Today is a big day for education in Maine.
Today the Department will formally submit a request for flexibility under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act – and it’s been a long time coming.
Maine’s been working for a year to craft this new accountability and improvement system, which aims to help struggling schools improve and to consider multiple valid measures when evaluating performance.
We’re extremely proud of the waiver request we’re submitting today – and we couldn’t have completed it without the combined efforts of educators, stakeholders and the general public.
Look for a link to the document in its entirety on our Accountability and Improvement System web page in the coming days or possibly as soon as this evening.
— Stephen Bowen
ACTION ITEMS
Administrative Letters
- No new administrative letters this week.
Notices
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.
NEWS & VIEWS
Literacy initiative launch in Lewiston next week
Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen and Lee Anne Larsen, literacy specialist for the Maine DOE, will be joined by school and community participants for the launch of Literacy for ME, the Maine Department of Education’s birth-to-adult literacy initiative, next week. | More
Commission issues request for charter school proposals
AUGUSTA – The Maine Charter School Commission announced last week it will accept applications from potential charter school operators who hope to open schools for the 2013-14 school year. | More
Waterville teens “spark” change at Seventeen magazine
Julia Bluhm and her Waterville Junior High classmate Izzy Labbe created a petition to lobby Seventeen magazine to print at least one feature each month using unaltered photos. | More
First Lady Ann LePage announces “Maine is ME Student Art Challenge”
AUGUSTA – First Lady Ann LePage is announcing the Maine is ME Student Art Challenge, in partnership with the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. Students in grades K-8 are encouraged to submit an original work of art depicting what living in Maine means to them. | More
Opportunity to participate in NECAP science inquiry tasks
The Maine Department of Education has agreed to recruit schools to serve as field testing sites to administer NECAP science inquiry tasks in grades 5, 8 and 11. The field tests will occur between Oct. 29 and Nov. 20, 2012. | More
Service-learning workshops offered at Blaine House Conference
Teachers, school administrators and school-community liaisons working in school districts that have an interest in service-learning or who have experimented with service-learning and want to learn more are encouraged to attend the 2012 Blaine House Conference on Service and Volunteerism Tuesday, October 9 at the University of Maine at Orono. | More
New scholarship fund for National Board-certified teachers
The National Board Certification Scholarship Fund encourages teachers to apply to and enroll in the certification program offered by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. | More
- Changes to National Board-certified teacher salary supplement
- Make pledge, observe 9/11 Day of Service and Remembrance