An Act To Update Maine's High School Graduation Requirements
Maine Legislature, Session 125, LD 0949
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs
Sponsors: ALFOND, KENT, BARTLETT, WOODBURY, LOVEJOY, RICHARDSON

Legislative Document 
No. 949 
S.P. 295 
In Senate, March 8, 2011 
An Act To Update Maine's High School Graduation Requirements 
Reference to the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs suggested and ordered 
printed. 
JOSEPH G. CARLETON, JR. 
Secretary of the Senate 
Presented by Senator ALFOND of Cumberland. 
Cosponsored by Representative KENT of Woolwich and 
Senators: BARTLETT of Cumberland, WOODBURY of Cumberland, Representatives: 
LOVEJOY of Portland, RICHARDSON of Carmel. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
CONCEPT DRAFT 
SUMMARY 
This bill is a concept draft pursuant to Joint Rule 208. 
This bill proposes to amend the current education laws to update the graduation 
requirements for the State's high schools.  This bill would establish a standards-based 
system as follows. 
1.  In order to graduate from high school, a student would have to demonstrate 
proficiency in all 8 content areas outlined in the system of learning results established in 
the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, section 6209.  In addition, students would be 
required to be engaged in learning English and mathematics during each of their 4 years 
of high school study, or during every year of their high school career if they graduate 
early. 
2.  Beginning with the class of 2014, students graduating from the State's high 
schools also would demonstrate proficiency in each of the 5 guiding principles outlined in 
the Department of Education Rule Chapter 132:  Learning Results: Parameters for 
Essential Instruction. 
3.  School administrative units and schools would be required to create a 
decision-making system for graduation that enhances or replaces the current system of 
credit accumulation for graduation.  In addition to local requirements that could include 
the accumulation of credits, students would build a body of evidence that demonstrates 
their achievement of specific content area learning standards and the goals established in 
the guiding principles.  This evidence would come from across the content areas, would 
include student efforts within and outside of the school building over an extended period 
of time and consist of student-designed assignments and assessments, as well as 
teacher-designed assignments and assessments. 
4.  The Department of Education would create a series of rubrics for schools to use in 
evaluating the student's body of evidence and assigning a score to this work.  Students 
would be expected to present their body of evidence to an audience that includes 
educators from the school as well as parents and key community members chosen by the 
student.  The presentation could be a single event or a series of events taking place when 
students are prepared to demonstrate readiness, not on a uniform or preconceived 
timeline. 
5.  Students would be able to decide to graduate from high school sooner or continue 
longer than the traditional 4-year time frame, placing increased emphasis on the quality of 
learning rather than the time it takes each student to achieve such learning.  The results of 
these decisions would be noted on a student's transcript as part of the student's permanent 
record. 
6.  Schools would be required to report student learning in terms of proficiency in 
each content area standard delineated in the system of learning results and each of the 
guiding principles to students and parents at the end of each grading period.  Scoring 
decisions would be made by educators from the school administrative unit or the school 
and would incorporate input from other participants. 
7.  To ensure a level of trustworthiness of these decisions, samples of student work 
and local decisions would be submitted and reviewed by the Department of Education 
periodically to ensure that the standard for graduation retains a level of consistency across 
the State.  Students would have multiple opportunities to demonstrate success and 
different formats, using multiple measures, to engage in this process. 
8.  With respect to the guiding principles, each school administrative unit would put 
in place an assessment system that uses rubrics to pass judgment on student performance 
on multiple examples of student work completed over time.  The Department of 
Education would develop a set of rubrics aligned with each of the guiding principles that 
can be used for this purpose. 
9.  Each school administrative unit's standards-based system of high school 
graduation would be reviewed and approved annually during the basic school approval 
process as set forth in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, chapter 206.  A school 
administrative unit may choose to create and use different rubrics pending approval by 
the Department of Education through the basic school approval process.