The Maine Department of Education would like to remind Maine’s early care and education community that they are able to access to the WIDA Early Years online learning modules. These modules focus on supporting young multilingual children, ages 2.5 to 5.5 years and are available at no cost to teachers and administrators. Multilingual children, commonly referred to as dual language learners, are children who are developing more than one language.

Each self-paced, interactive module provides opportunities for reflection and offers suggestions for applying content to local practice. The following modules are available:

• Dual Language Learners and their Families
• WIDA Early English Language Development Standards Framework
• Dual Language Learners with Disabilities
• Scaffolding Language Learning
• Promising Practices

A description of each module, frequently asked questions, and instructions for creating a user account and registering for the modules can be found in the documents listed below:

• WIDA Early Years Online Learning Modules
• WIDA Early Years Online Modules: Frequently Asked Questions
• Online Modules: Instructions for Creating User Accounts and Registering

Access the modules: WIDA Early Years online modules (visit and create your user account)

If you are a program leader, administrator, trainer, or coach, we hope you will utilize these modules as a resource to support the professional learning needs of those serving multilingual children. The modules can be used in staff development sessions and/or shared with individual educators or teams of educators, such as professional learning communities.

Contact hours are available upon completion of a module. To receive a contact hours certificate, please download the certificate of completion generated by the WIDA Early Years online system and email it to april.perkins@maine.gov.

Additionally, the Department has purchased a set of WIDA Early Years Promising Practices Implementation Kits to assist districts in refining their programs for young multilingual children. These kits serve as a program self-evaluation tool, highlighting several evidence-based, highly effective strategies for supporting children’s development of multiple languages. Several districts with a significant number of dual language learners will receive these kits. A district that does not receive its own kit may request to borrow one from the Maine Department of Education.

WIDA Early Years resources have been provided to Maine educators through Title III, CDS, Head Start and public pre-k funds.

If you have any questions about these resources, or to request to borrow a WIDA Early Years Promising Practices Implementation Kit, please contact Maine DOE Director of ESOL/Bilingual Programs & Title III April Perkins at april.perkins@maine.gov or (207)624-6627.

In October of 2019, at  the request of Maine Department of Education (MDOE), technical assistance personnel from the IDEA Early Child Technical Assistance Center (ECTA) facilitated seven regional stakeholder groups to gain additional understanding of SAUs’ perspectives on the proposed transition of the transfer of responsibility for special education services for children, ages 3 to 5, to the public schools. ECTA’s Executive Summary of those meetings provides regional and statewide detail regarding both the opportunities and challenges that the proposed transition presents.

By design and necessity, the size of the regional groups was limited and primarily consisted of SAU representatives. However, MDOE and CDS acknowledge that the input of stakeholders, other than SAU representatives who participated in the regional meetings, is exceptionally valuable in developing a comprehensive understanding of complex variables that must be considered.

The Executive Summary can be found at https://www.maine.gov/doe/learning/cds/laws. Interested parties are encouraged to email their input to CDSStateDirector@maine.gov  using “Stakeholder Feedback” as the subject line. A synthesis of input received will be posted to this site prior to the January Legislative session, and will be provided to the Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs for their consideration.

Child Development Services (CDS) seeking public input on its recently revised System of Payments policy for Part C services. The revised policy reflects the feedback that CDS received from stakeholders and the State Interagency Coordinating Council regarding the implementation of a family fee for receipt of Part C services for families who meet income guidelines. That feedback overwhelmingly expressed concern that the use of a family fee would decrease the number of families accessing Part C services, necessitate the addition of at least one position to the State Office team, require increased expenditures in postage and for the tracking of payments, and that the revenue generated from a family fee would be minimal and fail to justify the anticipated challenges and costs. The revised policy can be found at https://www.maine.gov/doe/learning/cds . Feedback will be accepted until January 31, 2020 and can be submitted to CDSStateDirector@maine.gov, using“SoP input” the subject line.