PORTLAND-  National attention is currently focused on the topics of college and career readiness. In Maine, student enrollment and performance in college has been an ongoing discussion as state educators and legislators consider how to best prepare our high school graduates for bright, successful futures. According to a recent study released by the Maine Education Policy Research Institute (MEPRI) at the University of Southern Maine (USM), several commonly held beliefs about Maine’s college preparation and participation rates may be inaccurate.

MEPRI researchers, housed in the USM Center for Education Policy, Applied Research, and Evaluation, examined data regarding college participation rates, remedial education needs, persistency rates, and success rates of Maine’s high school graduates in the institute’s newest report, “College Participation Rates of Maine’s Recent High School Graduates: Examining the Claims.” Based on a preliminary analysis of the state’s 2010 graduating class, and data provided by the National Student Clearinghouse and University of Maine System (UMS), researchers analyzed the accuracy of several persistent claims to bring new light to old beliefs.

Key findings:

A majority of Maine students attend college: Immediately after graduation, 60 percent of Maine’s 2010 high school graduates enrolled in a two- or four-year college, a percent that has remained fairly consistent through the past two decades. Of this group, 90 percent enrolled as full-time students.

A majority of Maine students attend college in Maine with academic performance equal to those who choose an out-of-state education: Approximately 30 percent of the high school graduates who immediately enrolled in college chose an out-of-state institution. On average, those who chose to attend an out-of-state college or university scored only four points higher on the Maine High School Assessment than those who remained in state.

Less than 9 percent of students at a UMS campus require remedial coursework: For those first-time, full-time students who attended a UMS campus upon graduation, less than 9 percent took a remedial math or English course, although remedial course taking rates varied widely across UMS institutions. This rate is known to be higher for students who delayed enrolling in a college or university after graduating from high school.

Fewer Maine students drop out of college as compared to national norms: Of those first-time students who enrolled full time in a UMS institution, 84 percent returned to a university for a second year, a persistency rate that is approximately 10 to 20 percent higher than similar institutions nationwide. The dropout rate is approximately 7.5 percent higher for remedial course takers, but still below the national level for all college students.

More than 50 percent of students are considered “successful” in college by their second year:  With success defined as students who earned at least a ‘C’ average or higher during their first year and returned full time for a second year of college, approximately 58 percent of students were classified as successful. Of those students from less affluent homes (students who were eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), 47 percent were classified as successful, as compared to 60 percent from less impoverished homes.

While researchers discovered that several commonly held claims concerning Maine students’ career and college preparation may be inaccurate, data also shows that too few of the state’s high school students may not be attending college. According to recent studies, 90 percent of the fastest-growing jobs in the nation will require post-secondary education or training, and the number of jobs in Maine requiring post-secondary education or training will increase by 15,000 in the current decade. Though persistency rates are high, as shown in the MEPRI data, the finding that only 60 percent of students initially enrolled in a college or university indicates that there is work to be done.

The MEPRI, jointly funded by the Maine State Legislature and the University of Maine System, was established to conduct studies on Maine education policy and the Maine public education system for the Maine Legislature. MEPRI research on college readiness is conducted as part of the Maine Department of Education’s development of a state longitudinal data system.

The report and findings can be accessed at: www.usm.maine.edu/cepare .

The USM Southern Maine Writing Project will be offering a conference for K-12 educators.

Educating in a Digital Landscape
Friday, March 1, 2013
9:00am-2:30pm
Catherine McAuley High School

The conference will highlight the following:

• Participants will learn strategies for helping students meet Common Core Standards
• Teaching the digital generation to create, compose and collaborate
• Conference inclused a strand of “unconference” sessions
• All presenters are affiliated with the Nation Writing Projects of Maine

For more information please contact Seth Mitchell, 228-8321, smitchell@usm.maine.edu or visit southermainewritingproject.org 

Or you can download the registration flyer here!

Teaching Reading: Building on the Five Pillars of Reading Instruction

PBIS Conference

Third Annual State-Wide
Maine PBIS Conference
Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS)
Implementing PBIS K-12: Tier 1 and 2 School-Wide and Classroom

Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Augusta Civic Center 

Download the Registration Flyer (pdf)

Conference Overview

Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) are being  implemented in over 16,000 schools across 47 states, and Maine had a 90% increase in PBIS schools last year! PBIS has a large and ever growing research base demonstrating positive outcomes including but not limited to  increased academic achievement and academic engagement, decreased  time spent addressing problem behavior, improved positive school climate,  and reduction in administration of consequences for problem behaviors such as detentions and suspensions. PBIS is not a packaged curriculum, but an  approach made up of essential elements that can be implemented a variety  of ways.

This conference includes an “Implementor’s Forum,” implementation sessions in which several Maine schools will share their experiences  implementing PBIS, including preparation, unique practices and systems,  and outcomes thus far. Other sessions are designed to support schools seeking to start up or sustain PBIS efforts, including topics such as Primary  and Secondary Tier interventions, SWIS (School Wide Information System),  RTI, Social Skills, classroom interventions and more.

Teachers, special educators, principals, special education directors, social workers, school counselors, and state leaders are all encouraged to attend. Ideally, a school or district will send a team comprised of representatives of
various grade levels, roles and administration.

Conference Outcomes

Conference outcomes include:

• Acquire universal and Tier II strategies and interventions
• Learn how teams have applied PBIS strategies to their schools
• Acquire ideas and examples of school systems from those who are at years 1-4 of implementation
• Participate in capacity building sessions and take back to your school useful information to apply now or as you implement PBIS
• Get connected to a network of facilitators who will support your school or district as you implement PBIS
• Learn how to apply PBIS foundation to classroom systems

Conference Keynoters

Susan Barrett
Susan Barrett is a national expert in school-wide PBIS. Currently, she works with the National Technical Assistance Center on PBIS working with 7 states across the nation to effectively implement PBIS through training and technical assistance.  She has trained over 2,000 school teams and 1000 behavior support coaches. Before joining the National PBIS Center, she served as the state-wide PBIS coordinator in Maryland for over 9 years. She has been published in the  areas of large-scale adoption of SW-PBS, cost-benefit analysis, and adoption of evidence-based practices in schools and currently serves on the Association of Positive Behavior Supports Board of Directors.

Susan also leads the training and technical assistance portion of the Maryland Safe and Supportive Schools grant (MDS3). Within the 3-tiered logic of PBIS, MDS3 provides high schools with technical assistance to support systematic selection, implementation and  monitoring of evidence based practices that address substance use, student engagement (truancy), school violence and bullying.

Terry Scott, Ph.D.
Terrance M. Scott is a Professor and Distinguished University Scholar in the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Louisville. Having received his Ph.D. in Special Education at the University of Oregon in 1994 (with  an emphasis on emotional and behaviors) he has previously been a faculty member at the Universities of Kentucky, Florida, and Oregon. He has over 80 published articles, books, chapters, and training media on a variety of issues in the  areas of behavioral disorders and behavioral support systems and has conducted over 600 presentations and training activities throughout the U.S., Canada, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. Dr. Scott has successfully competed for more  than $5 million in external grant funding. In 2004 he received the Distinguished Early Career Award from the Research Division of the International Council for Exceptional Children and in 2012 he received the Outstanding National Leadership  Award from the Council for Children with Behavior Disorders.

In addition to delivering a conference keynote, Susan Barrett and Terry Scott will lead workshop sessions focusing on PBIS.

Conference Topics

Conference topics include:

• Primary and Secondary Tier Interventions
• Progress Monitoring and Data Management
• Multi-Tier Systems of Student Support
• Social Skills
• How Instruction Affects Behavior
• PBIS Classroom Essentials
• Maine PBIS Film Festival
• . . . and more

Conference Coordinator

Pat Red has 29 years experience in education. She has been at USM since 2005 and co-coordinator of the ETEP Unified K-8 Program and co-coordinator of SMART for schools. She is the PBIS State Coordinator and currently facilitates   over 10 School Districts. She also serves as a consultant and provides inservice professional development to schools throughout Maine.

FMI: http://www.usm.maine.edu/pdc/pbis-conference

On April 9, 2012 Literacy, Language, and Culture faculty members Dr. Cathie Fallona and Dr. Andrea Stairs met with Associate Professor of Reading Education, Dr. Ying Wang, from Mississippi Valley State University as faculty from the historically black university visited USM. Drs. Fallona and Stairs learned about Dr. Wang’s efforts to promote literacy in the Mississippi delta through teacher professional development, while Drs. Fallona and Stairs shared information on USM’s Summer Reading and Writing Workshop, which has been continuously serving the local community for more than 40 years, and other literacy and ESL initiatives.

About Mississippi Valley State University

Mississippi Valley State University, located in Leflore County, is a Carnegie Master’s I institution, which provides accessible, relevant and quality academic and public service programs. While the University has historically drawn the majority the majority of its students from throughout the Delta, the institution recognizes the need to provide greater services to the south and east Delta areas. MVSU, which recognizes the need to be efficient, effective and productive in all of its operations, offers concentrated study in the arts, business, education, humanities, public services, pre-professional health services, social sciences, sciences, social work, and technology. Master’s level programs are offered in criminal justice, elementary education, environmental health, special education, and teaching. The University also endeavors to provide additional programs that are vital and unique to the needs of the population it serves. MVSU emphasizes the study and applications of technology, basic and applied research, service learning, health and wellness, and economic and cultural affairs. The University expands its emphasis to incorporate an international focus on governmental, economic, and cultural affairs. Out of this concept, the Delta Research and Cultural Institute provides the avenue for faculty and students to engage in theoretical and applied research on subject matter related to the cultural, social, economic and political concerns of the Delta.

Kate Kennedy, Director of the Southern Maine Writing Project, and Danielle Hall, a Southern Maine Writing Project Teacher Consultant contributed articles to What Teaching Means: Stories from America’s Classrooms  by Rogue Faculty Press in Omaha.

The book is a collection of teachers’ nonfiction stories about their own classrooms, their own experiences and reflections about teaching.  The book includes thirty-nine insightful essays written by teachers hailing from classrooms all over America.  The essays—which include everything from the recounting of an unlikely kindergarten classroom friendship to the rugged epiphanies experienced in a high school ESL class—detail the sometimes joyful, sometimes tragic teaching experiences of the professional educators who’ve rendered them in prose.

What Teaching Means offers a glimpse into the everyday lives of teachers across America. It is an ideal text for teacher education programs, and will also appeal to lovers of well-crafted creative nonfiction.

The book will be available to order on April 28 through Rogue Faculty Press.

For more information about the book or to read an excerpt please visit http://dboster.blogspot.com/