Maine Revised Statutes Title 20-A. Education § 4252. Program

1. Class size. Reduce the class size in all classrooms;

2. Teacher training. Provide training programs for teachers in screening, educational diagnosis, program prescription or program development;

3. Screening. Establish or expand preschool or early childhood screening programs, including psychometrically valid English language proficiency screening for potential English learners as defined in section 15672, subsection 7-B as determined by a language use survey developed by the department, and the development of individualized educational prescription based on the findings of the screening;

4. Programs for children 4 years of age and 5 years of age. Encourage the development of public preschool programs or 2-year kindergartens in conformity with section 5201, subsection 2, paragraph C and other appropriate programs to address the needs of children 4 years of age and 5 years of age;

5. Multigrade classrooms. Establish classroom units of more than one grade level;

6. Learning environment. Develop a learning environment which would encourage each student to learn and progress at that student's own functional level;

7. Transition. Facilitate the transition of children from preschool programs to public school programs;

8. Family outreach. Provide family outreach and support programs designed to improve parent-school relations and parenting skills; and

9. Early childhood statewide assessments. The use of early childhood statewide assessment tools pursuant to chapter 222 to inform instruction and to communicate effectively with parents. An early childhood statewide assessment must avoid inappropriate use of assessment information; specifically, the assessment may not result in labeling children, restricting kindergarten entry or predicting children's future academic and life success.