

The system of training and development aligns with other systems in the school administrative unit and integrates individual development with building goals and unit goals.

Quality Standard #4: 

(Use of Research Data)

Decision-making in the system of training and development is driven by information from local, state and national sources.

Quality Standard #5:

(Participation)

The system of training and development defines relevant roles for all stakeholders.

University of Maine System Strategic Plan

The purpose of the University of Maine System is to provide for an educated and diverse citizenry through high-quality teaching, research, and public service.  The System lends vision and leadership to higher education in Maine and serves as an economic engine for the State.  It advocates financial and political support for higher education and allocates resources to serve the educational needs of the State.

The overarching goals of the UMS Strategic Plan include to:

Greatly increase the quality of higher education in Maine by leveraging the System’s strengths and responding to the evolving needs of Maine’s citizens and communities;

Develop a system of institutions that are resource efficient and high performance in nature, a System that recognizes and is highly responsive to the severe resource issues facing the State of Maine;

Leverage resources through strategic and targeted investment within the System, building on opportunities and positioning the System to become a significant economic engine for Maine’s economy.

In the next four years the University of Maine System will have a financial structural gap of $85 million.  Trustees have called on the system to explore the goal of creating a seamless system of higher education that is driven solely by the needs of the people of Maine.

Strategic Direction 1:  Strive for quality across the System and support institutions in achieving their potential through rigorous academic program planning, strengthened student services, and program realignment throughout the System.

Strategic Direction 2:  Ensure a high-quality and well-supported faculty throughout the System, with strong faculty development programs to enhance faculty’s ability to contribute to the excellence of academic programs and research.

Strategic Direction 3:  Create a comprehensive, state-of-the-art System-wide Distance Education program, leveraging current strengths, and further centralizing program offerings and development.

Strategic Direction 4:  Enhance the library resources available to the System and to the State of Maine by supporting a single high-quality research library serving System campuses at the University of Maine, which is a Doctoral/Research University—Extensive, and a State-wide Digital Library to support all other institutions and the people of Maine.

Strategic Direction 5:  Strengthen and leverage research throughout the State to ensure greater breadth and depth of research and a greater capacity to use research to enhance Maine’s economy.

Strategic Direction 6:  Require accountability from all Universities by providing the appropriate goals and objectives and carefully assessing each Institution’s ability to meet its goals.

Strategic Direction 7:  Centralize the System’s business/administrative functions to leverage resources and increase effectiveness of service throughout the System.

Strategic Direction 8:  Evolve the System organization and structure, clearly defining the niches and interrelationships of institutions to ensure that the System serves the higher education needs of the State of Maine while moving toward a financially sustainable future.

Maine Health Care Workforce Needs Survey:  Maine’s Hospitals, Long-term Care Facilities, and Home Health Care Services (September 2001)

*  Assess the projected demand for high-skill, college-level workers in three major segments of Maine’s health care industry.

*  Assess the projected supply of Maine’s college graduates in relationship to projected health care workforce needs.

*  Provide data to help Maine’s higher education and public policy leaders identify health care programs that potentially need to be created or expanded to address health care industry needs.

1.  A total of 2,212 workforce vacancies were projected through December 2002 for the 25 health care occupations revealing the greatest shortages.  For these 25, the number of projected 2002 higher education graduates is 670.  Therefore, the total projected workforce shortage for these 25 occupations is 1,542.

2.  Through December 2002, nursing positions are projected to experience the largest occupational shortage, with a combined deficit of 1,053 registered and licensed practical nurses.

3.  There is a wide range of health care occupations displaying significant projected shortages in addition to the nursing profession.  These occupations revealed a combined projected shortage of 489 workers.

4.  Fifteen of the top 20 health care occupations with the greatest projected shortages require one or two years of post-secondary education.  Of these 15, eight are among the fastest-growing and highest-paying in the state for occupations requiring one or two years of post-secondary education.  Please refer to Section 2 for more detailed data.

5.  Significant shortages are projected for a number of health care occupations (e.g., pharmacist, pharmacy technician) for which there are currently no higher education programs in Maine.

6.  For certain health care occupations, survey results indicate a potential over-supply of graduates relative to workforce demand.  However, because graduates in these fields (e.g., medical assistant) are needed by private practitioners as well as by hospitals, long-term care facilities, and home health care services, the current survey does not reflect total workforce demand.

Aspirations

“Status of Teaching in Maine:  A Policy Inventory” Prepared by Maine Education Policy Research Institute 1997

To inventory information about how teaching is supported and what the needs of the current teaching force are in Maine as a basis for informing public dialogue and policy development.

Need for a centrally located database.  In 1995 the Maine Legislature established the Maine Education Policy Research Institute which is jointly funded by the legislature and the University of Maine System.  Summary of statistical brief on the Education Achievement of Maine Citizens: 

√  Among people aged 20-54, the bulk of the workforce, a relatively high percentage of Maine citizens have completed high school (Maine ranked 19^th in 1990); but Maine people don’t have as many higher degrees relative to people in other states.

√  Maine does very well compared to other states in the percent of 20 year olds with a high school diploma (Maine ranked 8^th among the states in 1990).

√  Since 1993, there has been a slight decrease in the number of degrees awarded annually by Maine institutions of higher education.

√  Enrollment in Maine’s institutions of higher education has been generally declining since 1989, and Maine ranks very low nationally in terms of the number of people enrolled in higher education institutions relative to resident population (Maine ranked 48^th in higher education enrollment per capita in 1993).

√  Since 1991, the percentage of Maine high school graduates proceeding directly on to higher education has steadily increased.  Among those going on, a greater proportion are going out of state to continue their education.

Common Core is a non-disciplinary organization of knowledge, skills and attitudes