A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

APPLICATION NO      :    R168A30021 APPLICANT           :    Maine Department of Education                          Division of Curriculum                          State House Station #23                          Augusta, Maine 04333 CONTACT PERSON	    :    Thomas Keller TELEPHONE    	    :    (207) 287-5920 AWARD TO DATE       :    $659,830 PROJECT PERIOD      :    10/01/93-09/30/96 

A discipline specific framework will start at one end of the spectrum with a philosophy and a rationale to validate the discipline, and at the other end an explication of student outcomes: what a student is expected to know and be able to do. The movement from vision to reality incorporates the content and process knowledge that forms an integrated mathematics and science curriculum in the state's proposed framework.

One team, Curriculum Framework, consisting of consultants, faculty from higher education institutions, public and private teachers, will be responsible for developing the framework. A second team, Professional Development Action Team, will be responsible for the re- examination of teacher education programs and consists of state department representatives, university faculty responsible for teacher education programs, math/science faculty from colleges of arts and sciences, practicing professionals from the corporate sector. This team will be responsible for proposing new inservice programs.

The state's framework project will build upon its 1) National Science Foundation (NSF) Statewide Systemic Initiative (SSI) and its network of laboratory "Beacon" schools; 2) the Southern Maine Partnership and its connection to the National Network for Educational Renewal (which includes a Pilot Teacher Education Site; 3) participation in the Coalition of Essential Schools as an "Re: Learning State"; and 4) the New Standards Project. The SSI advisory committees, Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance, will also serve in a similar role for the Eisenhower grant.

In the first year, the Framework Team will draft preliminary standards and prepare a rationale/philosophy. Feedback will be obtained via regional conferences, statewide teleconferences, and from focus groups and mail surveys conducted by an independent evaluation group. While the standards components are further refined, spring and summer work sessions begin to align content knowledge and skills, identify new techniques of instruction, and select exemplary tasks and units of study. These components constitute the details of State-Specific Framework which will be piloted in several districts in the fall of '94. Additional regional meetings, and feedback from local districts is continuously obtained to refine the utility and acceptability of the draft framework documents.

[Louisiana Mathematics and...]

[Identifying Content Standards...]