‘ 1. Remedial courses. Using information that is already collected by the Maine Community College System, the University of Maine System and the Maine Maritime Academy, referred to in this section as "the public institutions of higher education," as part of the admissions and academic placement process, the President of the Maine Community College System, the Chancellor of the University of Maine System and the President of the Maine Maritime Academy shall annually compile the data so as to demonstrate:
A. The total number of traditional students who are enrolled in remedial courses in English language arts and mathematics, which must be disaggregated by campus and by subject area;
B. The name of each secondary school in the State from which a traditional student enrolled in a remedial course received a high school diploma and the number of those students from each of those schools; and
C. The retention and graduation rates for traditional students who were enrolled in remedial courses in English language arts and mathematics, which must be disaggregated by campus.
For the purposes of this section, "traditional student" means a student who has attended any accredited public school, private school or public charter school in the State and received a high school diploma from a secondary school in the State or who has participated in a home instruction program pursuant to section 5001-A, subsection 3, paragraph A and who in the following academic year matriculates as a first-time, full-time student in a public institution of higher education.
2. Forms for school administrative unit evaluation. The public institutions of higher education shall develop forms for evaluation of school administrative units. The forms developed by the public institutions of higher education must include the information compiled under subsection 1 and may include but are not limited to the following information:
A. Admissions data, including the total number of students and the mean score on a nationally accepted aptitude test for students who applied, were admitted and enrolled;
B. Enrollment data, including the total number of students enrolled in each of the colleges or academic departments within the public institution of higher education;
C. The number of first-generation college students;
D. The average test scores attained by students matriculating within each public institution of higher education on a nationally accepted placement test used to determine students' levels of academic readiness;
E. The percentage of students by selected subject areas who require remedial coursework before they may enroll in other college-level courses;
F. First-year students' grade point averages and the actual mean grade point average for the students' first semester and first year;
G. First-year students' grades in selected courses; and
H. The enrollment status of students one year after matriculation, including whether the students are still enrolled, have withdrawn or were suspended.
3. Personally identifiable information. In reporting pursuant to subsection 4 the information compiled under subsection 1, the public institutions of higher education shall manage education records in compliance with the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, 20 United States Code, Section 1232g. The public institutions of higher education may not make public any information that could identify an individual student and shall ensure that the purpose of reporting disaggregated data for students enrolled in remedial courses is to conduct research for the purpose of evaluating and improving education programs. To ensure that personally identifiable information that would make a student's identity easily traceable is not disclosed, the public institutions of higher education may not report disaggregated information compiled under subsection 1 if the total number of traditional students who received high school diplomas from the same secondary school and enrolled in the same remedial course at the same campus is 5 or fewer.
4. Report. Beginning with the 2012-2013 academic year, the President of the Maine Community College System, the Chancellor of the University of Maine System and the President of the Maine Maritime Academy shall each report the information compiled under this section and recommendations for strategies that may result in fewer students enrolling in remedial courses at postsecondary educational institutions and strategies for improving the retention and graduation rates for students who were enrolled in remedial courses. The reports must be submitted by January 1st of each year to the commissioner and to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over education and cultural affairs. The public institutions of higher education shall publish the annual reports on their publicly accessible websites. The public institutions of higher education shall provide the information to the department and the school boards and superintendents of school administrative units whose graduates are enrolled as first-time, full-time students at a campus in one of the public institutions of higher education.
5. Contingent repeal. This section is repealed July 1, 2016 unless the commissioner certifies to the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Senate, the Clerk of the House of Representatives and the Revisor of Statutes before that date that the United States Congress has enacted legislation requiring public institutions of higher education to compile and report substantially the same data.’
