Education Week published the commentary “How education is failing rural America,” by Catharine Biddle, an assistant professor of educational leadership at the University of Maine, and Daniella Hall, a postdoctoral fellow at the Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy.
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The turning of the new year prodded us to look back in time for some perspective on Maine schools in 2017. The annual “state of the schools” report for 1915-16 offers a few perhaps useful observations.
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The Penobscot River Educational Partnership (PREP) has several meetings and educator trainings scheduled for late 2016 and early 2017.
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Broadly mentioned research from a 2008 University of Maine study in an article about an alleged violent hazing ritual at Hofstra University in New York.
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Bus rides are one of the “givens” of public schooling. Without them, many if not most U.S. children would not have access to a free, appropriate education. But transportation is also one of the more intractable challenges facing educators.
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In September, Educate Maine, a “business-led education advocacy organization” and the Maine State Chamber of Commerce issued a policy brief, “College and Career Readiness for Maine.” The brief calls for “full, statewide implementation of the college and career readiness strategies outlined” in its pages. And it goes on to stress that the recommended seven strategies and 15 actions be applied particularly to Maine students from low-income families, noting that they are less likely to be proficient in math and reading, to graduate from high school, or to go on to college.
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A giant map of Europe is currently taking up a portion of the gymnasium floor at Leonard Middle School in Old Town, where students are using it to study the geography and culture of the continent.
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Maine’s teacher shortages for the current year, reported by the U.S. Department of Education, include math, science, special education, world languages, English as a Second Language, gifted and talented, industrial arts, and school librarians. How can our schools meet the learning proficiency goals of our children if they cannot recruit fully qualified teachers?
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Research reports are now emerging that track the long-term effects of preschool learning. The early start that educationally disadvantaged children get in preschool appears to offset the long-standing patterns of educational inequality that have plagued our schools—a pattern where poorer children enter kindergarten one year behind their wealthier peers and often fall further behind as their schooling continues.
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With the new school year off and running, it’s a good time to take stock of trends in enrollment. Over the coming years, what decisions will districts face preparing for future cohorts of children entering—or leaving—their schools?
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