Dear Superintendents:
The Department provisionally adopted Chapter 180, the rules for implementing required teacher and principal evaluation systems, seven weeks ago today. A number of you have been asking me and other Department staff when you can expect the new rules on teacher effectiveness evaluations to go into effect. This is to update you on where that stands and why we have not been able to help you move forward with that work.
The Maine Curriculum Leaders Association (MCLA) Board of Directors seeks nominations for its 2013 Maine Curriculum Leader of the Year award.
Maine Administrators of Career and Technical Education (MACTE) and the Maine DOE CTE team are co-sponsoring a day-long “Developing Instructional Literacy Strategies for Maine CTE Educators” training. This interactive professional development opportunity offers CTE instructors a practical working definition of literacy that lends itself to integration in a CTE curriculum. Participants in the training will leave with a set of literacy strategies that can be applied to their CTE instructional classrooms and shops.
East End kindergartner Antonio Hernandez explains his math journal to Commissioner Bowen.
When I visited East End Community School and Riverton Elementary in Portland last week as part of my Promising Practices Tour, I was blown away by the measures they’re taking to ensure all students are engaged in learning—not an easy feat in such a multilingual district.
East End and Riverton were both identified as underperforming—one in 2009-10 and one in 2010-11—and applied for and received School Improvement Grants. With the help of those grants and technical assistance from the Department, the schools have initiated a number of promising practices. Last week, these schools showed me they’re doing what it takes to get things done.
AUGUSTA – Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen praised the work of teachers and administrators at Riverton Elementary and East End Community schools in Portland following his visit Friday, part of his Promising Practices Tour.
As the transition to implementation of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy continues, the Maine Department of Education invites school/district teams to attend a two-day event to explore transition issues and advance professional development plans.
The Maine Department of Education’s Center for Best Practice has compiled a Glossary of Proficiency-Based Education in Maine to help educators navigate the shift toward proficiency-based/learner-centered education. The lack of consistency in language is one of the major problems that educators face when implementing such a system. One district’s “standards-based” may be another district’s “proficiency-based” or “competency-based” or “standards-referenced.” One district’s “standard” may be another district’s “performance indicator” or “learning target.”
Posted in Administrators, Featured, Instruction, Teachers
I am very pleased to announce the appointment of Rachelle Tome to the position of Maine Department of Education Chief Academic Officer.
Posted in Academics, Adult Ed, Assessment, From the Commissioner, Instruction, Standards
The Maine DOE Center for Best Practice is pleased to announce the release of two new videos exploring the shift to proficiency-based/learner-centered practice. Continue reading
DISHS principal Todd West shows Commissioner Bowen a technical trades area of the school.
Click to view more photos from this event.
“What can we all do to help you?”
Three years ago, the state labeled Deer Isle-Stonington High School as one of 10 “persistently low-achieving” schools in Maine. Now DISHS is drawing nothing but acclaim as a result of the dedication of principal Todd West and his faculty to school-wide improvement, from the ground up.
Being labeled one of the lowest-achieving schools impacted not only the reputation of DISHS, but also the students’ opinions of their education. “The damage that that did to the psyche of the school was incredible,” said Leslie Billings, special education/math teacher. “There’s got to be a better way. For many students, their thought process was, ‘If you’re going to be at the bottom, then what’s the point?’ For some of the students, there is no pride in the school because of that.”
Posted in Featured, Hancock County, High School, Images, Instruction, Listening Tour
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