Centers and Partnerships

The School of Education and Human Development plays a vital role in the communities we serve. These centers and partnerships enrich the work of our students and faculty by providing meaningful site work, professional networks, and stimulating learning environments. Additionally, the School of Education and Human Development conducts sponsored research in a number of areas. This research assists the work of faculty and students while providing critical information about the state of education and human resource development in Maine.

• Center for Educational Policy, Applied Research, and Evaluation
• Center for Study of Lives
• Multicultural Education Programs
• Professional Development Center
• Southern Maine Partnership
• Southern Maine Writing Project
• Southern Maine's Area Resource Team (SMART) for Schools
• Upward Bound

Center for Educational Policy, Applied Research, and Evaluation (CEPARE)

The Center for Education Policy, Applied Research, and Evaluation (CEPARE), in the School of Education and Human Development of the University of Southern Maine, provides assistance to school districts, agencies, organizations, and university faculty by conducting research, evaluation, and policy studies. In addition, CEPARE co-directs the Maine Education Policy Research Institute (MEPRI), an institute jointly funded by the Maine State Legislature and the University of Maine System. This institute was established to conduct studies on Maine education policy and the Maine public education system for the Maine Legislature.

Center for the Study of Lives

The Center for the Study of Lives celebrates individual lives and strengthens community bonds by bringing people of all generations and cultures together to share life stories. While serving as a meeting ground for all people interested in learning from each other's stories, the Center records, preserves, and disseminates the life stories of people of all ages and backgrounds. Through its work, the Center provides a rich repository for those interested in understanding communities through autobiography, oral history, and personal reflection.

Multicultural Education Programs

The Multicultural Education Program's goal is to increase the number of qualified school personnel serving culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students in Maine schools. Participants for this program include immigrants and refugees who have settled in Maine.

Administered through the University of Southern Maine, School of Education & Human Development, the Multicultural Education Programs is partnered with school districts to provide training and outreach to educators who work with Limited English Proficient (LEP) students This program also helps to ensure that pre-service and in-service teachers are able to fulfill the requirements necessary for the Maine State ESL Endorsement.

Professional Development Center

The Professional Development Center (PDC) is the inservice agent of the School of Education and Human Development (SEHD) of the University of Southern Maine. Its mission is to provide sustained, high-quality professional development that enables K-12 educators and human resource professionals to continue learning throughout their careers.

The PDC works collaboratively with SEHD departments, programs, and other centers to complement their outreach missions; the Maine Department of Education to provide resources for teacher re-certification and endorsement; K-12 schools to design and deliver professional development tailored to school district’s specific needs; human resource organizations to offer professional development opportunities for counselors, school psychologists and adult educators; non-profit organizations and professional associations. The PDC develops, implements, and administers credit and non-credit courses, workshops, and conferences to supplement and expand professional development opportunities.

Southern Maine Partnership

The Southern Maine Partnership (SMP) is a school-university collaboration that has linked schools and university in support of student learners since 1985. The Partnership has grown from a group of six school districts to a membership of 36 school districts, 2 private schools, and USM. Our membership represents over one-third of the public school students and teachers in the state and the major teacher education and leadership development university in the region.
The Southern Maine Partnership strives to support the development of schools that fulfill the promise of public education through promoting equity for all learners now and in the future. The Partnership has national ties as well as serves as a regional center of the Coalition of Essential Schools (CES) and a member of the National Education Association (NEA). Current work centers on issues of equity, rigor, and personalization in classrooms, schools , and communities. Through networking, applied assistance, and research and dissemination, the SMP assists schools in fulfilling the promise of public education: to educate all students well and to prepare them for futures of promise.

Southern Maine Writing Project
The National Writing Project is the premier effort to improve writing in America. It began at the University of California at Berkeley in 1973 and now has almost 200 sites around the country, including the Maine Writing Project at the University of Maine, now in its 12 th year. The Writing Project fosters an interdisciplinary community and support system of teachers, administrators, and specialists from all grade levels and content areas, K-University. Our USM satellite, in its third year, is a growing, dynamic group. Our ranks include elementary, middle and high school teachers, and a school librarian. Many of us teach English language arts; others teach special education, math, and social studies. We all feel deeply about learning-centered classrooms and schools. We are authors, editors, readers, songwriters, photographers, basketball players, poets, outdoors people, actors, techies, and musicians. The common thread: all of us believe in the importance of writing in our personal and professional lives and in the lives of our students.

Southern Maine's Area Resource Team (SMART) for Schools
Southern Maine’s Area Resource Team (SMART) for Schools is an outreach initiative of the University of Southern Maine (USM) School of Education and Human Development (SEHD). SMART’s mission is to address the educational and behavioral needs of students in Maine and support schools implementing RTI-A (academics) and RTI-B (behavior).

SMART provides universal, targeted, and individual academic and behavioral assessments; consultation with schools and districts related to the implementation of best practices; and professional development to support the ongoing sustainability of effective and scientifically-based instruction practices.

Upward Bound

Upward Bound at USM assists eligible low-income students to succeed in high school and to prepare to go on to become first-generation college graduates. Funded through the U.S. Department of Education’s TRIO program, Upward Bound provides weekly academic and college counseling at participating schools, college campus visits, and help with college applications and financial aid during the school year. During the summer, a 6-week summer residential component on USM’s Gorham campus includes academic classes, paid internships, career and college exploration, community service, recreation, and cultural enrichment. Upward Bound includes two projects: 1.) Sanford-Biddeford serves 50 students at Biddeford and Sanford High Schools, and 2.) Classic serves 56 students at Bonny Eagle, Massabesic, Portland, and Sacopee Valley High Schools.