This report compiles the results of a survey of Maine superintendents and special education directors that was conducted in May of 2022. The purpose of the survey was to determine districts' awareness of ongoing policy conversations about transferring responsibility for preschool special education services from Child Development Services to School…

States have recognized the impact of high-quality early childhood education (ECE) on a child's later college and career readiness and success in life. Yet disparities in program access, quality, and resource allocation continue to deprive many young children and their families of adequate support. By investigating and applying state boards'…

This exploratory study uses data from 413 principals to examine whether and how competency-based education has been implemented in the Northeast states and the extent to which there is variation in implementation between states with different policies. Results suggest that competency-based practices that are most similar to current practices are…

Nationally, over the past few decades, standards-based school reform has taken root as a policy initiative and instructional model. This has advanced the use of learning standards and aligned assessments as a mechanism to bring consistency and clarity to public school curriculum and instruction, with the intention of raising student achievement.…

Maine replaced its existing high school statewide assessment with the SAT® and administered the exam to almost all public high school juniors. A primary goal of this policy change was to increase 4-year college enrollment by public school students in Maine. This brief report provides an overview of the data, research methodology employed, as well…

In the upper northeast corner of the United States, the commitment to competency education has grown so strong that entire states are embracing it through high-leverage comprehensive policies. Of the six New England states -- Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont -- four have established comprehensive state…

As requested by the Maine Legislature's Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs, the Maine Education Policy Research Institute (MEPRI) has conducted a study with the purpose of examining current research and evidence-based policies related to teacher credentialing systems. The goal is to inform revisions to Maine's current…

The purpose of this study was to examine how competency-based learning (CBL) is defined across states in the Regional Educational Laboratory Northeast and Islands region and gain insight into barriers and facilitators to implementation of this reform. Many states in the region have started to consider and implement competency-based learning as a…

The advent of new technologies and increased access to robust connectivity is reshaping the K-12 landscape for teaching and learning. School districts nationwide are leveraging digital instructional materials and resources to deliver transformative and impactful personalized learning opportunities for students and to enhance the administrative…

This report examines the ongoing effort to revamp teacher evaluations. After collecting and synthesizing data from 17 states and the District of Columbia, it provides five major lessons for policymakers. New evaluation systems are just one part of sweeping changes in American schools. Because the number and extent of these changes are daunting,…

The Every Students Succeeds Act (ESSA) provided states with newfound flexibility on accountability measures and school improvement strategies. Many policy experts have analyzed states' ESSA plans, which explain how states use their federal funds under various provisions of the new law, as well as the approaches states take to identify and rate…

Blueprints for education reform have become trendy. Over the last few years, President Obama, governors, chief state school officers, local superintendents' associations, policy institutes, foundations, and business leaders have formulated such documents to guide school improvement. This brief highlights: (1) the focus of current blueprints; (2)…

After two decades of major education reforms without seeing major gains for low-income students, state leadership is coming to the conclusion that there is something inherently wrong with America's K-12 system. States have called into question the time-based system built around the Carnegie unit and are now rapidly advancing an alternative. By…

As governors and state legislators gear up for a new year of budget action and policymaking, the federal Race to the Top competition is helping drive a flurry of measures nationwide aimed, at least in part, at making states stronger candidates for a slice of the $4 billion in education grants. Those efforts emerge as a priority in the 2010…

The National Center on Time & Learning (NCTL), an organization dedicated to redesigning and expanding school time to improve opportunities and outcomes for high poverty students, and the Education Commission of the States (ECS), with a mission to foster both the exchange of ideas on education issues among the states and long range strategic…