The Maine Legislature requested the Maine Education Policy Research Institute (MEPRI) to conduct an assessment of standardized testing in Maine schools to understand the amount, cost, and usefulness of it. This report summarizes the resulting effort, which included a literature scan, document analysis, and surveys of two groups of school…

This exploratory research surveyed faculty who instruct in community colleges from 18 states about their attitudes toward the concealed carry gun policies that allow appropriately licensed citizens to carry a handgun in public places such as college campuses. Building upon previous research involving 4-year institutions, we surveyed 1,889…

In this paper we discuss how the products of student work during long-term, interdisciplinary curricular units at King Middle School, a grades 6-8 public school in Portland, Maine, through their aesthetic qualities, transformed people's understanding of what children were capable of. We argue that, to effectively understand student work of this…

Student-centered learning encompasses four overlapping and complementary principles (JFF, 2014): competency-based progression, personalization, flexibility in where and when learning takes place, and facilitation of key skills and dispositions such as agency and ownership. To date, few studies have attempted to quantitatively characterize…

The Building Assets, Reducing Risks (BARR) model is a comprehensive, strength-based approach to education that aims to improve achievement for all students by improving a school's effectiveness at building relationships, leveraging real-time student data, and capitalizing on the strengths of each student. The U.S. Department of Education's…

"Assessment on college campuses has a sordid history, and it is fairly simple to find someone with a traumatic tale to tell. It is wise to respect that that reputation is deserved." "How do you modify the inner workings and culture of a massive institution with minimal resources and even less authority (other than GE course…

A rural Maine school system interviewed 10 administrators and 26 special-education teachers, technicians, and related service personnel as part of an analysis of its special-education services. Findings indicated a lack of a clear mission, limited administrative supervision, inconsistent prereferral procedures, increasing numbers of…

This twelfth edition of "The Condition of K-12 Public Education in Maine" is designed to provide Maine citizens, legislators, and educators a yearly report on the state of Maine public schools and education. This new edition updates educational information which appeared in earlier editions, and also provides information on several new…

Two articles are presented on the implementation of Reading Recovery in Maine. The first article, "Collaborative Efforts Can Make a Difference: The Development of Reading Recovery in Maine" articulates and shares the process which took place in Maine in the hope that it will assist interested stakeholders in other states in the…

As part of program evaluation for the Reading Recovery (RR) program in Maine, parents, classroom teachers, administrators, and RR teachers responded to open-ended survey questions, and they rated the program along dimensions of quality. This report summarizes and synthesizes the responses received across the state of Maine to the surveys…

A state survey of Maine industrial arts teachers sought to describe current curriculum attitudes and practices for use in developing teacher training curriculum at the University of Maine and to pursue the impact of Title IX (sex discrimination) legislation, new university faculty, and state and national curriculum efforts. One hundred randomly…

The York County (Maine) Transition Project was designed to improve postsecondary education and employment opportunities for learning-disabled students. Three survey forms for evaluating the impact of the project comprise this document. The first survey is a six-page questionnaire targeted to practitioners. It gathers data on: (1) the project's…

This report evaluates a program developed to address the shortage of qualified special education teachers in rural school districts in Maine. The goal of the program is to offer accessible special education training at the baccalaureate degree level to transitionally and conditionally certified special education teachers and to educational…

The Career Guidance Institute, an inservice education activity for educators in South Portland public schools, was designed to create a climate of sharing, action, and communication among educators, students, and businessmen. The format of the inservice programs included visitations to industry or businesses representing 1 of 10 selected career…

"Education Indicators" are facts and statistics that help to describe a public education system. They are tools which are useful in examining and measuring the effectiveness of the system. Examples include information such as the amount of local funds raised to support local schools, per pupil expenditures, pupil-teacher ratios, and…