Mobility in Maine Schools: Impact on Student Performance and Proficiency

The report examined non-promotional mobility in several ways over different time periods and outcomes in order to determine whether common themes emerged in how mobility impacted students

Odds of Autism at 5 to 10 Years of Age for Children Who Did Not Pass Their AABR Newborn Hearing Screen, But Were Diagnosed with Normal Hearing

Background: Research has found atypical Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) activity in some children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The current study examined whether an association may also be found between ASD and pass/refer results obtained via Automated Auditory Brainstem Response (AABR) screening. As stewards of large-scale AABR data, an AABR – ASD association may be of interest to EHDI programs. Methods: State EHDI data for 29,350 children born in Maine between 2003 and 2005 were linked with education records, including special education status, for the 2010/2011 and 2013/2014 school years. Results: Children who did not pass their AABR screen but were later documented to have typical hearing were at more than eight times the odds of being identified with ASD at 5 to 7 years of age, and over six times the odds at 8 to 10 years of age. Conclusion: Newborns who did not pass their AABR screen but were subsequently diagnosed with typical hearing, experienced higher rates of ASD five to 10 years later. With further research evidence, this may create opportunities for EHDI programs to support and facilitate the work of colleagues in the ASD community, as well as further assist families already touched by EHDI systems

Public Preschool Programs in Maine: Four Case Studies of Quality Programs

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This is a follow-up to the report Public Preschool Programs in Maine: Current Status and Characteristics, submitted as part of the 2014/2015 EPS Commission work, as well as the 2014/2015 Maine Education Policy Research Institute (MEPRI) work plan. This report presents case studies of four quality Pre-K programs identified through previous superintendent and Pre- K teacher surveys, and analysis of data from the State Longitudinal Data System. Pre-K programs were selected based on the extent to which they were already addressing the Chapter 124 standards, as well as their historical pattern of future student performance on state testing (controlling for student demographic factors such as free/reduced lunch status, ELL, special education placement, etc). Programs were also selected to reflect geographic, demographic, and programmatic variation Case studies were conducted by MEPRI in spring 2015 with the purpose of illustrating the characteristics and features of several quality Pre-K programs, and to present some of the challenges and solutions they have addressed. Case studies were based on site visits conducted at each school. Site visits included a classroom observation and interviews with the school principal and teacher in order to inquire about the history, implementation, challenges and perceived advantages of including Pre-K within the elementary schools. Not surprisingly, programs are aware of the Chapter 124 regulations and are taking steps to be ready for the changes. Nevertheless, participating schools reported making trade-offs with regard to space, schedule, staffing and curriculum in order to balance resources and regulations with local community needs. In general, indoor spaces are more compliant than outdoor spaces. Special classes are available in these schools, but some teachers value the flexibility to choose which ones to access given the children in the group, the developmental demands of the classes, and the available schedule. Transportation is a concern for those programs not currently offering that service. Programs that are close to or over the 16 student class-size limit acknowledge the conflicting struggle between recognizing that smaller classrooms allow more individualized teaching and learning, and concern that limiting class size may result in families no longer being able to access Pre-K. Administratively, principals for these schools are highly supportive of Pre-K. They see social and academic benefits for children from having the programs in the schools. They appreciate the unique characteristics of 4-year olds and the specialized skills needed by teachers The Pre-K teachers for all of these programs report high levels of involvement and concern regarding their students and families. This can involve exceptional extra time and energy in working with families, as well as partnering with fellow faculty regarding ongoing curriculum changes and transition into kindergarten. In this regard, professional development is taking many forms. In part this can reflect Pre-K and larger school schedules. Some Pre-K programs are scheduled in ways that support professional development opportunities for the teachers, while others are scheduled in ways that increase access for children but limit participation of teachers in school-wide planning. Similarly, some professional development supports the curriculum work of whole schools (including Pre-K) while in other schools, the Pre-K professional development is structured separately. Regardless, teachers report appreciating professional development opportunities, particularly in response to ongoing changes in K-12 that also impact Pre-K. Specifically, as schools move toward proficiency-based learning and assessment, new implications arise for how Pre-K programs collaborate with kindergarten and transition children into kindergarten. Collaboration and coordinated professional development may help in this regard. Schools are reportedly more aware of Chapter 124 than of the new Maine Early Learning and Development Standards. Teachers and administrators will also need professional development about the new standards and guidance on assessing progress toward the standards within the context of proficiency-based assessment. All programs report high achievement of children in Pre-K but given the range of assessment measures and curricula used, it impossible to exam in depth across sites. While highly valued, local funding will reportedly impact the numbers of children served in Pre- K. Currently, children are not turned away from the programs visited for this report. However, in order to accomplish this other district programs were used at times and in some cases class size exceeded the recommended limit of 16 children. Administrators are concerned about limiting access to families now that Pre-K is viewed as a core part of these schools. Furthermore, most v communities are experiencing some degree of budget cuts, which affects the long-term stability of Pre-K programs, even in those communities with very long-standing commitments to early childhood. Finally, principals and teachers in both urban and rural districts expressed concern about delays between referral for screening and receipt of special education services from CDS. It was reportedly particularly frustrating for those schools that had service personnel in the school and availability in the schedule, but were still unable to have those children served

Teacher Professional Evaluation and Professional Growth Systems in Maine: 2015 Report

At the request of the Maine State Legislature, the Maine Educational Policy Research Institute (MEPRI) has monitored the progress and challenges school districts have faced in designing and implementing teacher performance evaluation/professional growth (PE/PG) systems. During the last year, particular attention has focused on federal requirements that PE/PG systems use statewide standardized assessment data for measuring student growth over time. Therefore, MEPRI conducted a series of case studies involving seven school districts across the state in order to assess issues involving the incorporation of student growth data in their PE/PG system. The work for this project was conducted in Spring of 2015, with the goal of addressing three general sets of questions: (1) What instruments are these districts currently using to assess student growth across the curriculum? What features do superintendents and teachers seek in student assessment measures? To what degree are districts using the MEA/Smarter Balanced for assessing student growth, and what concerns do they have that may be limiting its use in PE/PG systems? (2) How are these districts using student data to define and measure growth? How is growth weighted and incorporated into their PE/PG system? (3) What classroom observation tools are these districts using? What challenges and solutions have they found? How do student growth and classroom observation data compare? How are they balanced and reconciled in the PE/PG system

The Impacts of Three Educational Technologies on Algebraic Understanding in the Context of COVID-19

The current study investigated the effectiveness of three distinct educational technologies—two game-based applications (From Here to There and DragonBox 12+) and two modes of online problem sets in ASSISTments (an Immediate Feedback condition and an Active Control condition with no immediate feedback) on Grade 7 students’ algebraic knowledge. More than 3,600 Grade 7 students across nine in-person and one virtual schools within the same district were randomly assigned to one of the four conditions. Students received nine 30-minute intervention sessions from September 2020 to March 2021. Hierarchical linear modeling analyses of the final analytic sample (N = 1,850) showed significantly higher posttest scores for students who used From Here to There and DragonBox 12+ compared to the Active Control condition. No significant difference was found for the Immediate Feedback condition. The findings have implications for understanding how game-based applications can affect algebraic understanding, even within pandemic pressures on learning