Want to learn more about the SEC? Contact us for a visit Using the SEC this year? Register your district here Want help with SEC data? Sign up for the SEC Data Workshop Maine Surveys of Enacted Curriculum The MMSA is partnering with the Maine Department of Education and the Council of Chief State School Officers to offer the Surveys of Enacted Curriculum (SEC) to Maine schools. The Surveys of Enacted Curriculum is a set of surveys intended to collect and report data on the enacted curriculum (the actual content taught). The survey tools are designed to provide a school district with reliable, comprehensive data to assist teachers, administrators and policy makers with planning for instructional improvement. 2006-2007 will be Maine's third year of participation in SEC. Dozens of schools and hundreds of teachers have already participated.   Mathematics Science English Language Arts Districts 21 18 2 Schools 66 50 7 Individuals 451 249 91 Click on any topic below to learn more about SEC in Maine How can we participate in SEC? Preview Survey Questions and Format National SEC link (CCSSO) What Kind of Data are Available?   • content and curriculum   • teacher background   • instructional characteristics   • levels of disaggregation What Can SEC Show Alignment To? Sample Reports and Charts Administering SEC Research on SEC Using SEC data in school improvement Maine Events and Support Opportunities Which Maine districts have participated in SEC? Maine SEC Reports How can we participate in SEC? Attend an orientation session. By attending an orientation session you will have the opportunity to learn more about what the survey is, how it can be used in your own district and experience the online survey. The scheduled orientation sessions for 2006 - 2007 are as follows:   • January 25th - Augusta   • January 30th - Auburn   • February 1st - Ellsworth   • February 14th - Portland   • February 15th - Presque Isle   • March 1st - Jay   • March 7th - Biddeford If you are not able to attend an orientation session this year, your district can still participate in the survey. Please see the contact information to schedule a consultation session to learn more about the SEC and the implementation process. The 2006-2007 survey timeline for Maine participants is from March 1, 2007 to June 30, 2007. Contacts for participating in the survey If you cannot attend an orientation session and would like to learn more about the survey and how your district can participate, please contact Chad Dorsey at cdorsey@mmsa.org or Francis Eberle at feberle@mmsa.org Back to top Preview Survey Questions and Format Access copies of the survey to preview the questions and format. Click here to download a hard copy of the survey for each of the content areas you are interested in. Paper versions of the survey for instructional practices and content are available as PDF downloads for the following: High School Mathematics K-8 Mathematics High School Science K-8 Science K-12 English Language Arts and Reading (ELAR) Back to top National SEC Link (CCSSO) The CCSSO and the Maine Department of Education sponsor the Surveys of Enacted Curriculum Project for Maine school districts. Maine is a member of the National SEC collaborative. The Council of Chief State School Officers' goal is to assist chief state schools officers and state and local education leaders in making informed decisions about how to improve their capacity for determining the alignment of content standards, assessments and instruction. The Council has worked to promote development and application of models for alignment analysis that will assist states and districts. The goal is for educators and policymakers to make informed decisions about the design of alignment studies based on local needs, and to provide leadership to states and districts in carrying out alignment analysis. The CCSSO website http://www.ccsso.org/Projects/Surveys_of_Enacted_Curriculum/ provides additional resources and information for districts using the Survey of Enacted Curriculum. State project profiles, multi-state projects, research and summary reports are available. Of particular interest is the link to the Maine SEC project state report for 2004 click here to download the report in addition to a number of research articles and informational papers. Back to top What Kind of Data are Available? The following charts and reports can be generated using SEC data: CONTENT and CURRICULUM Content Maps (Mathematics/Science/ELA) - information regarding topic coverage (by coarse or fine grain topics), time spent and expectations for students. A list of discrete topics is associated with each content area. TEACHER BACKGROUND Scale Measures of Teacher and School Characteristics - describing school and teacher attributes (ex: gender, years teaching, degree, departmentalized instruction, # of periods) Class Description - the target class is further described based on selected attributes such as instructional content, grade level, number of students, length of class, % of LEP students. Participation in Professional Development - how often respondents have participated in specific content related professional development activities such as summer institutes, teacher study groups, conferences, engaging in informal self-directed learning. Influences on Instructional Practices - reflecting on items which may influence instructional content (ex: state curriculum framework or content standards, state tests or results, textbook, preparation of students for the next grade). Teacher Readiness - reflecting on classroom instruction preparedness (ex: how prepared to us a variety of assessment strategies, teach students with physical disabilities, teaching the content at the specific grade level, provide content instruction that meets state standards). Teacher Beliefs - responding to given opinion/belief statements for particular content area topics (ex: "Students learn mathematics best when they ask a lot of questions." "I enjoy teaching English language arts.") INSTRUCTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS Instructional Practice Scales - instructional practices are measuring % of instructional time spent on analyzing information, demonstrating or explaining, communicating understanding, making connections, performing procedures, using assessment, participating in active learning, and using instructional technology. Use of Homework - homework use describing average time homework is assigned, length of homework, counting towards grades, and type of homework (ex: worksheets, reports, reading) Instructional Activities - further describing the types of activities that students engage in during instruction (ex: silently reading (ELAR), engaging in the writing process (ELAR), reading about mathematics in books or magazines (M), do a lab activity, investigation or experiment (S). Problem Solving Activities(M), Lab Activities and Investigations (S) and Text-based Activities (ELAR) -how much instructional time is spent on specific activities (ex: solving word problems from a textbook or worksheet (M), making educated guesses, predictions or hypotheses (S), responding creatively to texts (ELAR). Small Group Work - when working in small groups or pairs how much time is spent engaged in specific activities such as discussing how they read and how they write (ELAR), analyzing data to make inferences or draw conclusions (M), review assignments or prepare for a quiz or test (S). Use of Hands-On Materials (M), Collect Information (S) and Inquiry (ELAR) - how much instructional time is spent on engaging in specific tasks such as working on projects such as puppet shows, plays or dioramas (ELAR), building models or charts (M), having class discussions about data (S). Assessment Strategies - how often particular assessment strategies are used when assessing students (ex: using objective items, short answer questions, portfolios). Use of Educational Technology - how much time students are engaged in a particular activity using educational technology ( computer, calculators or other) such as how much time is spent learning facts or practicing procedures (M, ELAR, S), communicating through email (ELAR), display and analyze data (M, S). LEVELS of DISAGGREGATION Each of the charts can be disaggregated by: School Grade Level Level of Student Achievement Amount of Professional Development Percentage of Minority Students Class Size Percentage of Female Students Percentage of LEP Students Back to top What Can SEC Show Alignment To? Alignment Data can be generated for each document or program below: Mathematics:   • Scholastic Aptitude Test SAT   • Maine Educational Assessment MEA   • Maine Learning Results MLR   • Grade Level Expectations GLE's (gr. 3,5,6,7)   • National Assessment of Educational Progress NAEP framework (gr. 4, 8)   • National Assessment of Educational Progress NAEP test (gr. 8)   • National Council of Teachers of Mathematics NCTM Standards (gr. 8) Science:   • Full Option Science System FOSS Kits   • Maine Learning Results MLR   • National Assessment of Educational Progress NAEP test (gr. 8)   • National Science Education Standards NSE Standards (K-4, 5-8)   • Maine Educational Assessment MEA English Language Arts and Reading:   • Grade Level Expectations GLE's ( gr. 3,4,5,6,7,8)   • Scholastic Aptitude Test SAT verbal (gr. 11)   • Maine Educational Assessment MEA reading Back to top Sample Reports and Charts To view a sample of a chart that summarizes state data for instructional practices click on the example below. This chart looks at Maine state data for ELAR instructional practices with the chart on the left disaggregated by grade levels and the chart on the right disaggregated by class size. Sample Chart To view an example of a content data chart click on the example below. This example displays the coarse grain topics for mathematics for "School A". The chart displayed on the left hand side, reflects the amount of time teachers reported teaching each of the topics. This data is compared to the 5-8 Maine Learning Results for Mathematics, which are reflected on the right hand side of the chart. Content Data Chart Example For additional information on how to generate reports and review the variety of types of charts available you may wish to use the SEC report online tutorial CLICK HERE then go to the SEC Report Tutorial. Back to top Administering SEC Your district has decided to participate in the Survey - NOW what? Follow the steps outlined below: Contact Chad Dorsey at cdorsey@mmsa.org or Francis Eberle at feberle@mmsa.org and let them know your district will be participating. You will receive a non-disclosure agreement which will need to be completed. Upon receipt of the completed agreement the administration will be sent their user id and code which will allow access to the administrative section of the website. Remember survey data is available immediately after all teachers have completed the survey. Administrators may also view progress of survey completion. Administrators need to plan ahead! What is the purpose for participating in the survey? How will you communicate that to teachers? What are some ways you can support the implementation of the survey? Will you have teachers complete the survey during an in-service day or on their own time? How will you use the data and when? You may want to prepare teachers for the content portion of the survey - on the SEC website is an activity designed to help teachers gain a greater insight into the student expectations within a content area. Click here to go to Tools for Assistance where you will be able to access the pdf "Understanding Cognitive Demand". In order to administer the survey, a district designated trainer who is familiar with the survey should be available to train all teachers in getting set-up to take the survey. System requirements for computers are listed below: Macintosh Users Preferred:   Web Browser*: Netscape 7, Safari or Mozilla   Macromedia Flash Player 7   Operating System: Mac OS X   High Speed Internet Connection (DSL, Cable or Ethernet) Minimum:   Web Browser*: Netscape 4.5   Macromedia Flash Player 7   Operating System: Mac OS 9   Modem Internet Connection (56k)* Due to a bug in Internet Explorer for Macintosh, it cannot be used with the SEC Online Surveys. Windows Users Preferred:   Web Browser: Netscape 7, Internet Explorer 6 or Mozilla   Macromedia Flash Player 7   Operating System: Windows 2000 or XP   High Speed Internet Connection (DSL, Cable or Ethernet) Minimum:   Web Browser: Netscape 4.5 or Internet Explorer 5.5   Macromedia Flash Player 7   Operating System: Windows 98   Modem Internet Connection (56k) The hand-out below is a good resource to use with teachers. It explains the log-in process and offers helpful hints for completing the survey. Click Here for the hand-out (.doc) Some additional resources, such as "A Step by Step Guide" are located on the SEC website Click Here to view and download additional information. Back to top Research on SEC Both the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and the Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER) have completed analysis and studies of SEC. To access papers and reports Click Here to view additional resources. Click on the titles of interest. How valid and reliable are the surveys? For additional information CLICK HERE to view a number of reports related to the research and development of the surveys. Back to top Using SEC data in school improvement Maine schools have begun to use SEC data to reflect on teacher practice, examine curriculum alignment, and identify professional development needs. One curriculum coordinator who works in three rural Aroostook County districts used the data when undertaking district curriculum audits. He remarked, "All school districts should be required to generate this type of data. SEC makes it simple and cost free." A district in central Maine who completed the survey in 2003-2004 and has since experienced a great deal of administrator turnover reluctantly agreed to examine their SEC data in hopes of finding information useful to their ongoing curriculum and professional development efforts. Before the process began, there was some question about the data's validity and utility. After teachers and administrators spent time together reviewing the data and developing an action plan, they were thrilled with the amount of useful information. To view a summary of their process and findings select the PDF document below. Summary (.pdf) To link to vignettes from other states go to the following link http://www.secsupport.org/scenarios.htm Back to top Maine Events and Support Opportunities The Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance is holding a SEC data use conference this summer. Any district that has completed the SEC survey will be eligible to send a team free of charge. Back to top Which Maine districts have participated in SEC? In the past two years, dozens of schools and hundreds of teachers have completed the survey and now have data about the alignment of their curricula to the Maine Learning Results, National Standards, and state and national assessments. Their data include information about teacher practice, beliefs, and preparation. District List (.doc) District List (.pdf) Back to top Maine SEC Reports Link to 2004-2005 report click here to access the 2004-2005 SEC report. Back to top