The Standardized Assessment Task Force of 21 Maine educators are busy at work this summer as the state seeks a vendor/partner to carry out the Maine Educational Assessment for public school students in grades 3-8 and 11. In June, the task force met to discuss the successes and needed areas of improvement of the last assessment. Now the role of this group is to engage in a question and answer exchange that will act as a guide to help the Department draft a Request for Proposals (RFP). These proposals will be scored according to the RFP to determine which organization will serve as Maine’s next vendor.
In an effort to ensure that all of Maine’s K-12 public school students have “an equal opportunity to a quality education,” Maine DOE conducts an assessment each year of all public school students in certain grades. This assessment must be standardized so that each student is measured by the same instrument. By having every public school student in Maine take the same (or standardized) test, it is possible to measure the educational opportunity that a child in Kittery, for example, has in relation to a child in Fort Kent.
It’s the desire of the Department to have a contract awarded by September 1st and then begin the next phase of the work to develop the new assessment before testing begins in the spring of 2016.
To learn more about the task force or submit comments visit the Department’s Standardized Assessment Task Force page.