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September 2, 2010

Group led by Maine's former top educator wins $160m

Kennebec Journal staff

A consortium of 31 states led by Maine’s former education commissioner won a $160 million federal award that could lead to a remake of standardized testing in Maine, the U.S. Department of Education said Thursday.

The SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium — led by Susan Gendron, who left her job as Maine education commissioner in April — was vying for a piece of $350 million in federal funds meant to bankroll the development of new standardized tests.

The award came as part of the federal Race to the Top education competition, which awarded $4 billion to states to support education reforms and set aside $350 million to pay for developing new tests.

The SMARTER group was one of two to win Race to the Top testing awards. The other consortium — which won $170 million — counts 26 states, such as California, Florida and Massachusetts.

Both groups’ tests are to be based on the newly released Common Core academic standards that more than 30 states have adopted.

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