Teachers welcome students to the first day of school at Loranger Memorial School in Old Orchard Beach in September 2020. Brianna Soukup/Portland Press Herald

Maine lawmakers repeatedly pressed Department of Education leaders Wednesday to explain why the state’s math and reading scores are so low compared to other states.

Department officials said Maine’s innovative curricula and local control mean national assessments don’t accurately reflect student success, an explanation many lawmakers on the Legislature’s education committee seemed skeptical of. They argued the state still needs ways to compare student achievement and progress. 

“I hear what you said, that it’s not that bad, but it seems that bad to me,” Rep. Barbara Bagshaw, R-Windham, told state education officials.

“I don’t look at assessment results as good or bad,” said Jodi Bossio-Smith, the state’s director of assessment. “I think the data is the data.”

The National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as the Nation’s Report Card, is administered nationally to a broad sample of fourth- and eighth-graders. This year’s results showed that students across the country failed to make up for pandemic-era learning losses.

Maine’s scores did not change significantly from the last assessment in 2022, but fourth-graders are considered significantly below the national average in math and reading scores.

And while every state’s scores dropped between the last pre-pandemic assessment in 2019 and 2024, Maine saw some of the largest drops in the nation, especially among fourth-graders.

NAEP VALIDITY 

In a Wednesday hearing, Maine education officials spoke with the Legislature’s Education and Cultural Affairs Committee about the results.

Bossio-Smith explained that in 2024, 1,900 Maine students in both fourth and eighth grades were assessed for the NAEP reading test, while 1,700 students in each grade took the math test. She said there wasn’t a statistically significant change between Maine’s 2022 and 2024 scores, especially when compared to the large drop in scores the state experienced between 2019 and 2022.

But lawmakers asked why Maine, which previously ranked near the top of the list, has fallen to 38th.

Bossio-Smith said NAEP can be a good starting point for asking questions, but that the scores aren’t inherently bad. Chief teaching and learning officer Beth Lambert testified that there are “key limitations” with NAEP as an assessment.

“While NAEP is often referred to as the Nation’s Report Card, there are serious concerns about its validity, fairness and ability to assess cutting-edge curricula,” Lambert said.

She said the test is designed to compare broad trends and doesn’t reflect state-specific priorities. She also said the test assesses rote memorization, while modern teaching emphasizes more holistic learning.

“NAEP misaligns with modern curricula and instructional practices,” she said, citing a 2020 study. “NAEP has been slow to incorporate newer instructional methods that incorporate deeper learning, core elements of Maine’s education strategies.”

Lambert said NAEP fails to capture the type of “innovative” programs Maine has launched, like structured reading instruction for pre-K through third grade, professional development in evidence-based literacy instruction, and holistic math instruction that focus on problem-solving and real-world application.

Scott Marion, a member of the National Assessment Governing Board, which sets policy for NAEP, said its unlikely Maine’s classrooms are so different from other states.

He agreed that no single test can evaluate overall student success. But he said NAEP is the gold standard for national assessment.

“Trying to brush this problem under the rug is a mistake, and to do it by trying to attack the test is an even worse mistake,” he said.

He said Maine should instead be digging into the results, along with other data about how it stacks up in different areas, such as special education and socioeconomically disadvantaged students, to assess the state’s strengths and weaknesses.

“To just dismiss the assessment out of hand as being invalid and unfair — that’s a fight you don’t want to have, because the technical documentation supporting the validity of NAEP scores, the accuracy of scores, the validity of the sampling approach, is pretty voluminous,” Marion said.

HOW SHOULD MAINE ASSESS STUDENTS?

Maine conducts its own statewide assessment, but Lambert said because of the state’s emphasis on local autonomy, the best tests are the ones that happen on the district level; Maine doesn’t impose a standard statewide curriculum.

Still, Lambert said, there isn’t one way to measure student success, which is why taking a more holistic look is necessary. Some committee members continued to push back.

“I think we have fantastic teachers, but we have a problem. We have a big problem,” Bagshaw said. “The kids aren’t getting educated in the basics.”

Bagshaw said she gets calls from parents who are considering private school or homeschooling.

“What do I say to these parents that are pulling their kids from the schools to go elsewhere for an education to get the basics?” she asked.

Lambert said she knows students are making progress because she spends time in schools, interacting with teachers and observing growth. “I can’t give you a data point that I think will tell us the answer,” she said. “I believe in our schools, and I believe in our teachers and our kids and our schools in this state.”

“I believe in our teachers and our schools as well, but we need a concrete way to measure if they’re improving when everybody’s saying we’re at the bottom of the barrel,” Bagshaw replied. “Because I don’t see it, and I want to see it. I want our schools to succeed, but we’re not.”