The first year, 2006, only the SAT was given. The following year, the state augmented the SAT by adding a 45-minute math section, offered to students on a different day, to cover some math content areas not included on the SAT. This year, the state is introducing two different hour-long science and technology assessments that will be administered along with the math augmentation. This is in response to the expansion of NCLB requirements.

To make sure that all Maine high schools were prepared to administer this new battery of tests, the College Board and the Maine Department of Education ran a number of test supervisor workshops around the state in early March. DOE staff handled the details around augmentation; College Board staff handled the SAT-related information. Supervisors needed to know, for example, that SAT test books would be color-coded to indicate the student’s testing situation: Black border for standard testing; pink border for 50-percent extended time; purple or teal border for 100-percent extended time (or similar accommodations made available in schools); and green border for “Maine-only” accommodations, where scores would count for NCLB but could not be reported to colleges.

Despite the fact that this was the third year these workshops had been offered, more than 50 test administrators showed up at the first workshop in Portland. This was impressive, because there are only 140 administrators in the entire state. The workshop in the state’s capital of Augusta had three different audiences: those who came to the state capital and participated face-to-face, those who viewed the workshop from their school on the state’s interactive video system and those who would view the tape of the workshop at a later date.

Brian O’Reilly, executive director of SAT program relations, represented the College Board at the workshops and stated that this is one of the best projects he has ever worked on. “When you give more than 3 million tests a year, as we do in the SAT Program, most of the time you feel like you’re working at arm’s length from students or test supervisors. It’s a very welcome change to interact directly with the people who are actually using our services.”

VP Arthur Doyle

With good weather approaching, we enter the
engaging season of professional development, so it is appropriate to share a few of the many regional opportunities with you. The annual Harvard Summer Institute on College Admissions, which is co-sponsored
by Harvard University and the College Board, is the "senior" institute in the region, as it marks its 48th year.
Its curriculum is updated annually by the institute's
staff and faculty to reflect the interests and needs of
admissions officers and enrollment managers at the collegiate level and college counselors and advisers
from public and independent schools. Scheduled for
June 22-24 in Cambridge, Mass., information can be
found at the Web site www.fas.harvard.edu/~sica/. 

The annual Institute on Financial Aid, which will be
held July 14-18, is always an exciting professional
development opportunity. The oldest financial aid professional development program in the nation, its program reflects a combination of technical knowledge and organization awareness that is essential to the ever-changing college financing environment. This institute serves new and experienced financial aid administrators, counselors, enrollment professionals and student accounts staff and agency personnel. For further information, please contact Katie Frank in the New England Regional Office at kfrank@collegeboard.org.  

And, of course, there is a wonderful selection of AP® Summer Institutes offering a broad array
of subjects this summer from among the following sponsors: Eastern Connecticut State University, The Taft School, Fitchburg State College, Salem State College-Northeast Consortium, the South Shore Educational Collaborative, the University of Massachusetts-Boston, Saint Joseph's College (Maine), the Schoodic Education and Research Center and St. Johnsbury Academy. 

We hope these are but a few of the opportunities that will be of value to you and to your colleagues. I look forward to meeting the many representatives of College Board member institutions who will be attending these institutes. In closing, I extend an invitation for you to contact the New England Regional Office for further information about professional
development opportunities.