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Former education chief's group wins federal funding for testing revision

By Matthew Stone mstone@centralmaine.com
Staff Writer

A consortium of 31 states led by Susan Gendron, Maine's former education commissioner, has won a $160 million federal award to remake standardized testing, the U.S. Department of Education said Thursday.

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Susan Gendron

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The SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium -- of which Maine is a member -- was vying for a portion of $350 million in federal funds allocated to bankroll the development of new standardized tests for American students.

The award came as part of the federal Race to the Top education competition, which awarded $4 billion to states to support education reforms and set aside $350 million to pay for developing new tests.

The SMARTER group was one of two to win awards. The other winning consortium -- which claimed $170 million -- counts 26 member states, including California, Florida and Massachusetts.

The Race to the Top testing competition attracted three applicants. The losing application came from a 12-state consortium that proposed tests specific to the high school level. Maine was a member of this losing group, as well as the SMARTER Consortium, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

Both winning groups' tests are to be based on the newly released Common Core academic standards that more than 30 states have adopted. Maine has taken the first steps toward adopting the Common Core, but state legislators will have the final say when they reconvene in the winter.

The U.S. Department of Education says the new tests should be ready in time for the 2014-15 school year.

The SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium is developing computer-based tests that tailor questions to students' ability levels as they take the tests. As part of the group, Maine could replace the New England Common Assessment Program tests, or NECAP, which state schools switched to last year, with the new computerized tests.

Maine students in grades three through eight take the NECAP test annually; the results are used to measure student achievement against federal benchmarks. New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont pupils also take the NECAP tests.

"If we're going to prepare our students to compete in an international arena, we need to be measuring our students against the same standards and using the same assessment tools," Gendron told the Portland Press Herald in April.

News of the SMARTER consortium's Race to the Top award came a week after nine states and Washington, D.C., received awards in the federal competition.

Maine placed 33rd among the 36 states that applied for awards. Competition reviewers cited a lack of widespread support and a lack of clarity about Maine's reform initiatives as the application's shortcomings.

Gendron, a former Windham school superintendent, was commissioner of education under Gov. John Baldacci for seven years. She left the department in April.

Matthew Stone -- 623-3811, ext. 435

mstone@centralmaine.com