Maine schools earn 'C' in national report.
Bangor Daily News (Bangor, Maine) (via Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News); 1/5/2006
Byline: Walter Griffin

Jan. 5--AUGUSTA -- While Maine compares favorably to the rest of the nation on the number of high school graduates that enroll in college, it ranks below average in areas of performance standards, accountability and efforts to improve teacher quality. That was the conclusion of a national report based on research conducted by Editorial Projects in Education. EPE's 10th annual state-by-state report card, Quality Counts, was released Wednesday. EPE is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that monitors trends in state education policy and student achievement. A number of specific indicators were examined to determine each state's progress. The report gave Maine's primary and secondary educational system an overall grade of "C" compared to the national average of "C+." "Despite solid gains, improvement hasn't come as fast as we like," EPE project editor Lynn Olson said Wednesday during a conference call briefing with media from the states and the District of Columbia. "Achievement gaps remain persistent across the nation." Deputy Commissioner Patrick Phillips of the Maine Department of Education said that while the report deserved a careful review, he was unsure whether all of the findings provided an accurate assessment of Maine progress. He said some states have a very different approach than Maine and that it was difficult to apply a single educational vision across the board. "To a degree it's useful, but it reflects a different point of view," said Phillips. "We need to look at strategies that other states have implemented that have led to improvement, examine them carefully as to whether they are consistent with our philosophy of education, our values and with the relationship we have between the state and the communities. We're going to try and learn from it as much as we can." Phillips said he was concerned that many of the things used to measure standards and accountability did not apply to Maine. As an example, Phillips said, Maine lost points because it does not permit charter schools, does not impose sanctions on underperforming schools and does allow private, for-profit companies to operate public schools. He said the state scored poorly in teacher quality because it doesn't require teacher testing. "Maine has chosen to take a different approach to accountability," he said. "Just passing a subject-matter test, you're looking at a very narrow perspective. Helping kids learn is more than just knowing the information." States were graded in four areas -- standards and accountability, efforts to improve teacher quality, school climate and resource equity. Maine earned lower than average scores in three of the four categories. Though Maine "ranks among the top states" for school climate and was "slightly lower"' in resource equity, the report found that it performed "more poorly" than the average state in standards and accountability and "ranks close to the bottom" for its efforts to improve teacher quality. Based on a top score of 100 points, Maine received a grade of 74 in the category of standards and accountability, 66 on efforts to improve teacher quality, 84 in school climate and 70 in resource equity. The standards and accountability category is based on ratings from the American Federation of Teachers and found that the state scored well only in the area of science. Reading, mathematics and social studies standards were below average. Overall, Maine was given a "C" compared to the national average of "B-." In the efforts to improve the teacher quality category, the report found there was "considerable room for improvement" in linking teaching licenses with advanced certification. It also found the state had "few measures in place" to hold schools and teachers accountable. Maine was given a "D" in that category compared to the national average of "C+." A call seeking reaction from Maine Education Association President Rob Walker was not returned Wednesday. In the area of resource equity, which measures per-pupil funding levels across the state's school districts, Maine was given a "C-," compared to the national average of "C." Phillips noted that the Essential Programs and Services funding formula started this year was not accounted for in the ranking. He said the state also failed to receive credit for its laptop program, the only one of its kind in the nation. The state topped the national average "C+" with a "B" ranking in the area of school climate. The state scored particularly well in the areas of class size, school size, school facilities and parental involvement. Also on the plus side, the research found that 73.7 percent of Maine students who graduate from high school continue on to attend either a two- or four-year college compared to the national average of 69.4 percent. "Over the past 10 years, Maine has outpaced other states in graduation rates and the number of students who graduate from public high schools and enroll in two- or four-year colleges," EPE reported.

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