The Maine Education Assessment test, which is used to gauge student and school progress on state and federal learning standards, will be replaced with a regional test already used by New Hampshire, Vermont and Rhode Island.
These are the same states with which Maine announced an education partnership on Monday in Augusta, but the switch in testing method is a separate effort.
The new test, known as the New England Common Assessment Program, is administered by the same firm, Measured Progress of Dover, N.H. Measured Progress also oversaw the MEAs.
The four states will collaborate to develop the test questions, a consolidation of effort that Education Commissioner Susan Gendron said will save Maine $1 million a year.
The NECAP test, which will be similar in format to the MEA, addresses reading, writing and mathematics assessments for all students in Grades 3-8.
Testing in science will still be done under the MEA test because a study showed a gulf between the other states’ teaching methods and performance expectations in that area and Maine’s.
David Connerty-Marin, a spokesman for the Maine Department of Education, said there is no specific timeline for adding NECAP science testing for Maine students. The Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) will continue to be used for assessing students in Grade 11.
The NECAP test will be conducted in the fall instead of the spring, which is when the MEAs were done.
Connerty-Marin said the $1 million savings will be the result of all four states collaborating to develop the test, which takes up to three years.
“It’s an expensive and intensive process,” he said. “The new process means less burden on any one group. Basically Maine was doing on its own what the other three states were doing together.”
(Statehouse News Service)
