Academic standards provide a set of clear expectations as to what students should know, understand and be able to explain as they progress through each K-12 grade level.
Since 1997, Maine has had the Maine Learning Results as its State standards for eight content areas and periodically updates them to ensure they are aligned with the evolving expectations of colleges and careers in the 21st century. The Maine Learning Results were most recently updated in 2011 to include Common Core as the college and career readiness standards for English language arts and math, better preparing our students for success in college, career and civic life by creating deeper, more rigorous and clearer expectations for learning.
The updated standards, adopted after a public process in 2011 and fully implemented in the 2013-14 school year, emphasize more complex content and concepts and the development of needed real-world skills like problem-solving, collaboration, critical thinking and communication. These skills are imperative for Maine students to succeed and our state to thrive. The strengthened standards set a high bar for all Maine students, no matter their school. How Maine educators go about helping students meet and exceed those standards – including curriculum, required reading or school operations – remains entirely a local decision.
Shared standards with other states are not new to Maine. Since 2009, Maine has had its standards in common with New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont, when these states began using the same assessment, the NECAP.
Guiding Principles of the Maine Learning Results
- The following Guiding Principles were developed in response to Public Law 669, Section 9 Development of standards based tools.
- Understanding the Guiding Principles, a resource developed by the Maine DOE, Educational Policy Improvement Center.