Commissioner’s Update – April 11, 2013

From the Commissioner

Away from the headlines, some amazing work is going on in Maine schools and I’ve had the good fortune to visit several schools –most recently Lake Region High School and the career and technical education center.

I also got to meet six talented teachers last Thursday at a ceremony recognizing them as 2014 Maine Teacher of the Year semi-finalists. Yes, Shannon Shanning, our 2013 Teacher of the Year has barely begun her term, but we are already busy reviewing, scoring, and celebrating more great teachers. I was also glad to announce that the Department has entered into a partnership with Educate Maine, a business-led education group, to manage the program. We are excited about this partnership and confident in their ability to further raise the profile of this program, which showcases and highlights exceptional teachers.

Notices and Reporting

Join the Comprehensive School Health Education conference

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Commissioner’s Update – April 4, 2013

From the Commissioner

During his State of the State address in February, Governor LePage announced that Maine will introduce a school performance grading system to simplify for parents, taxpayers and others how their schools are doing. Many of you have expressed interest in and concern about how we will generate the grades, and what we will do to support schools that receive low grades.

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Notices and Reporting

Preliminary state education subsidies for 2013-14

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Commissioner’s Update – March 28, 2013

Oops! We inadvertently sent you an early draft of the weekly update this morning. Here’s the finished product. Sorry for the double posting.
–@mdoeNews

From the Commissioner

By all accounts last Friday’s Governor’s Conference on Education: Putting Students First was a great success. Not because everyone agreed with every idea that was presented, but because we were able to hear about innovations and reforms in Florida and elsewhere that have had some real impact on student achievement, and continue our conversation about which make sense for Maine to consider and put into action.

More than 200 superintendents, legislators, principals, teachers, higher ed administrators and others attended the event (a big thank you to Cony High School in Augusta for hosting).

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Notices and Reporting

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Commissioner’s Update – March 21, 2013

From the Commissioner

I had the chance last week to talk with five students at Lewiston High School who are taking advantage of an early college opportunity that will save them money, expose them to the college experience, and could lead them to future careers. I picked LHS for the second stop on my Promising Practices tour because the kids I talked to are among 68 juniors and seniors who are taking college classes for credit at institutions like the University of Southern Maine and Central Maine Community College.

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Notices and Reporting

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Commissioner’s Update – March 14, 2013

From the Commissioner

Today I’ll be at Lewiston High School to talk about some of the targeted education support in Governor Paul R. LePage’s proposed two-year budget. These supports include funding to help districts implement the proficiency-based diploma and teacher evaluation systems; to expand access to college opportunities through five-year high school/associate’s degree programs, dual credit, and Adult Ed transition programs; and to make the kinds of supports and technical assistance that have been available only to Title I schools available to all schools.

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Notices and Reporting

Administrative Letter: Parental consent and Medicaid
Notice of public meeting to discuss Baxter Academy
School Bus Purchase Program Approval – Cancellation Report (EF-T-20A), due March 30
EF-S-214 Report, due April 15

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Commissioner’s Update – March 7, 2013

From the Commissioner

Governor Paul R. LePage and I are pleased to announce the Governor’s Conference on Education, which will feature best practices and innovative reforms from around the nation.

One of Gov. LePage’s highest priorities in the legislative session is to improve and expand our children’s educational opportunities. While many good things are going on in Maine’s schools, we can always learn from the success of other states.

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Notices and Reporting

Review amendments to FERPA
Highly Qualified Teacher Data, due March 30
EPS April 1 Enrollment Reporting, due April 12
Private School Apr. 1 Enrollment Reporting (EF-M-14), due April 15

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Commissioner’s Update – February 28, 2013

This week I kicked off my third school tour at Deer Isle-Stonington High School, where it’s clear that Principal Todd West and his staff put student success at the center of every decision they make. The school has not only seen a significant increase in its graduation rate three years in a row, from 58 percent to 94 percent, but it has also launched professional learning communities, advisory periods, and student assistance teams to better their school—and it’s working. By sharing best practices like those at Deer Isle-Stonington, we as educators can learn a lot about improving our schools and doing what works.

While up at Deer-Isle Stonington, I also released the four-year graduation rate for Maine high schools. It rose for a third year in a row, to 85.34 percent for 2012—a rise of more than 1.5 percentage points from the previous year and nearly 5 percentage points since 2009.

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Commissioner’s Update – February 21, 2013

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A little over a year ago, I outlined a vision for education in Maine, our strategic plan, Education Evolving, at Capital Area Technical Center. A few weeks later, Governor LePage and I laid out the education agenda at the Somerset Career and Technical Education Center in Skowhegan. We at Maine DOE, in collaboration with schools and school districts, have made great progress in changing policies and focus toward a system that supports students in achieving proficiency in rigorous standards that will prepare them to be ready for college and careers.

As I’ve often said, some of the best thinking and models for the work we want to do comes from the schools themselves. I’m itching to get out to the schools again to see first-hand the kinds of innovative practices that you are implementing that are showing promise and that are helping to forward the priorities in our strategic plan. The first stop on my tour of schools will be at Deer Isle-Stonington High School next Monday, the 25^th. Graduation rates there have increased – significantly – for three years in a row through a combination of culture change, professional learning communities, and Student Assistance Teams.

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Commissioner’s Update – February 14, 2013

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This week we announced that 14 teachers from schools as far south as Sanford and as far east as Milbridge have been nominated to be Maine’s next Teacher of the Year by their colleagues, students and community members.

While we won’t know the outcome of this process until a surprise award ceremony in September, we do know that the 2013 recipient will join the esteemed ranks of previous Maine Teachers of the Year and will represent excellent teachers and teaching throughout the state.

Best of luck to all nominees as this rigorous process continues.

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Commissioner’s Update – February 7, 2013

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The Governor devoted a good portion of his State of the State address on Tuesday evening to education, a reflection of the passion he has for the topic. As he said, he believes education saved his life.

He introduced three plans that have us here at the Maine DOE pretty excited—and working overtime. First is the Governor’s education conference, planned for March. We’ll share details in coming days as we lock down nationally-known speakers on topics important to our education agenda. Gov. LePage also unveiled his plan for a school performance grading system. This A-F grading will give parents and communities a quick overview of how their school is doing and hopefully generate discussion about how to progress. The grades will be based on publicly available data, multiple measures such as performance and growth, and grad rates for high schools. No, one grade doesn’t tell the whole story, but it’s important to have some transparency and to catalyze discussion about how to improve all of our schools – regardless of where they are on the scale.

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