Maine Learning Results vs. Developmental Needs

 

 

 

In examining the State of Maine’s, Maine State Learning Results, a legislative move toward implementing academic standards for all students, there appears to be somewhat of a connection between middle school student needs and emotional/physical development versus the emerging trend toward achieving standards.  The National Middle School Association’s publication, This We Believe:  Developmentally Responsive Middle Level Schools, (1995) indicates

 

                        Effective middle level educators make a conscious

                        choice to work with young adolescents.  They under-

                        stand the developmental uniqueness of young adoles-

                        cents and are as knowledgeable about their students

                        as they are about the subject matter that they teach.

                        Such middle level educators form learning partnerships

                        with their students, demonstrating empathy while engaging

                        them in significant academic learning experiences. (as qtd

                        in Van Hoose, et all, 2001, p. 2)

 

There needs to exist a connection between what we expect students to achieve academically and where they lie developmentally.  The best educators have not only acknowledged adolescent growth as unique, but they have embraced this stage and focused on designing and implementing challenging curriculum within their classrooms, which will enable student success.

 

Maine State Learning Results:

 

Comparing middle school academic standards created by the State of Maine with what scholars and educators have researched to be developmentally appropriate techniques to teach students, Maine has done quite well.  In fact, in their executive summary for the Task Force to the Maine State Legislature to review the status of the implementation of the system of Learning Results, the Maine Education Policy Research Institute discovered (2003):

 

·        Most teachers and administrators feel that teachers are generally using instructional strategies that support students’ achievement of the Learning Results…72% for grades 5-8. (p. 4 & 7)

 

·        About 65% of the teachers agreed that their SAU’s have made a commitment to enable all children, including those with disabilities, to achieve the Learning Results.

 

However, it must be pointed out that more work is needed.  There appears to be a disconnect between those establishing the standards and those carrying them out:

 

·        53% of the superintendents and 45% of the principals agreed that it is difficult to know what it means for a student to attain or meet the Learning Results standards.

 

·        2/3 of the teachers across all grade spans said they are “very familiar” with the Learning Results for the grade(s) they teach and do not feel they need to develop deeper knowledge within the content areas to implement the Learning Results.  Administrators held a different view:  about 90% of the superintendents and about 60% of the principals agreed that “most” or “some” of their teachers in grades K – 8 need to develop deeper content knowledge.

 

The number one recommendation from the Task Force for implementation of the Learning Results is time.

 

• Time is a critical resource for all aspects of implementation, from planning and development of curriculum and assessment, to professional development to classroom instruction.

 

• State standards and educational research emphasize the importance of engaging students in more complex learning experiences that help students develop deeper understanding and the ability to apply knowledge in real world contexts.  This kind of teaching and learning takes more time.

 

Analyzing the Maine State Learning Results in conjunction with action researched to be assessable, (Bloom, 1956, pp. 201 - 207 and Mitchell, 1996, p. 22) find that “each standard should include a verb indicating an action that can be assessed—for example, “analyze,” “compare,” “exhibit,” “compose,” “apply,” “solve,” “connect,” “demonstrate,” “criticize,” “decide”.  Verbs like “understand and appreciate” are not assessable.”  (as qtd in Jackson, et all, 2000, p. 36).  Again, the state of Maine has done quite well in this regard. 

 

We wanted to examine core content areas of the State of Maine Learning Results and their Standard Label with Performance Indicators and how those mesh with developmental needs of middle school students.  The following categories were created and explored:

1)      Their ability to meet students’ developmental needs greatly.

2)      The ratio of Performance Indicators which greatly met middle level students’ developmental needs to those who did not and,

3)      Specific Performance Indicators which were NOT developed to meet middle level students’ developmental needs.

 

 

 

 

 

English Language Arts

 

 

Developmentally appropriate expectations:                             Inappropriate Expectations:

Use                  Recognize                                            Understand

Explain             Respond                                             

Collect             Make

Demonstrate     Apply

Deliver             Reflect

Identify             Evaluate

Ask                  Summarize

Produce           Generate

Seek                Consult

Describe

Mathematics

Developmentally appropriate expectations                             Inappropriate expectations

Create              Identify            Find                                      Demonstrate understanding

Use                  Solve               Analyze

Describe            Demonstrate    Develop

Compare           Apply              Explain

Organize            Assemble        Construct

 

 

Science & Technology

 

Social Studies

 

Summary

Clearly, more work needs to be done on implementation of the State of Maine’s Learning Results into all schools.  However, it is encouraging that the State of Maine has taken steps to be aligned with sound educational practice in regard to holding middle school students to academic standards while at the same time placing those standards in the context of how they best learn.