Category Archives: Commissioner’s Updates

Our efforts to create an accountability and improvement system that works for our students, teachers and schools — and replaces the system we have under the No Child Left Behind Act — are kicking into high gear.

The steering committee in charge of crafting our request for flexibility under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act held its first meeting last week. Three separate working groups will also start meeting in the near future.

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It’s Teacher Appreciation Week, a time to thank our teachers for their dedication to our students.

Teachers deserve our thanks all year long, but this week is a special opportunity to recognize their invaluable contributions.

We have lots of hard work ahead of us in Maine as we build a public education system based on the needs of each learner – a system that recognizes that our students all learn best in different ways and at different speeds.

As we take on this important work, the plain truth is, we can’t get the job done without great teachers.

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Maine’s 2012 Teacher of the Year, Alana Margeson, traveled to Washington, D.C., last week to join Teachers of the Year from across the United States in the nation’s capital. There, Alana and her fellow Teachers of the Year met and were recognized by Dr. Jill Biden, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, President Obama and others.

As Alana writes in this week’s Commissioner’s Update, she and her fellow Teachers of the Year were “treated like rock stars,” and they spent much of their time discussing how they can elevate the teaching profession and become a strong voice in public policy at the local, state and national levels.

I hope you enjoy reading Alana’s reflections on her time in Washington, D.C.

Speaking of Washington, D.C., students from Cape Elizabeth and Falmouth high schools traveled there recently to compete in two prestigious science competitions: the National Science Bowl at the U.S. Department of Energy and the Real World Design Challenge, respectively. Thanks to our students for representing Maine so well.

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As the spring moves ahead, attention is inevitably shifting to the summer months, a time for Maine’s educators to take some time to relax, reflect on what they’ve accomplished and think about how they can continue to grow.

That’s why plans are in the works for a number of summer professional development opportunities that will offer educators a chance to catch up with colleagues, do some planning for the coming year and learn about promising practices that could benefit their students.

To help you keep track, we’ve put together a list of professional development offerings this summer that have some level of sponsorship by the Department of Education and have been announced in the Maine DOE Newsroom. Be sure to bookmark the link below, because we’ll add to the list as more professional development opportunities are organized and announced.

Take a look at summer professional development from the Maine DOE.

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Over the past week, we’ve been acknowledging the all-important role of the teacher in the halls of the State House.

Last week, both chambers of the Legislature enacted legislation that helps teachers grow professionally by requiring regular, fair and constructive performance evaluations based on consistent, statewide standards. The legislation also requires that teachers’ professional development and ongoing training be informed by the results of their evaluations.

And on Tuesday, we had a chance to celebrate eight outstanding teachers who have been nominated for the honor of 2013 Teacher of the Year in a State House ceremony. We can learn a lot about good teaching from these eight teachers, who are representative of the thousands of excellent educators in Maine.

This week’s update includes information about the Teacher of the Year nominees and details about last week’s legislation, An Act to Ensure Effective Teaching and School Leadership.

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If there’s one undisputed truth in education, it’s that the effectiveness of teachers and educational leaders is the most important school-based factor in influencing student success.

That’s why Gov. LePage this winter introduced legislation aimed at ensuring that all students are taught by effective teachers who have access to high-quality and constructive performance evaluations that help them grow as professionals. It’s also why our strategic plan released a few months ago devotes substantial attention to ensuring great teachers and leaders.

As part of that effort to ensure great school leadership, the Department of Education is sponsoring a weeklong leadership institute this summer at Sugarloaf. Rarely in Maine do current and aspiring school leaders have the chance to receive training not in day-to-day operations, but in the leadership skills necessary to leading a school through significant improvement.

The leadership institute from July 9-13, called “Building Capacity for Transformational Leadership,” will offer district teams a chance to hear from guest speakers with valuable insights, an opportunity to learn from other Maine educators about what has worked and what hasn’t in undertaking improvement efforts, and time to work with colleagues to start piecing together plans for implementing district-level improvements.

I hope to see many of you there.

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This week, we’re highlighting examples of work in which students have found something they’re passionate about, and used the resources available to them in school to pursue it — with impressive results.

At the Middle School of the Kennebunks, students have combined lessons from art, math, science and English as they gradually redesign every room of The Nonantum Resort on a tight budget and with environment-friendly principles in mind. The students’ Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI) laptops come in handy for planning the design, comparing prices, making purchases, and publicizing their work.

In Waterville last Friday, 250 eighth-grade girls attended Future Focus, where they learned about the careers of 50 women who have pursued a variety of career paths. To start the day, the eighth graders heard from Hannah Potter, a Yarmouth High School senior who used her MLTI laptop to connect her classmates with students in Iraq. On Friday, Hannah used Skype to connect the 250 eighth-grade girls with an Iraqi friend so they could discuss what they have in common — and the differences between life in Iraq and the United States.

And yesterday in Augusta, nearly 300 students from 24 schools participated in Maine History Day at the University of Maine at Augusta, where they confidently discussed the wide range of historical themes they had researched. They used documentaries, live performances, poster exhibits and other media to present their work.

Our students are using technology to do impressive work. In the process, they’re learning more because the technology is integrated in meaningful ways into every aspect of the curriculum — something that couldn’t be done without the help of teachers who know how to use technology to engage students and take their learning to a new level.

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Maine legislators took a major step yesterday afternoon toward passing a bill that goes to the heart of improving our schools: effective teaching and school leadership.

In a unanimous vote, the Legislature’s Education Committee passed LD 1858, An Act to Ensure Effective Teaching and School Leadership. The bill next goes before the full Legislature.

The bill requires that school districts adopt fair and constructive performance evaluations for teachers and principals in alignment with criteria to be developed by the Department of Education in collaboration with Maine educators through a formalized Maine Educator Effectiveness Council.

The bill also takes steps to make sure our teachers are better prepared for the classroom by making improvements to teacher preparation programs and by strengthening requirements that our elementary-level teachers have math and literacy content knowledge as part of their certification.

The process that led to yesterday’s Education Committee vote illustrated how the legislative process and involvement of stakeholders can improve the quality of a proposal like this.

As a result of concerns raised during last week’s public hearing on the legislation by the Maine Education Association and others, we suggested additional language to protect teachers from evaluations made in bad faith and strengthened the provisions that assure our educators many seats at the table when it comes to developing criteria for teacher and principal evaluations. The MEA told the committee the amendment addressed their concerns.

I’m excited not only by the potential for this legislation to improve education for our students, but by how well our legislative process worked.

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It’s been a busy week in the Maine Legislature.

On Tuesday, the Legislature’s Education Committee heard the first of four pieces of education-related legislation proposed this winter by Gov. LePage: LD 1865, An Act to Enhance Career and Technical Education.

On Wednesday, the hearings continued when LD 1858, An Act to Ensure Effective Teaching and School Leadership, came before the Committee.

The last two hearings take place this afternoon, when LD 1854, An Act to Expand Educational Opportunities for Maine Students, and LD 1866, An Act to Remove Inequity in Student Access to Certain Schools, are up before the Committee.

Thanks to those of you who have turned out for these hearings to let the Education Committee know what you think about the bills and how you think they can be improved.

We’ve been doing our best to keep everybody informed as these bills have been printed and public hearings have been scheduled. We’ve made the bill text, public hearing schedule and Department testimony available on our website at www.maine.gov/doe/first/.

Speaking of our website, we launched a major overhaul of it yesterday afternoon, at maine.gov/doe/. The new website is not complete – in some cases you’ll find links from the new website to content that resides on the Maine DOE’s old website. But that will change gradually as the overhaul continues. Stay tuned, and let us know what you think by taking the survey at www.maine.gov/doe/about.html.

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Four pieces of education-related legislation proposed by Gov. LePage this winter are now available in bill form for the public to review.

Yesterday, the proposals arrived back from the Legislature’s Revisor of Statutes. While the legislation for most of the bills is still not available on the Legislature’s website, we’ve posted the final — but not official — bill language to the Department’s website.

Read the four bills on the Maine DOE website.

The bill language on that web page is already the result of substantial feedback we’ve received from the education community and others. Still, it can only benefit from additional public input.

I encourage you to take a look at the bills and participate in the legislative process as it unfolds. Public hearings are scheduled for next week.

If you’re unable to attend a public hearing in Augusta, feel free to contact legislators on the Education Committee to let them know what you think.

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