Frequently Asked Questions

About the

Maine Educational Assessment (MEA)

Maine Department of Education

 

 

Why do Maine students do so well in comparison to their counterparts around the country?

            As recent results on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) indicate, Maine 4^th and 8^th grade students rank at the top of the nation in reading and math.  These results reflect the hard work of our excellent teachers, our small class sizes, and a long history of using assessment strategies—including the MEA—that require students to apply their knowledge in more complex ways than traditional tests have done.

 

Are we over-testing our students?

Students will spend roughly 30 hours during their 13 years of education taking the state test and will sit for the test only three times—grades 4,8, and 11.  During their education, students will spend over 300 hours in classroom instruction for every hour they sit for the statewide test.

 

How has the Department responded to the critical feedback from local educators and parents about the MEA?

            A number of improvements were made for the 1999-2000 school year, including reducing overall test length by 3 ½ hours, changing the test schedule, redesigning the Grade 4 test booklet to enable students to answer questions directly in the booklet, and improving the test design process to be sure the test is fair and appropriate in all content areas.

 

Do the results on the MEA suggest that the Learning Results should be revised?

No.  The Learning Results will remain stable for the immediate future.  Though the Learning Results were created to be a dynamic set of standards, subject to change over time, the immediate focus for Maine must be on extending the work on the Comprehensive System of Assessment.  Discussions are currently underway within the Department to determine effective strategies for addressing short-term concerns with some performance indicators and content standards.

 

Now that students are tested on the Learning Results, won’t local schools have to adopt them as a state curriculum?

            No.  The Learning Results represent the agreed-upon ends of the learning process, but they are not a curriculum.  Local school districts still have to develop their own curriculua that align with the Learning Results but which must address more areas than just the outcomes:  assessment practices, instructional methods, resources, interdisciplinary connections, and implications for further teacher training and development, to name but a few.

 

Won’t teachers be compelled to teach to the test?

            “Teaching to the test” with the new MEA is not necessarily a bad thing because the test is designed to measure how well students are applying essential knowledge and skills, not just reciting facts.  Teachers have reshaped their instructional programs to align with standards used in the MEA.  In writing, for example, teachers have used the MEA scoring rubric to help students identify and apply quality standards to their writing. 

 

Will the MEA be used to determine if a student meets standards for graduation from high school?

Aligning aspects of school policies to the Learning Results will take a number of years.  The MEA could be one component of graduation standards based on Learning Results, but it will not be a required exit exam from high school.  The Maine Department of Education is beginning an inclusive process to ask teachers and the public how to address the issue.

 

How come the state is testing students on things they haven’t been taught yet?

The standards contained in the Learning Results represent long-term goals for student achievement.  While it will take time for local schools to adjust their local curricula to these standards, it is important to collect baseline data about where we are now and to monitor progress in coming years.  This feedback for local schools will give them constructive information about where adjustments need to be made in local instructional programs.

 

Is it fair to hold all schools accountable for Learning Results standards given the disparities in resources?

The Department has developed a four-year plan to reduce the inequities in funding levels.  The State Board of Education has undertaken a major study of what programs and services will be essential to meet the Learning Results.  This study will serve as a foundation for revising the way resources are developed and allocated to local schools.  In the meantime, there is much evidence to suggest that resources are only part of the picture.  The state will continue to provide technical support and information about effective practices, many of which are not resource dependent.

 

Will the Department rank schools by performance on the MEA?

            No.  The Department will, however, be posting district profiles—including MEA scores—on the DOE website to provide accurate and up-to-date information to Maine parents and citizens.

 

What happens to schools that perform poorly?

At present, no actions will be undertaken by the state if local schools do poorly on the test.  However, the new MEA provides information that parents and citizens can use locally to hold their schools accountable for performance.  As required by the Learning Results statute, the Legislature must review recommendations currently under development for a District Assistance Plan that will allow the state to monitor local school performance on the MEA and to provide varying degrees of assistance, support, and intervention based on the severity and duration of low performance.

 

How are teachers at the local level assessing student achievement?

At the local level, teachers around the state have been using performance tasks, student portfolios, and other methods of assessment that stress defining quality standards for student work coupled with rich conversations about how student work compares to those standards.  This type of assessment is woven more naturally into daily classroom activities and provides much richer information for all parties—students, parents, teachers, and policy makers—so that improved results can follow.  The local component and the MEA make up Maine’s Comprehensive Assessment System (CAS).

 

What is the state doing to help schools develop the local part of the Comprehensive Assessment System?

Each school and district in Maine needs to evaluate their current methods of assessing student learning, develop assessment tools as needed to ensure that achievement of the Learning Results is certified by the assessment system, and retrain personnel to carry this out.  The state is supporting teacher professional development through the Maine Assessment Portfolio Program, clarifying standards for the system, working with CAS pilot sites, publishing toolkits and self-assessment devices, and providing technical assistance by Department field staff as requested.  The Department also administers over $5 million in federal grant monies targeted toward standards-based reform in our schools and $1 million of state professional development funds for Learning Results implementation.

 

 As a parent, whom do I talk to about my school’s results or my own child’s results?

Your first point of contact is your local school principal and your child’s teacher.  Each school has received copies of the student reports and a separate report that summarizes the school’s results.  If, after consulting with local school personnel, there are aspects of your report that appear to be inaccurate or incomplete, you may contact the office of Dr. Horace Maxcy, MEA Coordinator at the Department of Education.