As Maine moves toward a proficiency-based education system that will ensure students graduate from our high schools having mastered State learning standards, I am often asked what this expectation means for our nearly 30,000 students with disabilities.
Continue reading “All students, all standards but different demonstrations of proficiency”
AUGUSTA— Commissioner of Labor Jeanne Paquette announced that the Mid-Maine Technical Center has earned the Safety and Health Award for Public Employers (SHAPE). Mid-Maine Technical Center, a regional school covering Lawrence, Messalonskee, Waterville and Winslow High Schools, offers 24 career and technical education courses to 470 students.
SHAPE recognizes public-sector organizations that voluntary undertake a rigorous safety achievement program for their workers; in the case of schools, students also benefit from improved safety. Continue reading “Mid-Maine Technical Center receives SHAPE award for safety”
The Maine DOE is pleased to announce the Smarter Balanced Digital Library, a collection of vetted instructional, assessment and professional development resources, currently contains more than 2,000 resources, including each grade level, K-12, in the content areas of mathematics and English language arts.
Continue reading “Smarter Balanced Digital Library surpasses 2K item mark, workshops offered”
As the Class of 2018 enters its first year of secondary school, school leaders are thinking deeply and asking questions about what it means to award a proficiency-based diploma after Jan. 1, 2018. In 2012, Maine enacted landmark legislation making high school graduation starting in 2018 dependent upon the following four requirements:
Continue reading “Department provides answers to proficiency FAQs”
Creating standards-based Individualized Education Programs (IEP) was the first step; implementing those plans is next.
Continue reading “SAUs invited to apply for coaching and evidence-based practice PD”
Members of Maine’s Digital Library State Network of Educators were among 80 educators from the Smarter Balanced participating states that convened July 14-17 for a marathon work session to review and evaluate resources submitted to the Digital Library. Marilyn Joyce of Brewer and Sandra Cookson of RSU 87 along with Maine DOE specialist Morgan Dunton were on hand as the Digital Library count passed 1,000 items and kept climbing.
In response to requests, the Department is offering a webinar titled Proficiency-Based Diplomas: Extension or Confirmation on the morning of September 5 from 9-10:00.
Continue reading “Maine DOE hosts webinar on proficiency-based diplomas readiness”
The following Priority Notice was distributed to superintendents on Tuesday, August 19.
Dear Superintendents,
As part of ongoing efforts to support school administrative units in ensuring that teachers are led by highly effective building administrators, I am pleased to announce the release of the Maine DOE Principal Performance Evaluation and Professional Growth (PEPG) Model.
The Department has adopted as a State Principal PEPG Model the Administrator Evaluation Framework, which was prepared by the Auburn School Department in collaboration with the Department and the Maine Principals’ Association.
Student demonstration of proficiency as outlined in the State standards in all eight content areas of the Maine Learning Results and the Guiding Principles has at its foundation an infrastructure built on providing opportunities for students to access knowledge and to develop understanding that fosters transferable learning.
Continue reading “Opportunity to learn is central in proficiency-based education”
The following Priority Notice was distributed to superintendents today to announce the release of PEPG resources for educator effectiveness.
Dear Superintendents,
Discussions at the Commissioners Conference in June yielded valuable input for the development of the Maine DOE Teacher Performance Evaluation and Professional Growth (PEPG) Model. In the weeks following the conference, the Department met with a variety of stakeholder groups to revise and finalize the model and companion documents, a collection of resources that will support schools in ensuring that every learner has access to highly effective teachers and school leaders.
Maine DOE Newsroom 