BANGOR, Maine — Schools have been figuring out how to implement a sweeping change in the way students are expected to learn and prove their readiness for the world after high school, and the state is looking to highlight examples of who’s “doing it right” as a guide.
Department of Education Commissioner Jim Rier toured three of Bangor’s 11 schools — the high school, William S. Cohen School and Vine Street School — on Thursday to learn more about Bangor’s approach so it can be shared with other school districts that might struggle to live up to the new requirements.
State law mandates that starting in 2018, Maine high schools issue diplomas based on a student’s ability to demonstrate proficiency in career and education development, English language arts, health education and physical education, mathematics, science and technology, social studies, visual and performing arts, and world languages.
“What’s vital about these visits is that we’re learning what people are doing and how other districts might benefit from what others are already doing right,” Rier said. The days of handing a student a diploma for showing up for four years are over, he added.
Rier met with Superintendent Betsy Webb and Bangor High School Principal Paul Butler to tour classrooms and get a glimpse into the coursework aimed at preparing students for college and the world outside high school.
In a geo-civics course, students gleaned information about the world by researching populations, gross domestic product figures and other data about nations before creating visual representations through cartograms. They then used this information to think about the “human geography” of the planet, only then putting what they learned into writing.
Inside another classroom, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Academy students worked on simple, small computer boards called Raspberry Pis to control and program the illumination of LEDs.
At each stop, students explained their own work and highlighted what they were gaining from it.
Rier visited younger students at other Bangor schools and their administrators later in the morning.
Because of the complexity behind reaching these proficiency standards, districts have been allowed to ask for more time to reach these goals, but in order to do so, they must have a plan for how to get there and explain the reasons the extension is needed.
So far, more than 50 school districts have asked for an extension to allow them more time to plan and implement the changes needed to get the to the level of proficiency the state expects to see, Department of Education spokeswoman Samantha Warren said Thursday morning. She expects the department will field many more by Saturday, Oct. 18, the deadline to submit extension requests.
The extension request from Bangor, the third-largest district in the state, was among the first to be approved, and its exhaustive, thorough, well-thought-out application is being held up as an example for other school districts in the state to follow, Rier said.
The state gave six extension options to school districts. Bangor was approved for Option 2, which gives the district one extra year, or until 2019, to prove their graduating students have proficiency in all eight subject areas.
Webb said Bangor faces some special challenges in meeting these goals. The schools have high rates of students on free and reduced lunch programs, and the district has the highest mobility rate in the state, meaning more students move into and out of the district over the course of the school year than anywhere else in Maine. But Webb also said her district has been working toward them for a decade, especially in the areas of English language arts.
Rier said it will be difficult to ensure every school gets where it needs to be, but students deserve to be prepared and have the base of skill and knowledge needed to succeed in college or careers.
The department says that 38 percent of Maine students who graduate from high school aren’t proficient in math or reading. One-third of students who go on to college from Maine schools need basic remedial courses to catch up, Warren said.
The Department of Education has set up a Center for Best Practice hub on its website to highlight case studies and resources to help school districts determine how to reach proficiency goals.
“It’s never easy to get 220 school units on the same track,” Rier said.
Follow Nick McCrea on Twitter @nmccrea213.