PORTLAND, Maine — Maine should strive to enroll more children in school as early as possible and find ways to help students from low-income families achieve as much as their peers, according to a report released Tuesday by a business-led education advocacy group.
Educate Maine presented its 2015 Education Indicators for Maine, a report that examines the state’s education pipeline from pre-kindergarten through college, during an event in Portland. This is the third consecutive year Educate Maine has shared its findings.
“This year’s [report] shows progress in some key areas, such as more Maine adults with college degrees and increased access to early education programs for Maine’s youngest students,” said Educate Maine Executive Director Ed Cervone. “It also raises some real concerns, namely the growing achievement gap faced by students from low-income families.”
To take the pulse of Maine’s education system, the report focuses on “indicators” of student success, identifies where things stand today, and recommends goals.
Preschool participation, access
Today, 42 percent of Maine’s 3- and 4-year-olds are enrolled in a public or private preschool. That lags behind the rest of New England, where 56 percent in that age group are in pre-K, as well as the nation, where 46 percent are enrolled.
Preschool sets a strong foundation for future learning by preparing children socially, emotionally and mentally for the education to come, advocates argue. The effects can be long-lasting, carrying all the way into a student’s college education and career.
Educate Maine wants to see half of Maine’s 3- and 4-year-olds enrolled in preschool by 2019, but programs should be available in 100 percent of school districts in that same timeframe. About 64 percent of Maine school districts offer public preschool currently.
The 126th Legislature passed a law requiring that every Maine child have access to a preschool program in their district by the 2017-18 school year. That’s a strong step toward increasing participation, Educate Maine said.
Earlier this year, the Maine Department of Education announced that $4.2 million in federal funds would be directed toward helping along preschool expansion projects. That’s in addition to $6.5 million being distributed this year.
Performance in grades 4, 8
The report also assesses student performance on the 2013 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP test), which is administered to fourth and eighth graders across the country.
In fourth grade, 37 percent of Maine students tested proficient in reading and 47 percent in math. The averages for New England were 42 percent and 50 percent, respectively.
“This age marks a critical point in a child’s development and serves as a powerful indicator for future success,” according to Educate Maine. “Students who do not read proficiently by the thirds grade [reflected in fourth-grade scores] are four times more likely to drop out than proficient readers.”
In eighth grade, 38 percent of students who took the NAEP were proficient in reading and 40 percent in math. In both grades, scores in reading saw little change since 2005, but there were improvements in math. The New England average was 43 percent proficiency in reading and 44 percent in math.
Maine only recently began its push toward the proficiency-based education model, and the transition continues, state education officials have said.
Cervone said this year’s report uses information about students’ family earnings for the first time, enabling researchers who worked on the report to identify a substantial gap between low-income students and their peers when it came to their performance on the NAEP.
Low-income students are defined as those that qualify for the free and reduced lunch program under federal guidelines. Those students scored between 18 and 30 percentage points lower on NAEP math and reading exams than their peers who came from households with higher income levels, according to the data.
In other findings:
— Maine high schools excel when it comes to graduating students — 87 percent graduate within four years, putting Maine a percentage point above the New England rate and well above the national rate of 81 percent. Educate Maine sets the goal of increasing the state’s graduation rate to 90 percent by 2019.
— In Maine, 62 percent of high school students enter college within a year after earning their diploma, and 83 percent of college students return for a second year. Educate Maine wants those numbers to climb to 66 percent and 88 percent, respectively, over the next five years.
— Forty-eight percent of Maine students graduate college on time, that’s 11 percentage points lower than New England’s average. The report urges Maine’s higher education institutions to close that gap by 2019. Maine’s colleges and universities are working on a wide range of solutions to improve retention rates.
— Nearly 40 percent of Mainers have earned an associate’s degree or higher. Educate Maine wants 44 percent of Mainers to hold a college degree, certificate or other industry credential by 2019.
The report, which is available in full at www.educatemaine.org, stops short of proposing solutions. It doesn’t get into methods or funding mechanisms for reaching Educate Maine’s goals. Cervone said those decisions would be up to stakeholders ranging from the Maine Department of Education and state legislators, to parents and teachers within Maine’s schools districts.
Maine Department of Education Acting Commissioner Bill Beardsley didn’t have a chance to see the report Tuesday, and declined to comment until after he reviews it later this week.
Follow Nick McCrea on Twitter at @nmccrea213.