The science portion of the Maine Educational Assessment (MEA) will be a paper-pencil test this year and will be administered to all students in grades five and eight and to those in their third year of high school during a three-week window from May 4 to May 22. This administration window is one week longer than the two-week window in previous years.
In order to ensure all students complete this mandatory assessment, third year high school students who are also participating in testing for Advanced Placement (AP) courses are encouraged to take full advantage of the three-week testing window.
The high school science MEA test takes a total of two hours including instruction time and a follow-up questionnaire.
Some schools have communicated that even with the extended testing window, it may be difficult to schedule the two-hour MEA science assessment for some third-year high school students who are also participating in testing for Advanced Placement (AP) courses in early May. For these students, the Maine DOE recommends schools take full advantage of the three-week testing window. If AP testing makes it difficult for some students to participate at the time that the rest of the third-year students are taking the science test, they can be scheduled for make-up testing during any two-hour block in that three-week period.
If there is no possible two-hour block that works for a particular student, please contact Maine DOE Assessment Coordinator Nancy Godfrey prior to May 4 to negotiate a solution at nancy.godfrey@maine.gov or 624-6775.
For a complete calendar of test administration dates, please visit http://maine.gov/doe/assessment/.