In the 127th Maine State Legislative Session, "An Act to Implement Certain Recommendations of the Maine Proficiency Education Council" (S.P. 660 -- L.D. 1627) was passed into law as Chapter 489. This amended the chaptered law passed in 2012, "An Act to Prepare Maine People for the Future Economy" (S.P.439 -- L.D.1422),…

The Building Assets Reducing Risks (BARR) Model BARR is a comprehensive model that addresses the challenges that are part of the 9th grade transition year. BARR employs eight different school-wide and individual strategies that are built on positive relationships and ongoing monitoring of student data. In 2010, BARR received an Investing in…

Schools are facing tight budget times that call for doing more with less and finding ways to innovate, increase efficiency and effectiveness, and accelerate reform. At the top of the ideas for increasing productivity is moving ahead with efforts to personalize learning, leaving behind an instructional system modeled on the American factory of the…

Frustrated with years of below-average performance on standardized tests, high dropout rates and a negative image of its schools, the board of education in Maine School Administrative District 11, a 2,200-student school district in central Maine, charged a 15-member committee of educators, school board members and community representatives to…

Annually, ACT provides each state with "The Condition of College & Career Readiness," a report that details the college readiness of students who took the ACT[R] test. This report is a companion to "The Condition of College & Career Readiness." This paper traces the college enrollment, retention, re-enrollment, and…

This manual is intended to provide you with the most current materials and tools available for the development of Maine's Personalized Alternate Assessment Portfolio (PAAPs) during the 2004-05 school year. The PAAP process, while very similar to that used in 2003-04, has been updated based on input from teachers and other training participants.…

Details a study in which grade 9 females were assigned to either an all-female or mixed-sex algebra class. Findings indicate that the all-female intervention group demonstrated a greater gain in math scores between grades 8-11 than the nonintervention group. Contains 41 references. (DDR)

In 1990, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) included a Trial State Assessment (TSA); for the first time in the NAEP's history, voluntary state-by-state assessments were made. The sample was designed to represent the 8th grade public school population in a state or territory. In 1996, 44 states, the District of Columbia, Guam,…

This evaluation attempts to measure the extent and effectiveness of ESEA Title I programs designed to meet the needs of disadvantaged children and apprizes the public and the legislature of program outcomes. In keeping with USOE requirements for evaluating Title I programs, this document is constructed of (1) responses to USOE probes by…

This paper presents the appendices to the "High-Stakes Testing and Student Achievement: Problems for the No Child Left Behind Act" report. It contains the following appendices: (1) Example of Context for Assessing State-Level Stakes Sheet--Connecticut; (2) Example of Completed Rewards and Sanctions Worksheet--Connecticut; (3) Directions…

Under the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), standardized test scores are the indicator used to hold schools and school districts accountable for student achievement. Each state is responsible for constructing an accountability system, attaching consequences--or stakes--for student performance. The theory of action implied by this…