Leaner learning results poised for key vote
Portland Press Herald (Maine Sunday Telegram), December 10, 2006

(excerpt) Even before it became law, Maine's document outlining what students should learn in school was under fire for being too long and too complicated.

Nearly 10 years later, the document, known as Maine's Learning Results, is poised to become simpler and shorter.

The document has been revised and, if approved by the Legislature, will become decidedly leaner. The list of "indicators" -- what students must demonstrate they've mastered, such as being able to describe in kindergarten the differences between plants and animals, or in high school the importance of biodiversity -- has been slashed from 1,131 to 558. The list of "standards," or broad concepts students are expected to understand, such as economics, geography and history, was trimmed from 67 to 41.

"We have taken a step away from an inch-deep, mile-wide set of standards to become more focused on fewer big ideas but deeper knowledge," said Anita Bernhardt, a science teacher hired to head up the revision.

But the jury is still out on whether the revisions will satisfy teachers and school officials, who have criticized the learning standards in the past. They are expected to offer their opinions when the Legislature's Education and Cultural Affairs Committee takes up the proposal next month.

Maine's Learning Results grew out of a national movement in the 1990s to make schools more accountable for what students learn. Adopted in 1997, the Learning Results law was considered among the most rigorous and comprehensive in the country. It created statewide learning standards and established a timetable for requiring students to prove proficiency in the standards in order to graduate. The deadline was originally set at 2008 and was later pushed back to 2010.

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