The Maine Department of Education is requesting an approval by the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) to revise its approved consolidated ESSA State Plan under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA). In this first phase, Maine is requesting the amendment to account for the transition to Maine’s new state general assessment, the Maine Through Year Assessment.
As part of the statutory requirements for seeking an amendment, the Maine DOE must solicit and respond to public comment as well as provide evidence of the available comment period. The Maine DOE is accepting public comment on the amendment to Maine’s Model of School Support beginning on October 12, 2023 and will conclude on October 20, 2023. Public comments regarding the amendment may be sent to ESSA.DOE@maine.gov. Any additional questions should be directed to Janette Kirk, Chief of the Office of Federal Programs at janette.kirk@maine.gov.
The key updates to the amendment to Maine’s Model of School Support includes:
- The academic achievement will be measured by the annual statewide assessments in ELA/reading and mathematics using MTYA for grades 3-8 and 2nd year of high school. There is no change to Maine’s Alternate Assessment.
- The academic progress will be measured by the annual statewide assessments in ELA/reading and mathematics using MTYA for grades 3-8. The fall to spring growth targets, which are grade-level and content specific, align with the 2020 NWEA MAP Growth Normative Data.
- Further information regarding academic growth is located here.
There are no updates or changes to:
- English Language Proficiency (ELP) indicator
- School Quality and Student Success (SQSS) indicator: Chronic Absenteeism
Maine plans to submit a second phase of amendment to its ESSA State Plan in February 2023. This submission phase will include additional revisions and changes to the SQSS indicator utilizing feedback from ESSA Stakeholder workgroup convenings.
The Maine DOE convened ESSA stakeholder workgroups after “all calls” for participants, most recently in the spring of 2021, with the specific goal of providing feedback regarding the development of updates to Maine’s ESSA Plan. Those opportunities were communicated and solicited through the DOE newsroom and priority notices (2020, 2021, 2023). Over the past 3 years, the ESSA stakeholder workgroups have continued to review and provide feedback as accountability and school support models evolve and as Maine has implemented the ESSA.
The group is geographically diverse with representation from key stakeholder groups including but not limited to Superintendents, Parents, School Teaching staff, Central Office staff, Principals, and Board Members. Each member of the workgroup advised, recommended, and provided input on elements included in Maine’s Consolidated ESSA Plan including Accountability, School Improvement, and the ESEA Consolidated Application. This group met monthly May – August 2021, and again in June and July 2023. Further opportunities for engagement will be forthcoming.