covered with tax-funded Sauce Bribery
"Maine’s new graduation mandates challenge school districts: Officials say it’s a big task to restructure learning and adopt standards so students can show proficiency in eight areas and get diplomas," BY NOEL K. GALLAGHER, Portland Press Herald, June 10, 2014.
Starting this fall, Maine high school students will have to do more than show up for classes and eke out passing grades to get their diplomas.
The class of 2018 and those that follow will have to show in-depth understanding, under state-mandated learning standards....
Maine is one of the first states to switch to such proficiency-based diplomas....
OTHER STATES MAKING THE CHANGE
State education officials describe the graduation requirements as “one of the few points of leverage available to the state.”
“The passage of this law – and the granting of transition funds from the Maine (Department of Education) to all of the districts – provided the mandate to move towards a proficiency-based system,” says a description on the department’s website.
“For districts whose leadership wanted to move in that direction already, it provided cover from resistant faculty or community members. Participants agreed that the passage of the legislation helped to frame the current moment as being appropriate for change.”
Officials with the Department of Education did not return calls for comment. [bold added]
