State Profile For Maine

Data sources used in this profile (PDF,177Kb)

State Director

Ms. Lora S. Downing, Director Career and Technical Education
Maine Department of Education
23 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333

CTE Web Site(s) as Applicable

Secondary: www.schoolswork.org

Postsecondary: www.mccs.me.edu

Mission

Secondary level – Mission Statement The mission of Career and Technical Education, as part of the educational system in Maine, is to ensure that students acquire the high-quality technical skills that will prepare them for post-secondary education and entry into an ever-changing workplace and society and meet the rigorous academic standards of Maine’s Learning Results.

Our Vision The learning and development needs of students govern educational decisions. All students benefit from an integrated system of academic and applied learning, based on rigorous expectations and standards, throughout their school experience. All students and teachers place the highest priority on students’ attainment of literacy at levels that will serve them throughout their lives as productive citizens and lifelong learners. Rigorous data analysis drives educational decisions and resource allocation and contributes to continuous improvement.


Postsecondary level – MCCS Guiding Principles MCCS Mission The basic mission of the Maine Community College System is to provide associate degree, diploma and certificate programs directed at the educational, occupational and technical needs of the State’s citizens and the workforce needs of the State’s employers. The primary goals of…the Maine Community College System are to create an educated, skilled and adaptable labor force which is responsive to the changing needs of the economy of the State and to promote local, regional and statewide economic development. (Public Law, Chapter 431) MCCS Vision Maine’s Community Colleges are dedicated to educating today’s students for tomorrow’s career opportunities in an environment that supports personal and professional growth, innovation, and lifelong learning. The colleges are committed to enhancing the quality of life and economic prosperity of Maine through excellence in education.


Statement of Core Services and Attributes · Prepares a well-educated person, one who has the knowledge, skills and values to lead a thoughtful, creative and productive life; who seeks self-knowledge and understanding of others and the world; is a lifelong learner; is actively engaged in the community and civic life; and shows tolerance and respect for cultural, ethnic and intellectual diversity; · Awards associate degrees, certificates and diplomas; · Offers programs that prepare students for occupations with career progression and/or transfer opportunities for the baccalaureate level; · Offers liberal arts transfer programs, providing the core liberal arts foundation required for most baccalaureate programs and associate degree career programs; · Focuses primarily on regional needs, with a commitment to serving and supporting its local communities; · Offers business & industry training and services, providing customized training and upgrading, at a place and time convenient for employees and employers; · Is low cost, to assure broad access to college; · Is easily accessible to a diverse population, offering on-site and off-site day, evening and weekend courses with significant opportunity to pursue a degree part time; · Provides access to students who can benefit from its educational offerings through modified open admission policies. Applicants must possess a high school diploma or GED and meet program of study prerequisite requirements; · Provides effective student support services such as academic assessment, counseling, remediation, and career placement; · Provides opportunities for lifelong learning to support professional and personal growth, through a diverse array of credit and noncredit courses, workshops and seminars; · Actively pursues a diverse learning community in which cultural, ethnic and intellectual diversity are respected and embraced; · Provides a learner-centered environment, in which teaching and learning are the primary focus of the institution; · Is a partner and facilitator in regional economic development, providing training to support the creation of high-wage, high-skill jobs in new and established industries; · Develops students with awareness of global issues; · Offers co-curricular opportunities, including clubs, student activities, sports and leadership opportunities; · Is committed to community building, serving as facilitator/community resource for bringing people and groups with a common interest together to address local issues; · Serves as a resource for the college and the public, offering cultural and special events; and · Partners with other local and state providers in workforce development.

CTE Statistics

Number of Public High Schools: 140
Number of Public High Schools Offering Solely (or primarily) CTE courses: 27
Number of Students in Public High Schools: 61,907
Number of Secondary Students Enrolled in CTE: 8,102
Number of Public Community Colleges: 7
Number of Students at Public Community Colleges: 12,264
Number of Postsecondary Students Enrolled in CTE: 36,934
Perkins Funds Received: $6,235,454

Number of Secondary Students Enrolled in CTE, Number of Public Community Colleges and Number of Students at Public Community Colleges available on secondary and postsecondary websites.

CTE Governance Structure

Perkins Eligible Agency: Department of Education
Agency Administering Secondary CTE: Department of Education
Agency Administering Postsecondary CTE: Maine Community College System (MCCS) Board of Trustees
Programmatic Control For Secondary CTE: State Board of Education
Programmatic Control For Postsecondary CTE: MCCS Board of Trustees

CTE Funding: Non-Perkins

Key: Increased Funding  Small_green_arrow_up    Decreased Funding   Small_red_arrow_down    Funding Maintained   Small_blue_arrow_both
State Secondary Funding: Small_red_arrow_down
State Postsecondary Funding: Small_blue_arrow_both
Local Secondary Funding: Small_blue_arrow_both
Local Postsecondary Funding: N/A

State Director Roles and Responsibilities

The Director’s position is a career position that reports to the PK-20 Team leader. The Director’s primary areas of responsibility are Perkins grant Management – federal, state, local Program approval School site Review Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment – which includes the technical and the academic integration of academics with CTE Professional Development High School reform work as it pertains to CTE and partnerships among CTE schools and high schools Business partnerships Liaison to the Department of Labor and the Maine Jobs Council (Commissioner’s Designee) Supervision of 9 consultants and 4 support staff.

Maine has a director of CTE (as of June 15, 2009) Lora S. Downing. This position is supported by a Coordinator, Margaret Harvey.

CTE Connections to Secondary Education and High School Reform

Career technical education plays a very high role in high school reform efforts. Maine is involved in CTE and high school transformation effort. The state received a National Governor’s Association grant for high school reform and CTE was a component in that grant. Maine, also, has been chosen as one of the ten states in the Gates/Successful Schools Network. This is a multi-year project working with the International Center for Leadership in Education and focuses on CTE/high school integration. The CTE state director and others on the CTE team are active in the New England Secondary School Consortium (NESSC), facilitated by the Great Schools Partnership and funded by Nellie Mae and the Gates Foundation. This initiative is involved in examining policy and practices related to secondary education reform.

Implementation of Career Clusters

Maine believes that Career Clusters provide the infrastructure for a seamless educational transition between all learner levels and give students a method to help organize their sequences of courses.


In order to effectively implement Career Clusters, Maine has integrated them into the state plan and adopted a strategic vision paper that also supports Career Clusters. Maine has also adopted strategies to support implementation of Career Clusters. For example, Maine requires accountability information to be collected by Career Clusters.


Maine’s model of CTE organizes programs of study within 9 broad career cluster programs within which the 15 Career Clusters are combined. The Clusters are designed to provide students with multiple career pathways leading to careers and postsecondary education. These 9 clusters include the nationally-recognized career clusters, excluding only Government and Public Administration.

Implementation levels of programs of study