The National Coalition for Core Arts Standards (NCCAS) has released the final version of its voluntary national standards in dance, media arts, music, theater and visual arts.
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Category: Instruction
Maine DOE’s legislative summary posted
Maine DOE has prepared a summary of major laws related to education enacted by the Second Regular Session of the 126th Maine Legislature. This information may prove helpful to educators when planning for the 2014-15 school year.
Maine DOE offers Infinite Campus, state reporting & school nutrition training sessions
The Department’s Maine Education Data Management System (MEDMS) Helpdesk Team is partnering with the School Nutrition Team to provide joint training sessions throughout the state in August for Maine schools. Both Infinite Campus District Edition users and non-Infinite Campus system users are encouraged to attend.
Human resources most integral to school improvement
This week, the Department had the honor of announcing it was awarding $1.6 million in School Improvement Grant (SIG) funding to James Otis Kaler Elementary.
The South Portland school intends to use this State support to raise student proficiency in math and reading by 10 percent annually over the next three years by better supporting students, enhancing educator effectiveness and increasing parent/community engagement.
The commitment to school improvement is not new to Kaler. In 2011, a school-based renewal effort was launched, but meaningful headway has yet to be made. The school received an “F” on its State report card the last two years, and just 38.5 percent of its students are proficient in math and 44.4 percent in reading.
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Department honors top math, science teachers
The Maine DOE recently honored the four state finalists for the 2013 Presidential Award in Excellence in Teaching Mathematics and Science (PAEMST) with a dinner held at the Maple Hill Farm Inn located in Hallowell. Maine DOE Science and Technology Specialist Shari Templeton and Mathematics Specialist Michele Mailhot planned the evening event honoring Robin Kennedy (Sebasticook Valley Middle School), Lisa McLellan (Windham High School) and Amy Toiano (Westbrook High School) for high school science and William O’Brien (Camden Hills Regional High School) for high school mathematics.
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State awards South Portland’s Kaler Elementary $1.6 million for school improvement
The funding from the Maine Department of Education will help transform the struggling school and increase student achievement, teacher effectiveness and community engagement
SOUTH PORTLAND – A South Portland elementary school will use $1.6 million awarded today by the Maine Department of Education to raise student proficiency in math and reading by 10 percent annually over the next three years. Continue reading “State awards South Portland’s Kaler Elementary $1.6 million for school improvement”
Maine teachers chosen for summer humanities institute
PORTLAND– Five Maine teachers have been selected as National Endowment for the Humanities (NEW) Summer Scholars from a national applicant pool to attend an Acadian culture summer institute.
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Maine DOE provides Q & A on educator effectiveness system development
Earlier this month, the Maine DOE announced the final adoption of rule Chapter 180, which governs the development and implementation of Performance Evaluation and Professional Growth (PE/PG) systems that improve teacher and principal effectiveness.
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Maine DOE strengthens educator effectiveness
Following several changes by the Maine Legislature, I am pleased to say that the Department has finally adopted Rule Chapter 180, which establishes standards and procedures for the implementation of performance evaluation and professional growth systems (known as PE/PG systems) that each school administrative unit (SAU) is required to have implemented by the 2015-16 school year. PE/PG systems for teachers and principals improve educator effectiveness by establishing clear expectations for professional practice and student learning/growth and providing actionable feedback and support to help educators meet them.
The Department outlined the changes it made through the public rulemaking process last fall in a previous Commissioner’s Update dispatch. It is important to note that during the Legislature’s review this spring of Maine DOE’s provisionally-adopted rule, there was agreement that student growth measures should be a significant factor in determining a teacher or principal effectiveness rating and that local school boards have the authority and responsibility to approve or reject the stakeholder group’s proposed PE/PG system plan. Additionally, the Legislature maintained that the Maine DOE will still have to approve PE/PG system plans and that there are contingencies if local stakeholder groups can’t reach consensus, including adoption of a State model.
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Maine DOE announces 2014 summer literacy institute
The Maine DOE is inviting teams of educators to attend the 2014 Summer Literacy Institute to be held August 12-13 at Thomas College in Waterville. The two-day event will feature members of the Vermont Writing Collaborative sharing its book Writing for Understanding. Presenters will explain the Writing for Understanding approach which describes a method of teaching writing that clearly matches the purpose and supports inclusion of strong evidence to support the main ideas.
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Maine DOE Newsroom 