Maine DOE Newsroom



October 31, 2019Frank BroganAssistant Secretary Frank BroganElementary & Secondary EducationUS Department of Education, 400 Maryland Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20202Dear Assistant Secretary Brogan, Waiver Request to not Report Alternate Science Results, 2020 AdministrationPursuant to §8401(b) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015, the Maine Department of Education requests a waiver from the public reporting of Alternate Science assessment results from the 2020 assessment administration. As Maine is a member of the Multi-State Alternate Assessment (MSAA), Maine has the opportunity to participate in a paper-based field test for the 2020 alternate science administration and administer all alternate assessments within the same assessment platform. Maine has not met Peer Review requirements for the current alternate science assessment (Personalized Alternate Assessment Portfolio or PAAP). Administration of the paper-based alternate science assessment is the initial step within a plan to move from this portfolio administration within PAAP to an assessment that assesses Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) in 2021. The general MEA science assessment will be releasing a Request for Proposals (RFP) to assess NGSS standards. Should Maine receive this waiver, the Department would not need to include the alternate science assessment in the RFP, both the general and alternate assessments would be aligned and on a similar trajectory for transition to a new assessment to be administered in 2021.Maine will continue to meet all necessary requirements related to Section 1111(h)(1)(C)(xi) to report the number and percentages of students with the most significant cognitive disabilities who take an alternate assessment under subsection (b)(2)(D), by grade and subject.Additional information as required by §8401(b) of the ESEA as amended by the ESSA of 2015 can be found below: Federal program affected by the requested waiver Section 1111(h) of the ESEA, as amended by the ESSA, requires State and LEA report cards to include information on student achievement on the academic assessments in reading/language arts, mathematics, and science described in section 1111(b)(2) at each level of achievement (as determined by the State under section 1111(b)(1)) for all students. Maine’s 2020-2021 ESEA Data Dashboard (Report card) will continue to publicly report general state assessment results for mathematics, English language arts, and science and will publicly report alternate assessment results for mathematics and English language arts. Maine is seeking a waiver from public reporting for the alternate science assessment only. Maine will continue to report the alternate science assessment results to parents through individualized student reports (ISRs). Maine will continue to meet all other reporting requirements. Maine specifically requests a waiver from the public reporting of alternate science assessment performance only. Sections impacted include: Section 1111(b)(2)(B)(iv)Section 1111(b)(2)(B)(xi) (disaggregation of alt. science data by subgroup) Section 1111(h)(1)(A) Section 1111(h)(2)(iii) Impact to Student AchievementThere will be no impact to assessing student achievement as all eligible students will continue to participate in the alternate science assessment where applicable. The waiver will permit Maine to not publicly release student alternate science assessment achievement scores. The Maine Department of Education will only report participation rates related to the administration of the alternate assessment in grades 5, 8, and the third-year high school during the 2020 spring administration. Maine is committed to moving towards increased compliance with the assessment peer review for an alternate assessment. During the 2021 spring assessment administration, Maine will participate in the MSAA on-line Operational alternate assessment. Standard setting and post equating in the summer of 2021 would allow for reportable student achievement levels and scores that fall.Monitoring The Department will actively monitor the delivery of the paper-based assessment through an established monitoring process. Test administration will follow all test administration policies and protocols. Schools will be provided ISRs available for bulk download in order to share student performance with parents/guardians or caretakers. Continuity of Services to StudentsThe vendor for MSAA will provide Expanded Performance Expectations (EPEs) based on the Next Generation Science Standards for grades 5, 8, and third-year high school. Teachers will have an opportunity to begin implementing the EPEs during the 2019-2020 school year, in preparation for the on-line Operational Field Test in 2021.Public Comment Maine has solicited public comment regarding a request for a waiver from public reporting. This public comment was announced through the Departments Newsroom, social media accounts and through relevant Listservs. Public comment was solicited between October 31st and November 29th, 2019 for a period of 30 days. A summary of comments and the Department’s response is attached with the waiver request. Timeline for ImplementationDateGeneral ScienceAlternate ScienceSeptember 2019Survey educators regarding science assessment modesOctober 2019 Convene RFP Writing Team November 2019 Develop contract for Science Alternate Assessment paper-based test (2020 administration) with MSAA.December 2019Execute Science Alt. Assessment contract with MSAA. January 2020Release general Science assessment RFP Spring 2020Administer MEA Science assessment Administer paper-based Alt. Science assessment Summer 2020Proposed award of general science contract SY 2020-2021Item Development Spring 2021Field test new general science assessment Implement operational field test of online assessment Submit waiver for public reporting of science data Submit waiver for public reporting of alt. science dataSummer 2021Completion of post equating and standard setting SY 2021-2022Item Development Spring 2022Field Test (year 2)Implementation of operational alt. assessment Spring 2023Operational assessment Operational alt. assessment (year 2)Please contact us if you require any further information. We look forward to receiving your response. Pender Makin Commissioner ................
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