The posting
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Department of Education
Opening Date: November 10, 2026
Closing Date: November 25, 2026
Grade / Admin Unit: 30 / Confidential
Job Class Code: MQ30 Salary: $75,067.20 - $112,548.80/Annually Position Number: 014003771
Location: Augusta
Currently, this position is not eligible for visa sponsorship or STEM OPT extensions.
DESCRIPTION:
Assessing student learning is an essential aspect of education, as it provides data that can lead to improved instruction and student outcomes. The role of the Assessment Team Director is to ensure Maine Department of Education’s approach and implementation of assessment is innovative, meaningful and provides actionable data to inform decision-making at the state, school administrative unit (SAU) and school level. Additionally, the Assessment team Director is responsible for ensuring the Department of Education meets all state and federal statutory requirements to administer a state assessment system and to coordinate all assessment activities related to the Maine Educational Assessments (MEA). This position oversees all aspects of the work of assessment staff who manage the comprehensive assessment system in Maine K-12 schools.
WHAT WILL YOU DO?
DEVELOP & IMPLEMENT-
- Innovative statewide vision for assessment
- Program goals, objectives, and work activities at national and state levels
- Relevant assessments utilizing collaboration with professionals from pertinent fields, including government, education, business, community, and colleagues
- Strategies to improve the quality of services the assessment team provides
- Statewide training materials regarding assessment administration standards and appropriate interpretation of assessment results for educational professionals, including superintendents, principals, curriculum coordinators, assessment coordinators, and teachers
- Components of assessment system in compliance with state and federal requirements
IDENTIFY, EVALUATE, & RESOLVE-
- Program needs, deficiencies, problems, and trends
- Data discrepancies, state and regional areas of concern, and future improvements
COLLABORATE WITH-
- Commissioner’s Office to lead and/or support state assessment initiatives
- Colleagues, and education officials to coordinate corrective actions and program improvements
PROMOTE-
- Effective collaboration with other Department teams, including but not limited to Data Team and Content Specialists
- Transparent communications related to state assessments, including drafting internal and external communications, preparing informational letters, and maintaining web pages to provide essential information and technical assistance to key partners, internal teams, school administrators, committees, leadership, and the public
MANAGE-
- Creation of contracts and Requests for Proposals (RFPs) to obtain services necessary to develop, administer, and support assessment system implementation
- Facilitation and collaboration to implement assessment Technical Advisory Committee and related bias and sensitivity committee convenings.
ANALYZE, INTERPRET & PROVIDE-
- Accurate and consistent data to appropriate internal and external requests and inform Department of Education initiatives
- Uniform understanding of state and federal laws, rules, regulations, and policies about state assessment programs
REPRESENT-
- Department of Education in negotiations with contractors to ensure deliverables are met, maintaining proper documentation and technically defensible results
- Department of Education publicly and during legislative session as a subject matter expert
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS & ABILITIES:
KNOWLEDGE OF-
- Maine Learning Results, K-12 curriculum, and the process of developing and implementing these standards and the associated assessment system.
- Federal and state statute related to assessment, school improvement, and federally required reporting.
- Policy development and educational initiatives of the Department and the Governor where applicable.
- Current research, issues, and best practices in large-scale assessment as they impact policy decisions related to the Maine Educational Assessments.
- Formative and summative assessment practices, literacy and numeracy research and educational practices that raise student achievement.
- Data collection, statistical research, analysis and procedures.
- Psychometric principles as they apply to state assessment systems.
- Techniques of data analysis, data visualization, and data quality assurance.
ABILITY TO-
- Lead, direct and coordinate the work across several state assessment programs: mathematics, ELA/literacy, science, English language proficiency (general and alternate).
- Identify and analyze issues, reach logical conclusions, and make sound recommendations/decisions around assessment issues (e.g., test security, privacy, testing time).
- Lead, direct, supervise and evaluate professional and administrative staff.
- Set performance-based objectives and evaluate results.
- Identify and effectively deploy resources to support assessment program efforts.
- Establish and maintain effective working relationships with a broad range of educational professionals and the public.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
- Bachelor of Arts/Science degree in education or a related field
- Four (4) years professional level experience in planning, developing and implementing large-scale statewide assessment programs
- A Master’s degree in education or a related area may be substituted for experience on a year-to-year basis.
Preference will be given to candidates who:
- Have state-level assessment experience in implementing state student assessment programs, providing assessment-related professional development and technical assistance to educators and administrators and large-scale assessment related contract administration and subsequent negotiations.
APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS:
Please submit a cover letter along with a current resume and three (3) professional references.
In order for us to properly determine if you meet the minimum qualifications for any posting, you must be sure your resume includes the month and year for any relevant experience listed. Your resume should include the duties and responsibilities associated with each position. Any experience that was not full-time employment should be identified as such.
CONTACT INFORMATION: For more information or questions specific to the position, please contact [email protected]
The selected candidate will be required to pass the required background checks (fingerprinting may be required) as a condition of employment.
Benefits of working for the State of Maine:
No matter where you work across Maine state government, you find employees who embody our state motto—"Dirigo" or "I lead"—as they provide essential services to Mainers every day. We believe in supporting our workforce's health and wellbeing with a valuable total compensation package, including:
- Work-Life Balance – Rest is essential. Take time for yourself using 13 paid holidays, 12 days of sick leave, and 3+ weeks of vacation leave annually. Vacation leave accrual increases with years of service, and overtime-exempt employees receive personal leave.
- Health Insurance Coverage – The State of Maine pays 85%-100% of employee-only premiums ($11,857.68-$13,950.24 annual value), depending on salary. Use this chart to find the premium costs for you and your family, including the percentage of dependent coverage paid by the State.
- Health Insurance Premium Credit – Participation decreases employee-only premiums by 5%. Visit the Office of Employee Health and Wellness for more information about program requirements.
- Dental Insurance – The State of Maine pays 100% of employee-only dental premiums ($365.28 annual value).
- Retirement Plan – The State of Maine contributes 18.86% of pay to the Maine Public Employees Retirement System (MainePERS), on behalf of the employee.
- Gym Membership Reimbursement – Improve overall health with regular exercise and receive up to $40 per month to offset this expense.
- Health and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts – Set aside money pre-tax to help pay for out-of-pocket health care expenses and/or daycare expenses.
- Public Service Student Loan Forgiveness – The State of Maine is a qualified employer for this federal program. For more information, visit the Federal Student Aid office.
- Living Resources Program – Navigate challenging work and life situations with our employee assistance program.
- Parental leave is one of the most important benefits for any working parent. All employees who are welcoming a child—including non-birthing parents and adoptive parents—receive six weeks of fully paid parental leave. Additional unpaid leave may also be available, under the Family and Medical Leave Act.
- Voluntary Deferred Compensation – Save additional pre-tax funds for retirement in a MaineSaves 457(b) account through payroll deductions.
State employees are eligible for an extensive and highly competitive benefits package, covering many aspects of wellness. Learn about additional wellness benefits for State employees from the Office of Employee Health and Wellness.
Note: Benefits may vary somewhat according to specific collective bargaining agreements and are prorated for anything less than full-time.
There's a job and then there's purposeful, transformative work. Our aim is to create a workplace where you can learn, grow, and continuously refine your skills. Applicants demonstrate job requirements in differing ways, and we appreciate that many skills and backgrounds can make people successful in this role.
As an Equal Opportunity employer, Maine State Government embraces a culture of respect and awareness. We are committed to creating a strong sense of belonging for all team members, and our process ensures an inclusive environment to applicants of all backgrounds including diverse race, color, sex, sexual orientation or gender identity, physical or mental disability, religion, age, ancestry, national origin, familial status or genetics.
If you’re looking for a great next step, and want to feel good about what you do, we’d love to hear from you. Please note reasonable accommodations are provided to qualified individuals with disabilities upon request.
Thinking about applying?
Research shows that people from historically excluded communities tend to apply to jobs only when they check every box in the posting. If you’re currently reading this and hesitating to apply for that reason, we encourage you to go for it! Let us know how your experience and passion set you apart.
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