Maine students improve on state assessments

The Maine Department of Education is pleased to release the 2016-17 Maine Education Assessment (MEA) results in the content areas of mathematics, English language arts (ELA)/literacy, and science. In all content areas, performance has improved or remained stable.

“I am encouraged with how well our students are performing. In 2016-17, students were assessed for the second time on the rigorous standards Maine adopted in 2011 and while participation rates remained high, students showed consistent improvement,” said Robert G. Hasson, Jr., Maine Department of Education Commissioner. “This is a true testament to the hard work and determination of our students and their teachers.”

With two years of data from the same assessments, this is the first opportunity since 2013 that the state has been able to compare results over two years in mathematics and ELA/literacy. Results are very encouraging.

Highlights include:

• In ELA/Literacy 52.58 percent of Maine students scored at or above state expectations – a notable improvement over 50.58 percent in 2015-16.
• In Mathematics 38.54 percent of Maine students scored at or above state expectations – a slight improvement over 38.31 percent in 2015-16.
• In Science 61.07 percent of Maine students scored at or above state expectations – a slight improvement over 60.97 percent in 2015-16.

The number of students exempted from the state assessment due to special considerations (e.g., serious medical condition) was reduced by about half from 2015-16 to 2016-17.

Participation rates in all subjects were greater than 95 percent.

The public results can be viewed by school or district and by subgroups, including grade level groups, in the MAARS Public Reports system.

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