Fall Conference 2006 - Products
Response to Questions
From
CURRICULUM LEADERS MEETING
September 8, 2006
Waterville, Maine
Prepared by Anita Bernhardt
Maine Department of Education
December 8, 2006
Timelines- Some discussions about timelines relate to graduation requirements and some relate to the implementation of large-scale, statewide assessment for federal accountability (Maine Education Assessment, SAT). It is important to distinguish between the two.
- Are the drafts of Maine Learning Results (MLR) that are on-line the final documents that will be brought to the Legislature?
Yes, with the exception of any minor changes that are made as a result of public comment, Maine Department of Education Regulation 131 and the revised Maine Learning Results: Parameters for Essential Instruction and Graduation Requirements are the documents that will be presented to the Legislature in 2007. Any changes made to Maine Department of Education Regulation 131 will be posted on the Maine Department of Education website in January. It is imperative to remember that these documents are not final until approved by the Legislature.
These documents are well aligned to national and international standards documents, information about workplace and college readiness, and have benefited from commentary by members of the field and experts in each of the disciplines. The statewide 2006 fall Maine Learning Results Review Information Sessions revealed a strong sentiment from the field that the proposed revised Maine Learning Results (MLR) is a more useful tool that provides greater clarity and serves students and educators more effectively than the 1997 MLR.
Maine Department of Education Regulation 131 was brought to Public Hearing on October 23, 2006 and the comment period remained open through November 6, 2006. Both the Maine Education Association and the Maine Principals’ Association offered testimony in support of the proposed revised 2007 MLR at the October 23, 2006 Public Hearing and acknowledged the proposed revised documents as a positive step forward.
- What is the “roll-out” plan for implementing the 2007 MLR and how does this connect to graduation requirements?
Pending approval and adoption by the Legislature, the Department of Education will implement the 2007 MLR. The first part of implementation, described by Department of Education Regulation 131, is related to large-scale statewide assessment for federal accountability and, with the inclusion of standards and performance indicators for writing, defines state reporting. The second part, described by the revised Maine Learning Results: Parameters for Essential Instruction and Graduation Requirements is related to essential instruction for grades PK-Diploma and graduation requirements.
The introductory language of Maine Department of Education Regulation 131 proposes that large-scale statewide assessment in grades 3-8 and 11 be aligned to the standards and performance indicators identified in the rule for reading, mathematics and science starting in the 2008-2009 school year. In the same year the Maine Department of Education will align the large scale state-wide assessment for writing to the writing standards and performance indicators described in the Maine Learning Results: Parameters for Essential Instruction and Graduation Requirements. The exact language for implementation can be found in Maine Department of Education Regulation 131 available online at
http://mainegov-images.informe.org/education/lres/review/ch131.pdf
The significant degree of comparability between the standards and performance indicators in the proposed revised Maine Department of Education Regulation 131 and the 1997 MLR influenced the timeline for implementation. Delaying the implementation of the standards and performance indicators of the three content areas described in Maine Department of Education Regulation 131 or applying an incremental implementation beginning with PK is unnecessary given the large degree of overlap revealed by the crosswalks and the significant focus of resources on alignment since 1997.
Curriculum and instruction in schools currently implementing the 1997 MLR should be well aligned to the proposed Maine Department of Education Regulation 131 with modest adjustments in curricula for the seven standards of these three content areas.
Current statute provides that starting in 2009-2010, students demonstrate achievement of the Learning Results for English language arts and mathematics. In 2010-2011 the requirement adds social studies, science and technology, and health education and physical education. By 2011-2012 students are required to demonstrate achievement of all content areas of the Learning Results. As the revisions to the current statute and rule (Chapters 127 and 125) are developed and made public, the specific connections between the revised Maine Learning Results: Parameters for Essential Instruction and Graduation Requirements andthe accountability will be clarified.
- Please further define “crosswalk”.
A crosswalk is a document that provides a side-by-side comparison of the details of one document to another. The purpose for developing these crosswalks was to clarify the degree of comparability between the 1997 MLR and the 2007 revised Maine Learning Results: Parameters for Essential Instruction and Graduation Requirements (and the subset for federal accountability, Maine Department of Education Regulation 131), and to inform decisions about an implementation timeline. The Maine Department of Education has created crosswalks comparing the standards and performance indicators of 1997 MLR to the proposed revised 2007 Maine Learning Results (MLR) for each of the eight content areas, comparing the standards and performance indicators of enhanced Grade Level Expectations to the proposed revised 2007 MLR in reading and mathematics, and comparing proposed revised 2007 MLR to the 1997 MLR and to the College Readiness Indicators developed by the University of Maine System. These documents can be found on the bottom of the page accessed through the following link: http://www.maine.gov/education/lres/review/peigr.html
Assessment – Frequently questions about assessment drive at the links between the MLR and No Child Left Behind (NCLB), and the links between the MLR and graduation. These questions also simultaneously highlight distinctions between federal accountability and graduation requirements.
- Could descriptors be used as rubric language?
Descriptors provide an explanation of the depth and breadth of instruction for a performance indicator. As such, they may prove useful in developing rubrics because they can help to define the range of what is assessed. Descriptors however, do not define the quality of the student performance. This latter characteristic is an essential component of rubrics. It will be necessary to look at individual performance indicators and the associated descriptors to determine where descriptors can be useful in developing rubrics. It is not appropriate to assume that all descriptors are a ready made list of rubric points for a performance indicator.
- What is the relationship between Grade Level Expectations (GLE) and Maine Learning Results?
The enhanced GLE which identify the grade level expectations in reading and mathematics were developed from the 1997 MLR. The federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) required this specificity of alignment at each grade level to the State standards. Both the 2007 revised Maine Learning Results: Parameters for Essential Instruction and Graduation Requirements and Maine Department of Education Regulation 131 incorporate the grade level expectations for reading and mathematics. When the Department of Education aligns the MEA to Maine Department of Education Regulation 131 in the 2008 – 2009 school year, there will no longer be a need for the enhanced GLE.
- Is the end point diploma or Grade 11 Test/SAT? Do students need to pass the state assessment to be awarded a diploma?
The attainment of the diploma will be defined by state and local requirements. These requirements will be linked to the knowledge and skills defined by the 2007 Revised Maine Learning Results: Parameters for Essential Instruction and Graduation Requirements with the goal that all students are ready for career, college, and citizenship in the 21st century.
The SAT/Grade 11 Test fulfills our federal requirements to assess students once during high school on content standards in reading and mathematics.
This winter/spring the Maine Department of Education will clarify the following through statute and rules:
- graduation requirements
- the state accountability structure, and
- requirements to be awarded a high school diploma.
- How will the shift of the grade spans from 3-4 to 3-5, align with the 4th grade MEA cycle?
The MEA for science will shift from grade 4 to grade 5 in the 2008-2009 school year when the grade 3-8 and 11 MEA/SAT shifts its alignment to the standards and performance indicators identified in Maine Department of Education 131. Writing is already administered at grade 5.
Maine’s Learning Results large-scale assessment content standards uses performance indicators and descriptors to assist item developers in creating opportunities for students, through the assessment experience, to demonstrate their skills and knowledge. Without performance indicators and their associated descriptors, items could be created that “drift” beyond the content area being measured. Further, the higher order thinking skills articulated in the content standards are qualified within the descriptors. Data (for reading and mathematics) collected through the MEA, the large scale assessment component, is used for all federal accountability determinations. The state also reports science and writing; however, these data are not used for NCLB accountability. These data are reported to parents, schools, and the public as “state accountability” indicators. Local accountability, such as policies associated with pupil progression and strategic plans may include performance data from any of the large-scale assessments.
- Please clarify again the role of descriptors in large-scale assessment? Will the test developers use descriptors to develop assessment items?
Performance indicators are the targets for essential learning and the focal points for item development. The purpose of the descriptors is to further define, where necessary, the depth and breadth of the essential instruction. This clarity regarding the range of knowledge implied by a performance indicator will assist test developers in constructing test items appropriate to the performance indicators.
The revised Maine Learning Results: Parameters for Essential Instruction and Graduation Requirements provides local curriculum developers a framework necessary to guide classroom instruction. This document was developed expressly to guide what students are expected to know and be able to do within the school setting. This pedagogical function is accomplished by linking curriculum design, lesson plan formation, instructional methodology, and formative assessment strategies. In doing so, guidelines on how to accomplish data-driven decisions, including results from the MEA large scale assessment, are provided to the educators throughout the State.
The Process
- What is happening with the Guiding Principles?
The Guiding Principles have also been revised to better reflect 21st century knowledge and skills. The revised Guiding Principles can be accessed online at
http://www.maine.gov/education/lres/review/gp092706.htm
- Could there be performance indicators and descriptors for Science, Social Studies, and Health Education and Physical Education for each grade level?
There is no plan at the Maine Department of Education to develop performance indicators and descriptors at each grade level for content areas beyond mathematics and reading.
- Can we have an example of how feedback from the survey affected any change/revision in the proposed 2007 MLR?
The feedback most commonly affected the document in two ways: clarity of language and number of descriptors.
In many instances language was changed to help insure that the real intent of the document would be understood. For example, in mathematics there was confusion about asking students to read and write numbers up to 1000. Some interpreted that this meant writing numbers numerically and in words and some interpreted that “up to 1000” included the thousands through 999,999. The language was changed to read “numbers up to 999”.
Feedback also influenced the number of descriptors for individual performance indicators. In science and technology feedback resulted in both greater specificity in the descriptors and a dramatic decrease in the number of performance indicators, particularly in Standard C. For example, performance indicators were completely eliminated for C4 at PK-2 and 3-5 grade spans.
- Was the work to embed technology and literacy standards into all content areas done over the summer? There was reference to this online last spring.
The work related to literacy and technology is not yet complete. Although literacy has been well defined in English Language Arts, greater clarity about the application of literacy across the content areas must provided. In much the same way, the technology design process and the connections between technology design and science and society have been clearly outlined in the Science and Technology standards. Greater clarity about the use of technology to assist in the creation of knowledge must be provided. This work will be informed by the recommendations of Michael Fullan to the Maine Department of Education and will be released this winter in the form of guidance to the field.
- Which 4 content areas did Daggett review?
The International Center for Leadership in Education, Dr. Willard Daggett’s organization, reviewed the standards for English language arts, mathematics, science and technology, and health education and physical education.
- The English language arts document includes a descriptor that requires that students produce “legible” final drafts. This seems to overlook legibility in word processing, why?
The word legible is defined in the glossary and includes the creation of understandable texts including those that are word processed.
- What happened to career preparation in the recommendations that came out of the Task Force on Secondary Education and the Commissioner’s proposals?
Career and education development (formerly career preparation) is a part of the proposed 2007 revised Maine Learning Results: Parameters for Essential Instruction and Graduation Requirements. As the Commissioner releases the requirements for graduation and identifies the accountability structure that will certify graduation, the role of career and education development will become clear.
- Is the smaller number of performance indicators due to greater “focus” or less specificity?
The recent release of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics “K-8 Focal Points” is an effort to focus in on the most important instructional/learning goals in mathematics for students. In a similar fashion the Maine Department of Education has attempted to identify the most significant learning outcomes through a reduced number of performance indicators. These focused performance indicators identify a more reasonable, reduced number of assessment targets. Descriptors were added where needed to provide clarity about the depth and breadth of essential instruction related to the performance indicators. This aspect of the work resulted directly from the feedback from the field indicating that the proposed revised 2007 MLR have fewer learning goals and greater clarity than the 1997 MLR.
- How are we making sure that we are focusing on the areas we need to focus on –Math & ELA?
The panels of educators and national consultants involved in the review kept the key literacy and numeracy skills needed by students at the center of the work. They applied their collective teaching experience, understanding of national standards and research on learning in English language arts and mathematics. They integrated input from the national experts in English language arts and mathematics, feedback from the field, business community, focus groups, research on the changing workplace and college readiness expectations specifically for English language arts and mathematics. Through this approach, it was their goal to identify clearer more focused standards that will prepare Maine students for the 21st century.
Return to the top |