A June 23 letter about the deterioration of Maine student achievement (“Stop excusing Maine’s dismal test scores“) must not be ignored. In 1995, Maine students in fourth grade scored highest in the nation on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Their reading scores on the 2022 test placed them 43rd in the nation, and math scores were among the lowest in the U.S. This plunge did not begin with COVID-19.

I researched the gap between the high scores of Maine students in 1994 and the low rate at which they attended college in my dissertation, “Working Memory: The Influence of Culture on Aspirations.” I found deep strengths in Maine education including: small schools, supportive communities, dedicated teachers and traditions of excellence and hard work.

Now, I fear consolidation of schools and districts and teaching to standardized tests have eroded these strengths. Consolidation, as shown in “Dollars & Sense: The Cost-Effectiveness of Small Schools,” is costly. Some rural districts pay as much as a third of their budgets on bussing, and students waste hours being bussed. The consolidated school will be in the largest town, so students in smaller schools spend the most time in busses. Their parents have a harder time getting to the new school for events and meeting with teachers, which affects children’s performance, and classes are larger so students get less individual attention. There are many strengths of good small schools that are lost in consolidation.

Let’s study the reasons for the decline in the performance of Maine students instead of stumbling along a downward path.

Barbara Kent Lawrence
Brunswick