National report’s UMF rating runs counter to local experiences

FARMINGTON – The University of Maine at Farmington’s elementary and secondary education programs have been long held up as the state’s gold standard. Four out of the last five Teachers of the Year graduated UMF, as have two out of the last three Technology Educators of the Year. The school has received national recognition from a number of publications for providing cost-effective, high quality educations.

That might explain the reaction of Katherine Yardley, Associate Provost and Dean of Education, following Tuesday’s release of a study that listed UMF as one of country’s lowest performing programs: “Total shock.”

The rankings were prepared by the National Council on Teacher Quality, based out of Washington, and encompass 1,130 institutions in the United States. Those programs, elementary and secondary, prepare roughly 99 percent of the country’s teachers. Each institution received a 0- to 4-star “grade” and the report failed the vast majority of programs: less than 10 percent received three stars or more and in this state, only the University of Southern Maine got higher than one star.

UMF got zero stars.

Critics of the report have pointed to the relatively small collection of material used to generate the scores. According to Yardley, course syllabi and student teaching handbooks, as well as some public information such as course offerings, were collected by the NCTQ to create the ratings system. There was no site visit, no interviews with students, professors or teachers affiliated with the program and the organization didn’t try to contact graduates.

Yardley recalled the folder containing everything UMF sent NCTQ, everything the group based its decision upon. She could hold it in one hand.

“How can you possibly understand who we are from this one file?” she asked. “It didn’t see very comprehensive.”

Ironically, UMF had just gone through a more intensive process while earning national accreditation, a designation that requires multiple visits by experts representing both the state and national interests, extensive documentation of educational standards and interviews with people currently and previously associated with the program.

The NCTQ report appeared to be based on some old data as well, Yardley said. One important consideration for the rating system was adherence to Common Core, an attempt to nationally align curriculum around common standards. NCTQ indicated that UMF wasn’t following Common Core, based off the Fall 2010 syllabi it reviewed. However, Yardley noted, the state didn’t begin incorporating Common Core principles until 2011.

Yardley said that the report failed to consider other areas that UMF considers major strengths, such as its emphasis on field experience. Students spend significant time in classrooms, both in Mt. Blue Regional School District and elsewhere, working with teacher mentors and monitored by UMF supervisors.

“It’s a real strength,” Yardley said, “but it wasn’t calculated in the report.”

In the report, the UMF elementary teacher program received no stars in the student teaching section. Among the reasons listed was that the school “does not provide student teachers with written feedback after five or more observations.”

Teacher Stephanie Fogler, who graduated UMF in 2010 and now works for RSU 19, said that UMF’s program had fully prepared her for working in a classroom. While at UMF, Fogler said, she went into elementary school classrooms every year after the first, working with students and getting hands-on experience.

“I thought it was fabulous,” Fogler said. She went on to cite the program’s emphasis on formatting lesson plans and working with students with special needs as other strengths.

Lesson planning was one of the few areas that UMF excelled at, according to the NCTQ report. It gave the university four stars, one of two institutions to receive that many in the United States.

“We’re very confident in what we do,” Yardley said, noting that several recent Teachers of the Year had graduated from UMF. “I think our teachers are taking leadership roles.”

Superintendent Michael Cormier at Mt. Blue Regional School District agreed that UMF graduates generally were “incredibly well prepared” when they began working at his district. MBRSD further benefited from the arrangement by getting a chance to meet students prior to their graduation, Cormier noted, but his consultations with other superintendents and educators across the state indicated that UMF students tend to get hired more frequently than graduates of other programs.

“I’ve been very pleased, they have an excellent reputation,” Cormier said.

Yardley said that the university would likely fold the report’s findings into the other feedback it constantly received. For example, the report indicated that UMF’s program failed adequately address the needs of English language learners, an area Yardley said the college had already been working on improving.

“We’ll look closely where we can improve and add it to the mix,” Yardley said.