MEPRI study cited in Bangor Daily News article on Maine students’ math, reading scores
A recent report from the Maine Education Policy Research Institute (MEPRI) that found only nine of 58 Maine schools surveyed were using reading instructional programs aligned with high quality standards was cited in a Bangor Daily News article this week. According to the article, Maine students’ proficiency scores in math and reading as measured by the National Assessment of Education Progress have declined in recent years. The results of the assessment were highlighted in a recent report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Maine Children’s Alliance.
MEPRI is a partnership between the University of Maine College of Education and Human Development and the University of Southern Maine established by the Maine Legislature in 1995 to provide policymakers, including the legislature’s Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs and the Maine Department of Education, with objective data, policy research and evaluation of educational needs, services and impacts in Maine’s PreK–12 schools.
Although it is not mentioned in the Bangor Daily News article, the MEPRI report found that a majority (89%) of schools surveyed were using a math instructional program aligned with high-quality standards. MEPRI’s report was co-authored by Senior Research Analyst Patricia Lech, UMaine Associate Professor of Education and MEPRI Co-Director Janet Fairman, and Suzanne Nadeau, an interdisciplinary Ph.D. student at UMaine and teaching assistant in the College of Education and Human Development.