Education Commons^™

Humanities And Education: Section Introduction

Maine Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Not A Big Stretch: Community College Humanities, Ronald G. Cantor

Maine Policy Review

Today’s community colleges provide low-cost access to degrees in the humanities and social sciences as well as in technical fields and the trades. The humanities are key to developing the soft skills that employers demand most, and therefore they fit the workforce-development mission of community colleges. Since many students can afford no college other than a community college, their educational and career options would be significantly reduced (with negative economic, institutional, and societal repercussions) if community colleges did not offer courses and programs in the humanities. The humanities enrich our world while inspiring insights that help us to achieve practical …

Preparing For Changes In Teacher Preparation Program Accountability: Evaluating The Factors That Influence Job Placement Of Teacher Preparation Program Graduates, Amy F. Johnson Phd

All Student Scholarship

Teacher preparations programs are facing increased pressure to report on the outcomes of their graduates, including their job placement rates. Prior research on job placement for teachers establishes that a variety of factors are related to whether or not individuals apply for and receive jobs. This research study explored these factors through quantitative analysis of three cohorts of teacher preparation program completers within the University of Maine system, using logistic regression to identify the individual and contextual characteristics that are most predictive of job application and hiring.

Nurturing Environmental Literacy At Colby College: Higher Education And The Environmental Crisis, Molly Nash

Honors Theses

The environmental crisis will affect all people, career paths, and academic disciplines. Acknowledging this, does higher education have an obligation to educate all students for environmental literacy (EL)? This study reviews literature on how to effectively assess and implement EL initiatives and highlights how other colleges successfully nurture EL in all students. This study also uses quantitative and qualitative survey measures to understand student levels of EL at Colby College and to highlight specific programming or curriculum that leads to high EL levels in students. Findings include significantly different EL scores between environmental studies student respondents and respondents in all …

A Call To Action: Maine’S Colleges And Universities Respond To An Aging Population, Jeffrey E. Hecker, Marilyn R. Gugliucci

Maine Policy Review

Jeffrey E. Hecker and Marilyn R. Gugliucci report on the findings of the Higher Education Workgroup, which is part of the Maine Aging Initiative. They present summary information on aging-related research, gerontology/geriatrics educational curricula, and educational opportunities for older adults including retooling for employment.

Torch (November 2014), Brandon Baldwin, Civil Rights Team Project

Torch: The Civil Rights Team Project Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Torch (September 2014), Brandon Baldwin, Civil Rights Team Project

Torch: The Civil Rights Team Project Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Torch (June 2014), Brandon Baldwin, Civil Rights Team Project

Torch: The Civil Rights Team Project Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Maine’S Charter School Law: Predicted Impacts On Waynflete School Enrollment, Kelsey Robinov

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

The aim of this study is to predict the impacts of Maine’s recently enacted charter school law on the enrollment at Waynflete School, a private co-educational day school in Portland, Maine. National data on current public and private school enrollment trends were examined, as well as existing data on the effects of charter schools on enrollments at these schools. The intent at looking at this data will be to determine what, if any, factors can predict in what areas charter schools are likely to flourish and pull students from private schools in significant numbers and to compare the characteristics of …

Creating Flexibility In Teacher-Certification Policy To Ensure Quality And Equity, Flynn Ross

Flynn Ross

As do many states, Maine has requirements and standards aimed at having “well-qualified” teachers. While few dispute the need for such standards, Flynn Ross brings attention to one case in Portland where use of a standardized exam to certify new teachers was preventing well-qualified—but culturally and linguistically diverse—teachers from becoming certified. She chronicles the successful attempts of one group to petition the Maine State Board of Education to allow greater flexibility in the testing standards. In doing so, she points to a larger truth that well-intentioned policy goals may seek to achieve a greater good, but may at the same …

Torch (April 2014), Brandon Baldwin, Civil Rights Team Project

Torch: The Civil Rights Team Project Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Torch (February 2014), Brandon Baldwin, Civil Rights Team Project

Torch: The Civil Rights Team Project Newsletter

No abstract provided.

The Relationship Between School Poverty And Student Achievement In Maine., David L. Silvernail Phd, James E. Sloan, Chelsea R. Paul, Amy F. Johnson Phd, Erika K. Stump Phd

School Funding - Essential Programs and Services (EPS)

This Brief presents the findings from a series of analyses designed to explore the connections between poverty and student achievement in Maine schools. It explores how poverty and performance are related, and examines other school and student characteristics that may be connected to student performance.

Interview With Doug Hall On The Role Of Training In Innovation, Margo Lukens, Doug Hall

Maine Policy Review

In this interview, Doug Hall gives his current thinking on the teaching of innovation and the urgency for doing so. Hall has been working in the field of innovation for most of his career. He has served as partner and mentor in the University of Maine’s program which offers an Innovation Engineering minor open to undergraduate students in any major and a certificate for graduate students. Hall says that “the world of the guru is done” and that “companies, colleges, and countries need to empower their people to lead the transformation from the inside out.”

Creative Pathways Through High School: A Response To John Dorrer, “Do We Have The Workforce Skills For Maine’S Innovation Economy?”, Sylvia Most

Maine Policy Review

In this commentary on a recent Maine Policy Review article by John Dorrer, the author asks whether Maine is on the right track in its current emphasis on “college for all.” Her commentary suggests that students and employers might be better served by revisiting an earlier model of providing more vocational education opportunities.

Torch (December 2013), Brandon Baldwin, Civil Rights Team Project

Torch: The Civil Rights Team Project Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Torch (October 2013), Brandon Baldwin, Civil Rights Team Project

Torch: The Civil Rights Team Project Newsletter

No abstract provided.

College Participation Rates Of Maine’S Recent High School Graduates: Examining The Claims (Updated Report), David L. Silvernail Phd, James E. Sloan, Amy F. Johnson Phd

Higher Education and College Readiness

What follows are the findings from a preliminary analysis of the performance and characteristics of a recent class of Maine high school graduates who have enrolled in college the fall after high school graduation. To examine Claims 1 and 2, we used data provided by the National Student Clearinghouse (NCS) on the cohort of students who graduated high school in Spring 2010 (2010 NCSC). The NCS tracks approximately 90% of high school graduates who enroll in a United States college or university each year. However, the data available from NCS is limited. Thus, to examine Claims 3‐6 we limited our …

Increasing Postsecondary Enrollments In Maine: Changes Needed In Higher Education Policies, David L. Silvernail

David L. Silvernail

Why does Maine rank so low in higher education participation? What factors may be influencing whether Maine citizens pursue education beyond high school? Much of the debate to answer these questions has focused on students and described the problem as a lack of aspirations. David Silvernail provides another look at this issue. While student aspirations are important, Silvernail suggests that factors related to Maine's higher education system also may contribute to the problem of low enrollment. He compares Maine to six peer states and finds that for a number of factors such as cost and program accessibility, Maine ranks poorly. …

Torch (August 2013), Brandon Baldwin, Civil Rights Team Project

Torch: The Civil Rights Team Project Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Sam Gen Ms 01 Jean Byers Sampson Papers Finding Aid, John D. Knowlton, Susannah Clark

Search the Manuscript Collection (Finding Aids)

Description:

Jean Byers Sampson was a 1944 graduate of Smith College. Early in her post-Smith career, she conducted and wrote the 1947, “A Study of the Negro in Military Service,” which contributed to President Harry Truman’s decision to desegregate the armed forces. Sampson moved to Maine in the early 1950s with her husband, Richard Sampson, a Bates College mathematics professor, and she played a unique and critical role in the state until her death in 1996. Over the course of her life in Maine, she served as the founder of the first chapter of the NAACP in Maine, local and …

Torch (March 2013), Brandon Baldwin, Civil Rights Team Project

Torch: The Civil Rights Team Project Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Torch (January/February 2013), Brandon Baldwin, Civil Rights Team Project

Torch: The Civil Rights Team Project Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Homeschoolers And Public Libraries: A Synergistic Relationship, Cynthia Jennings

Maine Policy Review

Homeschoolers are commonly heavy users of their local libraries. this article discusses how libraries can become educational “hubs” for for homeschoolers by developing programs and services to support this burgeoning population.

Critical Issues In K-12 School Libraries, Elizabeth Reisz

Maine Policy Review

Elizabeth Reisz examines critical issues facing K–12 school libraries at a time of decreasing budgets but increasing recognition of the need for libraries and the skills librarians bring to 21st century education.

Improving Educational Opportunity And Equity Through School District Consolidation In Maine, Christine Donis-Keller, Beth O’Hara-Miklavic, Janet C. Fairman

Maine Policy Review

In 2007 Maine passed sweeping school district consolidation legislation mandating a reduction in the number of Maine school districts from 290 to approximately 80. The primary goals of the policy were to improve the educational opportunities for all students in the state; and to reduce costs through increased efficiency in the delivery of education programs and services. Based primarily on interviews with district leaders, this article describes the impacts of Maine’s school district consolidation policy on educational opportunities and equity within 24 regional school districts, one year after their mergers. Findings illustrate the different choices districts made when consolidating their …

On Maine’S First Charter Schools: Promises And Pitfalls, Sarah Butler Jessen

Maine Policy Review

In the last two years, Maine has begun the process of developing public charter schools throughout the state. As Maine moves forward into this new educational realm, questions need to be raised about what the implementation of charter schools might mean for the state on many levels. This commentary article contextualizes the state’s charter movement by outlining the national debate on charter schools. The article discusses the political, organizational, and educational challenges that these new schools may face as they break new ground. The author calls for evaluative review of each of the charter schools in the state in order …

Torch (November/December 2012), Brandon Baldwin, Civil Rights Team Project

Torch: The Civil Rights Team Project Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Torch (September/October 2012), Brandon Baldwin, Civil Rights Team Project

Torch: The Civil Rights Team Project Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Torch (May/June 2012), Brandon Baldwin, Civil Rights Team Project

Torch: The Civil Rights Team Project Newsletter

No abstract provided.