Commissioner’s Update – May 17, 2012

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.

As these groups of stakeholders begin their work, they’re using the feedback more than 1,500 of you offered last fall as their guide.

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— Stephen Bowen

ACTION ITEMS

Administrative Letters

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Notices

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Reporting

Please note: We generally provide notice of requirements only once. Please check the Reporting Calendar (link below) regularly for a list of ALL upcoming items.

Educator Quality And Effectiveness Survey, June 15

Reporting Calendar

NEWS & VIEWS

First draft of science standards released; feedback welcomed

Educators and others have a chance between now and June 1 to review the first public draft of the Next Generation Science Standards and offer feedback and suggestions through an online survey. | More

Maine science performance among top in nation

AUGUSTA — Eighth graders in Maine scored higher than much of the nation in the most recent national science test, the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress, and the state was one of only 16 to show improvement since 2009. | More

The Math Gates: Team teaching math and art

We (a math coordinator and an art teacher) are interested in having students discover how integral math is for an artist and how a mathematician benefits from creative thinking abilities. That’s why we’ve team-taught the two subjects at Mount Vernon Elementary School this year. By Dona Seegers and Sarah Caban | More

Project Citizen students participate in public policy

Dozens of students from across the state took public policy proposals to Maine’s capitol on May 11, where they presented them in legislative committee rooms and discussed them in the halls of the State House. | More