One year ago today, the Department released the first school report cards under the Maine School Performance Grading System. Using a familiar A-F scale, existing public data, and measuring all students and all schools, the grades provide Maine’s first true statewide accountability system. As importantly, our formula acknowledges that many students arrive in our schools already behind, and equally credits student proficiency and student growth, including how elementary schools help their most struggling 25 percent of students.

That roll-out sparked a difficult yet critical statewide conversation on school quality and drove thousands of Mainers to the Department’s website and new Education Data Warehouse to learn more about their local school’s performance and how it compared to others. While on an average day our website at www.maine.gov/doe draws around 8,000 unique views, in the three days surrounding the launch of the school report cards, the site received more than 200,000.

We’ll be releasing this year’s school grades late the week of May 12. While the formula for the grades remains unchanged so as to allow for comparison from one year to the next, you will notice some differences on the report cards and how the Department rolls them out. We believe these improvements will allow the conversation to move beyond the merits of school grading and the validity of the data used so the focus can be where it should: celebrating successes in our schools and surfacing areas needing more support.

Notices and Reporting

• Regional School Calendars (Reminder), due May 1
• 2014 Maine Educator Talent Pool Recommendations (Reminder), due May 2
• FY 15 Perkins Grant Application – Maine Community College System, due June 6
• FY 15 Perkins Grant Application – CTE Regions & Centers, due June 13
• FY 14 Perkins Grant Performance Report (Annual Progress), due June 30

More Notices
Administrative Letters
Reporting Calendar

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News & Views

Subsidy checks reflect MaineCare Seed adjustments

The Department advises districts that remaining 2013-14 subsidy checks for General Purpose Aid for Local Schools will reflect additional adjustments for MaineCare Seed payments paid by the Maine DOE. | More

Authority to make educational decisions for adult students

The Maine DOE seeks to clarify that guardianship of an adult student is not required in order for the parent (or other adult) to make decisions about a student’s education. | More

Maine DOE Cross Discipline Literacy Network offers instructional strategies in support of proficiency

More than 300 Maine educations have engaged in professional learning through the Maine DOE’s Cross Discipline Literacy Network (CDLN) already this school year. | More

Maine DOE convenes Governor’s Academy for STEM Leadership

The Maine DOE convened the fifth meeting of the Maine Governor’s Academy for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Education Leadership last month in collaboration with the Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance (MMSA). | More

Close reading resources available from Maine DOE

As part of its commitment to providing resources to Maine educators, the Maine DOE has recently developed two webinars highlighting an instructional strategy that fosters the ability to read complex texts. | More

Portland food service director wins state award

Ron Adams, food service director for the Portland Public Schools, has won the School Nutrition Association (SNA) Outstanding Director of the Year Award for Maine. Adams will be honored at a red carpet awards ceremony in July at SNA’s national conference in Boston. | More

LATEST DOE Career/Project Opportunities

• Education Team Coordinator – Assessment and Accountability
• ESEA Programs Specialist – Title VI-B (Rural Ed); Title I (Data)
• Higher Education Specialist
• Secretary – Special Services
• 21st Century Community Learning Center Program
• State Agencies for Higher Education (SAHE) Improving Teacher Quality Grants
• Maine Comprehensive Assessment System
• Education Writer Services

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Dispatches
Press Releases
From the Commissioner

This week’s Commissioner’s Update is landing in inboxes as many of you are hopefully enjoying a well-deserved April vacation.

The days between now and when the school year ends in June will likely be your busiest, and include a flurry of budget preparations, the administration of the SAT and/or Smarter Balanced field tests, the release of the State school report cards, all of the preparations that go into graduation and so much more.

As you enter the home stretch, I want to thank you for your tireless efforts each day on behalf of Maine’s students.

As you consistently rise to meet the increased expectations from our Department, the Legislature, your local school boards, students, families and many others, please know how much you are appreciated by me and the rest of the team here at the Maine DOE. There is no greater or more critical calling than preparing our children with the skills they’ll need to be successful in college, careers and civic life and all of you who work for and with districts are important to that process.

Thank you again. Good luck in these final two months and as always, please let us know how we can best support your work serving Maine schools and students.

Notices and Reporting

• Private School April 1 Enrollment Reporting (Reminder), due April 30
• Regional School Calendars (Reminder), due May 1
• 2014 Maine Educator Talent Pool Recommendations (Reminder), due May 2
• FY 15 Perkins Grant Application – Maine Community College System, due June 6
• FY 15 Perkins Grant Application – CTE Regions & Centers, due June 13

More Notices
Administrative Letters
Reporting Calendar

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News & Views

Updated ED 279s posted

The Department has posted updated FY 2015 (2014-15 school year) State subsidy printouts, known as ED 279s, here on the Maine DOE website. These printouts reflect the already-enacted biennial budget and all action to date by the Legislature. | More

Maine DOE offers webinar on maintenance of effort and excess cost

A webinar training provided by the Maine DOE’s Office of Special Services earlier this month is now available online as a tool for districts. The training, led by the Department’s Director of Special Services Jan Breton and Fiscal Analyst Tyler Backus, focused on the Local Entitlement Application for Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) funds for the 2014-15 school year. | More

Maine DOE to host webinars on ESEA requirements in May

The Maine DOE is offering two webinars next month to provide guidance on current Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)/No Child Left Behind (NCLB) requirements. | More

Online district self-assessment available through June 30

The Maine DOE is reminding district leaders that the comprehensive online self-assessment developed in collaboration with Great Schools Partnership is available in its electronic form through June 30. The online district self-assessment is designed to support districts with their action planning for proficiency-based education and the transition to a proficiency-based diploma. | More

Maine arts teachers focus on standards, assessment

Arts teachers from across the state met at the University of Maine at Orono for a Maine Arts Assessment Initiative (MAAI) regional workshop earlier this month. The workshop focused on articulating proficiency in arts learning and developing proficiency models for different grade levels. | More

Maine’s State Board of Education receives national grant

The National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) has awarded $15,000 to the Maine State Board of Education to advance the state’s education reform work on Common Core State Standards (CCSS), Deeper Learning Principles and school leadership. Maine is one of only six boards to receive a stipend award. Kentucky, West Virginia, Guam, Washington D.C. and Delaware were also selected. | More

Latest DOE Career/Project Opportunities

• Director – Migrant Education Program
• Education Team Coordinator – Assessment and Accountability
• ESEA Programs Specialist – Title VI-B (Rural Ed); Title I (Data)
• Higher Education Specialist
• Secretary – Special Services
• VISTA National Service Manager
• 21st Century Community Learning Center Program
• Due Process Services (Back up Complaint Investigation Services)
• State Agencies for Higher Education (SAHE) Improving Teacher Quality Grants
• Maine Comprehensive Assessment System

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Dispatches
Press Releases
From the Commissioner