Marcus Mrowka is a school board member in Camden.

Do you remember your favorite standardized test? Likely not. But most of us can remember experiences in school that truly engaged us — a hands-on science experiment, a creative writing exercise, building a model or collaborating on a presentation, working on a group presentation on a topic we were passionate about, being on a sports team, or a role in the school play. These experiences stoked our curiosity and creativity and developed our communication and critical thinking skills.

Too often the debate around schooling fixates on standardized test scores. These scores lead to false rankings, ineffective punishments for so-called low performers, and are used as an excuse to test even more. Many states and districts have narrowed the curriculum to “ teach to the test,” sacrificing subjects like art, music and social studies. And opponents of public education have weaponized test scores to undermine public schools and privatize education.

The test-focused education debate also ignores the increased needs students are coming to school with, the mental health impacts of social media and smartphones, the politicization of education and the rise in chronic absenteeism rates.

It’s time for an engagement agenda to drive what happens in our public schools. And to develop new ways to identify student success. After all, the purpose of public education is not to create good standardized test takers but to prepare all students for life, whatever they choose after high school, and to be active stewards of our democracy.

An engagement agenda starts with making sure all students feel safe, welcome and ready to learn. Maine is leading that effort by ensuring every student receives free breakfast and lunch, expanding community schools that provide wraparound services for students and families and protecting all students through our strong Human Rights Act. Many schools and districts now offer clothes closets, food pantries and even health services on campus.

We must also confront the dangers of smartphones and social media on children and adolescents. Smartphones and devices have long been banned in my community for elementary and middle school students and I’m proud that we voted as a school board to ban smartphones during the school day at Camden Hills Regional High School starting this school year. School districts that have already done this, like Bath, report a positive impact on student behavior, focus and socialization.

Kids need time to be kids, yet recess and unstructured play time for kids have often been eliminated or scaled back for more seat time. Beyond the physical benefits of being outside, recess promotes creativity, social development, safe risk taking, conflict resolution and leadership skills and improves cognitive skills once kids are back in the classroom.

One of the most effective ways to increase engagement is through hands-on, experiential learning. This kind of learning can be applied in every subject and often combines content areas. Examples of experiential, project-based learning can include working as a team to identify a community issue, collect and analyze data and propose a solution; creating a community garden; developing a business; interviewing community members; designing an app or website; participating in group projects; conducting a mock trial; extended learning opportunities through internships or individual projects; and robotics experiments.

At Camden Hills Regional High School, we’ve created an innovation center and makerspace called The Hatchery that provides students space and resources to work together and independently to pursue questions and find solutions. And our latest strategic plan focuses on expanding this kind of learning across all grade levels.

Many educators and schools are taking advantage of our state’s incredible natural resources by making Maine their classroom. For example, Camden-Rockport Elementary School has a nature-based pre-K program where students learn from and about the natural wonders in their community while being outside in the woods behind the school in structured and unstructured learning environments. We’ve invested in outdoor learning classrooms and opportunities across our district and nature-based learning happens at all grade levels. Students get to learn about the natural environment around them, develop an appreciation for nature and pursue hands-on learning.

We should also continue to expand career and technical education, or CTE, programs in Maine and across the nation. CTE programs offer students hands-on, real-world experience in a diverse array of industries, including culinary, design, welding, plumbing, outdoor leadership, marine technology, education and more. Students often receive industry accreditation and college credits while in high school. More than 94% of Maine CTE students graduate and programs in the state often have a waitlist, demonstrating the engagement and interest students have in this kind of learning. The kind of hands-on learning at CTE schools can and should be incorporated in more traditional classrooms.

Finally, we need to treat our educators and school leaders like the professionals they are and empower them to innovate, take risks and implement this kind of agenda and do what they feel is best for the students in their classrooms. And we should be listening to them about effective ways to measure student learning and success. This type of learning is already happening across our state and as school boards we can scale and support this agenda at the local level.

With a new school year approaching, it’s finally time to turn the page on outdated and ineffective metrics and ideas and focus on an agenda that truly engages students and equips them with the skills and knowledge they need to lead, innovate and pursue their dreams.