School librarians may want to note the paragraphs on the scope of the MEA and content areas that are local assessment. - Sylvia > TO: ALL SUPERINTENDENTS OF SCHOOLS > > The following message is being sent at the request of the Commissioner. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > ------------------- > > ***** Please forward to Curriculum Coordinators ***** > > Note: The Administrative and Informational Letters are available also on > our website at the following address: > http://www.maine.gov/education/edletrs/homepage.htm > <http://www.maine.gov/education/edletrs/homepage.htm> > > > INFORMATIONAL LETTER NO. 67 > POLICY CODE: ILBB > > > > TO: Superintendents, Principals, and Curriculum Coordinators > > FROM: Susan A. Gendron, Commissioner > > DATE: May 2, 2003 > > RE: Maine Educational Assessment (MEA) for the 2003-04 School > Year > > > I wish to take this opportunity to alert you to significant modifications > in the Maine Educational Assessment (MEA) program for the 2003 - 2004 > school year. The increased focus on individual student and school > accountability stemming from Chapter 127 implementation requirements of > Maine's Learning Results and the new federal No Child Left Behind Act have > led to the following MEA program design modifications: > > * A more focused approach, assessing only English language > arts (reading and writing), mathematics, and science and technology at > grades 4, 8, and 11; > * A new test design with increased numbers of items > contributing to student and school scores, which will allow improved > reliability and increased reporting of sub-scores for individual students > for these content areas. > * A single test administration schedule during a two-week > period beginning March 1, 2004. > > Please understand that many details of the changes are still in the > preliminary stages of development, so I am not yet able to convey to you > all aspects of the plan. However, I do expect to complete and implement > these MEA modifications for the next school year. The following sections > of this Information Letter amplify the rationale and characteristics of > the revised MEA program. > > MEA Scope > > To align the MEA with the implementation requirements of Maine's > Learning Results and the federal No Child Left Behind Act, the MEA is > being modified to focus on the following content areas at grades 4, 8, and > 11: > * English Language Arts (reading and writing) > * Mathematics > * Science and Technology > > Social Studies, Health Education, and the Visual and Performing Arts > assessments will no longer be part of the annual MEA testing schedule. > Maine has successful experience in student assessment in these areas and > intends to utilize this experience and resources to support the > development of effective local assessments in these content areas. I wish > to emphasize that the Department's assessment models, guidance, and tools > for development of local assessment systems will clearly convey the > importance of these content areas as an integral part of Maine's high > expectations for all students. > > MEA Test Design Modifications > > These test design modifications will provide greater focus on > performance results for individual students, while retaining the ability > to use MEA data for program evaluation. By increasing the number of test > items that comprise student and school scores, reliability coefficients > should be improved to levels recommended by the Technical Advisory > Committee. > > The scoring of all writing responses will become the responsibility > of Measured Progress scorers. This is necessary to meet new No Child Left > Behind reporting deadlines. I wish to acknowledge the value of Maine > teachers scoring writing; as a result of the nearly twenty-year effort > student writing has significantly improved. A secondary benefit of the > effort is the growing number of local writing assessments which are > carrying the benefits of rubric-based scoring to additional teachers and > students. Given our experience in scoring writing, it is our intent to > expand Department professional development scoring opportunities to build > greater proficiency in scoring local assessments across all content areas. > > > Test Administration and Reporting > > The MEA will return to a single test administration period, which is > scheduled for a two-week period beginning March 1, 2004. Measured > Progress, together with Department staff, is reviewing all test > administration protocols to reduce the time it takes to return reports to > schools. This is in part a response to the requirements of the No Child > Left Behind Act, but should also be useful to schools in using results > more effectively. In the first year of these modifications, an early July > reporting target is being set. > > I realize these design modifications represent an ambitious updating > of the Maine Educational Assessment to respond to the emerging focus on > the assessment of individual students. This effort, while responding to > increased assessment requirements, is also reducing the burden of testing > at grades 4, 8, and 11. While delaying the implementation of these design > changes for a year was considered, the need to have the program in place > took precedence. Please keep in mind that a review of the MEA performance > standards is also underway with recommendations for any revisions expected > in the fall of this year. > I will look forward to working with you to successfully implement > the most effective state and local assessment programs possible.