The Maine DOE has released results from the proficiency-based diploma Readiness Inventory, a tool designed to help school districts better understand their progress toward proficiency and to help determine which of the six extension options is best for them to pursue.
Results of the completed inventories aid in the Department’s efforts to support districts in their important transition work toward graduating every Maine student college and career ready.
The data collected was first presented at last month’s Commissioner’s Conference and some of the highest needs revealed by the inventory were addressed during the proficiency-based education sessions at the conference.
Participation in the inventory was voluntary, with 73 school districts submitting completed inventories. Seventy percent of the completed inventories indicated that school districts were revising graduation polices to align with the proficiency-based diploma requirements and 34 out of 73 school districts indicated they were just beginning to have conversations with their community members about the proficiency-based diploma requirements.
Ninety percent of the districts that responded to the inventory said they did not have a plan in place for communicating the new changes in their education system to the general public. English language arts and mathematics were the most frequently cited content areas in which teachers were collecting evidence of student proficiency. Eighteen of the 73 respondents said they would be ready to report on student proficiency in the complex reasoning skills, work habits, and personal responsibility skills that reach across all the content areas and are embedded in the Guiding Principles of Maine’s learning standards.
In an effort to provide flexibility and support to school districts, the Department announced in May that districts would be eligible to apply for proficiency-based diploma extensions tailored to fit their state of readiness to award proficiency-based diplomas. Seventy-seven percent of the school districts that responded to the survey said they would apply for an extension.
Results from the Readiness Inventory can be accessed here. For additional questions please contact the Department’s Proficiency-Based Education Specialist Diana Doiron at diana.doiron@maine.gov or 207-624-6823.