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Essential Programs And Services Component Review: Multilingual Learner Student Component, Lisa Morris, Amy F. Johnson

School Funding - Essential Programs and Services (EPS)

Introduction

Maine’s public school funding formula, the Essential Programs and Services (EPS) model, allocates resources for districts to support students who need supplemental English language instruction. The additional funds are calculated using a weighting procedure that adjusts the student count upward by a certain amount for each student identified as a Multilingual Learner (ML), formerly referred to as English Learners (ELs). By counting each ML as more than one student the district’s total allocation is increased. The additional weight is an estimate of the added cost of educating ML students relative to their non-ML peers and varies based on the …

Essential Programs And Services Report Of Findings: System Administration Component, James E. Sloan, Sharon Gerrish, Amy F. Johnson

School Funding - Essential Programs and Services (EPS)

SUMMARY

This analysis of the System Administration component of Maine’s Essential Programs and Services school funding model was prepared for the Commissioner of Education as part of the ongoing review of the cost formula, as required by Maine statute. Specific elements for analysis were determined in collaboration with the Maine Department of Education.

Essential Programs And Services (Eps) Component Review: Small And Geographically Isolated School Adjustment, Lisa A. Morris, Amy F. Johnson

School Funding - Essential Programs and Services (EPS)

Background

The Essential Programs and Services (EPS) cost model provides an additional allocation to schools that are identified as small and geographically isolated. Such schools have less opportunity to achieve economies of scale by combining with nearby communities and may also have other additional costs inherent to geographic isolation. The form of the adjustment is a reduced student-to-teacher ratio for schools in lower size categories that meet the geographic isolation criteria, along with an additional per-pupil allocation amount for operation and maintenance of physical plant in island schools. Prior analyses of this adjustment were conducted in 2005, 2006, 2010 and …

Essential Programs And Services Report Of Findings: Gifted And Talented Education, Lisa Morris, Amy Johnson

School Funding - Essential Programs and Services (EPS)

Report Overview

This review of the Gifted and Talented (G&T) funding component within the Essential Programs and Services (EPS) education cost model begins with a summary of our most recent (2019) analyses of the G&T funding patterns and trends in Maine. Next we provide updated data (Part I) about G&T program implementation and enrollment in Maine public schools in FY2020 and FY2021 to confirm that trends from prior studies persist. We then provide a summary of the available research literature on the rationale and effectiveness of G&T programming in order to revisit the underlying tenets of this aspect of Maine’s …

Report Of Findings On The Student Transportation Cost Component Of The Eps Funding Model, James E. Sloan, Amy Johnson

School Funding - Essential Programs and Services (EPS)

Background

Prior to 2005-06, Maine used an expenditure-reimbursement model for funding transportation costs. School administrative units annually submitted their transportation expenditure to the State, and the school administrative units (SAUs) were reimbursed for a portion of these expenditures based on an ability-to-pay formula. Beginning 2005-06, Maine implemented Essential Programs and Services (EPS), a cost-based school funding model based on two fundamental premises. First, there must be adequate resources in each Maine SAU and school to achieve desired outcomes. In transportation, desired outcomes include safety, reasonable ride times by age group, meeting all student transportations needs including special needs, and others. …

An Analysis Of The Impacts Of Including Income In Determining Community Wealth In The Maine K-12 School Funding Formula, David L. Silvernail, James E. Sloane

State of Education

A key feature of K‐12 school funding formulas is establishing an ability‐to‐pay provision in the formula. With the exception of Hawaii, all states share the funding of their K‐12 school system between the State and local communities. And all school formulas use some mechanism to determine the ability of a local community to pay its equitable share of the costs of education. For Maine, as well as a majority of other states, local property wealth is used to determine ability‐to‐pay. The theory is that communities with higher property wealth are more wealthy communities, and, thus, more able to pay for …

The Maine Learning Technology Initiative: Teacher, Student, And School Perspectives, Mid-Year Evaluation Report, David L. Silvernail Phd, Walter J. Harris Phd, Dawn M.M. Lane, Janet C. Fairman Phd, Paula B. Gravelle, Lori Smith, Katherine I. Sargent, Walter Mcintire

Education Technology

This report presents some early evaluation evidence on the effectiveness and impact of the implementation of the Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI). The goal of the Year One evaluation, which is being conducted by the Maine Education Policy Research Institute (MEPRI), is to provide policymakers and practitioners with information that will assist them in determining whether or not, and to what degree, the vision and goals of the MLTI are being achieved. The Year One design is focusing primarily on the students who entered seventh grade in September 2002, and their teachers and schools.

The MEPRI evaluation team has focused …