Some teachers worry that their subjects won’t seem important if they aren’t part of the MEA tests.
LEWISTON – Richard Willing is worried.
As executive director of L/A Arts, a nonprofit group that promotes culture in the community, he is nervous about arts education now that Maine has cut visual and performing arts from its statewide standardized test. He wonders how much money will be dedicated to a subject that isn’t part of a state exam anymore. He wonders whether arts will remain a priority for schools.
“I’m concerned that it will become lost in the shuffle,” Willing said.
He is not alone.
Throughout the state, some teachers and community groups have begun to question the future of education after state officials announced that they will stop testing students in art, health and social studies during the Maine Educational Assessment.
Established in 1984 and last revised four years ago, the MEA measures how well fourth-, eighth- and 11th-graders meet Maine’s tough Learning Results standards in reading, writing, health, math, science and technology, social studies and arts. Half of the MEA is given in November and half in March, with four days of testing each of those months. Students usually spend a couple of hours a day taking the test.
Too much time
In recent years, the exam has been the subject of some controversy. Teachers and students have complained that the MEA is too long and takes too much time away from classroom work. Some administrators have said that the test, which helps determine whether a school is “failing,” places too great an emphasis on scores and a lot of pressure on students.
In a letter to school administrators on May 2, Maine Education Commissioner Susan Gendron said the state will drop health, arts and social studies from the test starting next year. Only math, English and science will remain.
“The MEA needed to change to become more focused,” said Brud Maxcy, MEA coordinator for the Maine Department of Education.
The state’s largest teachers’ union backed the changes, saying it favored any reduction in the mammoth MEA.
“We just think kids are being tested too much,” said Rob Walker, president of the Maine Education Association.
But some teachers and community groups are now worried that if health, arts and social studies aren’t included in the MEA, those subjects will suddenly seem unimportant – especially to test-conscious parents and school officials.
At L/A Arts, Willing said he’s concerned that visual and performing arts will no longer be a priority for schools since schools won’t be judged by their arts MEA scores. And if arts are no longer a priority, he wonders, will they get money?
“It always makes me nervous when something like this happens because there are so many unknowns about what will happen,” he said.
Sharon Beaudoin, a Turner Primary School gym teacher who integrates health and physical fitness lessons into her classes, is concerned about cutting health from the test.
An unhealthy step
She called the move “sad.”
“I think it’s a step backwards, especially when you look at the state of the state,” said Beaudoin, referring to recent studies that show many Maine teens and young adults are overweight and unfit.
Department of Education officials said that local school systems will still be responsible for teaching the dropped subjects and for testing them on their own. But Beaudoin believes that many parents will pay attention to MEA scores, while dismissing local assessments.
“Sometimes it does mean a lot more (coming) from the state than from your local government,” she said.
Robert Goddard, a social studies teacher at Brunswick High School and a member of the Maine Council for the Social Studies executive board, said he was initially upset, too, when he found out that his subject was dropped from the test. But after thinking about it, he’s not sure how he should feel.
On one hand, he believes that the MEA is too long and places too much pressure on teachers and students. He’s happy to see social studies out of it.
“Nobody is going to hold a gun over me and say you have to get your scores up,” he said.
On the other hand, he doesn’t want social studies to seem less important than math, English or science.
“I’m both ways at this point,” he said. “Is it better to get rid of a lousy test and reduce your visibility?”
The Maine Department of Education plans to spend the next year designing alternative assessments for the three subjects dropped from the MEA. It will be up to local school districts to use those assessments or come up with their own.
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