Mary Paine, a former English teacher, has been named the new educator effectiveness coordinator for the Maine DOE. The Department established the position in order to better coordinate its efforts to prepare, evaluate and support educators to promote the goal of having an effective teacher in every classroom and an effective leader in every school.
Continue reading “Maine DOE names educator effectiveness coordinator”
This dispatch clarifies the requirements of LD 843 (Public Law Chapter 244), An Act to Promote the Financial Literacy of High School Students, passed by the Legislature this past session. The legislation further emphasizes the teaching of financial literacy that is already included in the standards for students at the secondary level.
Continue reading “Clarification of act to promote financial literacy”
Dear Superintendents,
I am pleased to introduce myself as the Educator Effectiveness Coordinator for the Maine Department of Education. In my first two weeks with the Department, I have gained a broad sense of the status of performance evaluation and professional growth (PE/PG) systems implementation among school administrative units (SAUs) across the state. I am now seeking to refine my understanding and at the same time develop a mutually-valuable, continuous source of data, information and resources for you. Continue reading “Survey on educator evaluation implementation”
Common Sense Media has declared Oct. 21-25 as National Digital Citizenship Week to teach students about being safe and smart online. Maine educators are invited to engage students in grade-appropriate lessons about what it means to be online, which may help students identify and stand up to cyberbullying.
Continue reading “Oct. 21-25 National Digital Citizenship Week”
In the spring of 2018, the students now in eighth grade will become the state’s first class to graduate having demonstrated their mastery of all State standards in the eight content areas of the Maine Learning Results.
Continue reading “Successful transition to proficiency-based diploma starts now”
This summer, 71 Maine educators began helping to develop a formative assessment digital library to accompany Maine’s new assessments, which will be administered starting in the spring of 2015. The library is an online, interactive clearinghouse of resources, tools and professional learning opportunities for educators, students and families. It will include examples of instructional best practices at each grade level, strategies for cross-classroom collaboration and professional development resources related to the assessment system, such as scoring rubrics for performance tasks.
Continue reading “Educators help develop formative assessment digital library”
Project D.E.B.U.N.K. (Dyslexia Educational Bandwagon, Uniting Noteworthy Kids!) along with Decoding Dyslexia-Maine is inviting educators, legislators and Maine families to several upcoming informational events.
Continue reading “Upcoming events provide dyslexia information”
Trying to determine whether a lesson plan, textbook or other item aligns with Maine’s updated math and English language arts (ELA) standards? A free comprehensive toolkit for evaluating alignment to the Expectation of those standards is now available.
Continue reading “New toolkit measures alignment of materials to standards”
GARDINER – Department of Education Chief Academic Officer Rachelle Tome announced today that four of Maine’s top teachers are finalists for the nation’s highest honor for mathematics and science educators.
Tome was joined Friday by Anita Bernhardt, Maine DOE’s standards and assessment coordinator, and Michele Mailhot, the Department’s mathematics specialist, in congratulating the state’s finalists for the prestigious Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching during a ceremony at the Maine Science Teachers Association conference in Gardiner.
Continue reading “Mainers finalists for top teaching award in math, science”
Maine high schools are invited to register for Poetry Out Loud, a nationwide program that encourages youth to learn about poetry through memorization and performance. Poetry Out Loud helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence and learn about their literary heritage.
Continue reading “National poetry contest open to Maine high schools”
Maine DOE Newsroom 