Commissioner’s Update – October 11, 2012

Commissioner’s Update – October 11, 2012
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Today the Department released its annual report on school progress under the No Child Left Behind Act, which showed that a majority of schools aren’t meeting federal targets—just as we anticipated.

We, along with most other states, don’t believe AYP accurately measures school success. Maine schools aren’t doing any worse than last year, but the current AYP system requires schools each year to meet higher testing targets than the previous year, and it doesn’t recognize any degree of improvement unless AYP is met. That’s not fair to our schools, and it’s not fair to our kids.

This is why we’ve spent the last year applying to the U.S. Department of Education for flexibility under NCLB.

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— Stephen Bowen



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NEWS & VIEWS

Maine releases latest ed accountability results

AUGUSTA – The Maine Department of Education released its annual report Thursday on the progress of schools under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. The results show a majority of schools not attaining the targets set under the federal rules. | More

Recognizing exceptional teachers

Today was a great day for recognizing excellent teachers and showcasing their work. I was honored to start the day by announcing that Peter Barlow is the newest Maine CTE Teacher of the Year. A few hours later, I was congratulating four teachers for becoming Presidential Award finalists at a conference for science teachers. By Stephen Bowen | More

Maine names career-technical teacher of the yearPeter Barlow accepts Maine’s 2012 Career and Technical Educator of the Year award for his excellence as a metal trades instructor in Mexico.

LEWISTON – Peter Barlow, a metal trades instructor at the Region 9 School of Applied Technology in Mexico, was named Maine’s newest Career and Technical Educator of the Year Friday in front of more than 400 of his colleagues. | More

Students present at Google conference

Three Nokomis Regional High School students presented during the Google Teacher Academy at Google’s New York City headquarters on Oct. 3, 2012. | More

Top Maine science, math teachers honoredMaine’s four finalists for the 2012 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.

AUGUSTA – Today, the LePage Administration honored three science teachers and one math teacher from Maine as finalists for the 2012 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. | More

Students statewide begin online AP courses

AP4ALL, within the Department’s Maine Learning Technology Initiative program, has begun this year’s courses, offering 17 different Advanced Placement course sections to students from all over the state online at no local cost. | More

Smarter Balanced releases sample assessment items, performance tasks

The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium recently released a set of sample assessment items and performance tasks in English language arts/literacy and mathematics to help teachers, administrators and policymakers better understand the Common Core State Standards. | More

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One thought on “Commissioner’s Update – October 11, 2012

  1. No Child Left Behind has ever been fair to our schools or kids. Thank you for your position, support and stance on this horrific attack on our school systems. I pray that the treatment is not worse than the disease.

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