Re-Envisioning Maine’s Education and Career Pathways

In Year 1, R1CC worked closely with the Maine Department of Education (DOE) to re-envision student learning pathways by implementing innovative practices and innovative thinking. R1CC worked with Maine DOE to define and clarify the need and conducted a root cause analysis and data review. Recognizing the impact of COVID-19 on schools in districts in Maine, the team provided just-in-time technical assistance, including a survey and focus groups with multiple stakeholder groups to assist the Maine DOE team in writing, submitting, and ultimately winning a U.S. Department of Education Re-Think Education (RREV) grant. The grant focused heavily on innovative thinking and expanding education pathways for students.

In Year 2, R1CC will continue supporting the Maine DOE to embed innovative practices in the state’s flexible education pathways efforts, one critical area of focus identified in the RREV grant. The Year 2 scope of work will extend support to strengthen Maine DOE staff and districts’ skillsets for creating, testing, and implementing these education pathways and evidence-based innovations more broadly.

This project will support Maine DOE in implementing the RREV Grant and institutionalizing innovation by providing technical assistance and capacity-building support to the DOE staff in the following areas to improve programs, policy, and practice: implementation of field-initiated educational models, application of available research and evidence in support of LEA innovations, iterative and continuous improvement cycles, and data collection and analysis.