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.
— 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
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 year
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 honored
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
More News & Views
- Sign up to attend customized learning workshop
- Maine DOE nutrition staff provides training in Aroostook County
- Jackson Laboratory teacher internship accepting spring applications
- Learn more about collaborative problem solving approach to school discipline
- Scholarship allows in-service teachers to become ESL-endorsed
- Maine’s suicide prevention trainings posted
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.