September 1, 1992
“Maine a Community of Discovery”
The National Science Foundation awarded a five year grant to the Statewide Systemic Initiative, which established the Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance. MMSA’s original ambitions were to fundamentally change the opportunities, performances and aspirations in mathematics and science for all of Maine’s students, pre-school through college. The State agreed to mount community awareness programs, progressive institutes and workshops for teachers, and efforts to increase the use of technology. Some people involved were former Governor of Maine, John McKernan; Jacqueline Mitchell of the Maine Department of Education (also on the MMSA Board of Advisors); Tom Keller, Co-Director of the Reach Center and Francis Eberle, former Executive Director of MMSA.
SUMMARY OF MAINE’S SSI
(MAINE: A COMMUNITY OF DISCOVERY), 1992-1997
Implementation of the SSI. The goal of the ME-SSI was to improve mathematics and science outcomes in grades K-12 throughout the state. Historically, Maine has characterized itself as a state where citizens have low educational aspirations, particularly with regard to participation in higher education. The SSI and other state initiatives sought to change this expectation.
The ME-SSI operated as a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit corporation, called the Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance (MMSA), that was independent of the state education department but closely aligned with it and with other partners. The SSI organized itself around four committees, each chaired by one or more SSI Principal Investigators. SSI leaders worked with and strongly influenced state policy-making activities, supported seven local demonstrations of systemic reform, provided technical assistance to local
school districts on request, and developed statewide and regional leadership to institutionalize its vision of mathematics and science education reform.
The seven demonstration projects, called Beacon Sites (Beacon Schools), developed into regional leaders for the ongoing implementation of the state’s vision for reform of mathematics and science education. These sites and staff of the MMSA continue to provide technical assistance to school districts as they engage with the curriculum frameworks, the Learning Results, and the student assessments. A network of teacher-leaders, called TheLeadership Consortium (TLC), also helped with the scaling-up process. Over a 5-year period, leaders of the ME-SSI estimated that they had introduced standards-based education reform to approximately 60 percent of the state’s teachers of mathematics and science and worked intensively with about 20 percent of them.
SUMMARY OF MAINE’S SSI
(MAINE: A COMMUNITY OF DISCOVERY), 1992-1997
Implementation of the SSI. The goal of the ME-SSI was to improve mathematics and science outcomes in grades K-12 throughout the state. Historically, Maine has characterized itself as a state where citizens have low educational aspirations, particularly with regard to participation in higher education. The SSI and other state initiatives sought to change this expectation.
The ME-SSI operated as a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit corporation, called the Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance (MMSA), that was independent of the state education department but closely aligned with it and with other partners. The SSI organized itself around four committees, each chaired by one or more SSI Principal Investigators. SSI leaders worked with and strongly influenced state policy-making activities, supported seven local demonstrations of systemic reform, provided technical assistance to local
school districts on request, and developed statewide and regional leadership to institutionalize its vision of mathematics and science education reform.
The seven demonstration projects, called Beacon Sites (Beacon Schools), developed into regional leaders for the ongoing implementation of the state’s vision for reform of mathematics and science education. These sites and staff of the MMSA continue to provide technical assistance to school districts as they engage with the curriculum frameworks, the Learning Results, and the student assessments. A network of teacher-leaders, called TheLeadership Consortium (TLC), also helped with the scaling-up process. Over a 5-year period, leaders of the ME-SSI estimated that they had introduced standards-based education reform to approximately 60 percent of the state’s teachers of mathematics and science and worked intensively with about 20 percent of them.
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