It’s time for a new school year, and here at the Maine DOE we’re continuing the work of our strategic plan.In a few weeks, the Department will launch its birth-to-adult literacy initiative, Literacy for ME, and we’re hoping to get the whole state involved.

In late September, the Department will be offering six one-day regional meetings to explain how to implement and develop comprehensive literacy plans in local communities, and we hope that you will consider helping to create a local team to participate in one of these sessions and set your community on the road to a local plan for action. Well-represented planning teams made up of members that span the birth to adult continuum are encouraged to sign-up. To view the full meeting schedule and register your team by the September 17 deadline, please visit the project’s website.

Continue reading “Commissioner’s Update – August 30, 2012” →

In a few weeks, the Department will be offering a series of one-day meetings to explain Maine’s new state literacy plan, Literacy for ME, which we’ll be unveiling in early September. Educators, literacy specialists, parents, stakeholders—anyone with an interest in literacy is invited to form a well-represented group locally and sign-up to attend a meeting. Helping all Maine residents develop strong literacy skills is an essential part of the Maine DOE’s mission, and we need the involvement of everyone in our communities.

Tonight we will host the last of three public forums to discuss the Department’s draft for ESEA flexibility. If you missed the forums online and in Westbrook earlier this week, you can review a summary of attendees’ feedback below. I encourage you to join us tonight in Brewer at 6 p.m for a final chance to discuss the waiver before we submit to the feds on Sept. 6.

With this issue, the Commissioner’s Update resumes its regular weekly schedule for the 2012-13 school year.

— Stephen Bowen Continue reading “Commissioner’s Update – August 23, 2012” →

At the Department this summer we’ve been implementing elements of the five core priorities in our strategic plan.

Our Center for Best Practices web pages went live this week, providing a platform for sharing best practices for learner-centered instruction from three districts and some of the lessons they learned along the way. We invite other schools in Maine to review these case studies, videos, and resources and explore innovative ideas they may wish to adopt and adapt. And we’ll be adding more case studies in the future.

Continue reading “Commissioner’s Update – August 9, 2012” →

Governor Paul LePage and I held a press conference this week to discuss the results of a recent Harvard University education study, which found that Maine’s NAEP test scores have barely moved over the past two decades.While Maine still ranks 12th in the nation (down from third in 1992), Maine had the second lowest gains of the 41 states in the study.

It’s like a student gets a D-plus in a class of D’s and F’s. He may be at the top, but we should not say he’s doing OK.

Continue reading “Commissioner’s Update – July 26, 2012” →

Congratulations to Maine schools for completing another academic year, and thanks to all of you for the work you do year-round on behalf of students.

There’s a lot of end-of-the-year reporting due this month and over the summer. Completing these helps ensure that schools have accurate data for records such as graduation rates, which are much harder to correct after the fact. In fact, we had a significant delay in calculating last year’s grad rates (they’re coming in the next few days) in part because of delayed submission and the need for corrections. Data is also necessary to our work in calculating GPA for next year. It is important for the state and for districts that student reporting is completed before June 30 and other year-end financial reporting be completed by the specified deadlines.

Continue reading “Commissioner’s Update – June 14, 2012” →