Commissioner’s Update – September 6, 2012

Today is a big day for education in Maine.

Today the Department will formally submit a request for flexibility under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act – and it’s been a long time coming.

Maine’s been working for a year to craft this new accountability and improvement system, which aims to help struggling schools improve and to consider multiple valid measures when evaluating performance.
We’re extremely proud of the waiver request we’re submitting today – and we couldn’t have completed it without the combined efforts of educators, stakeholders and the general public.

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Commissioner’s Update – August 30, 2012

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.

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Commissioner’s Update – August 23, 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 9, 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.

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Commissioner’s Update – July 26, 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.

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Commissioner’s Update – July 12, 2012

The Maine Charter School Commission recently approved the state’s first public charter school: the Maine Academy of Natural Sciences. This authorization is a milestone for the state, and will support 40 at-risk students to achieve their potential as they enter the school this fall.

In March, the Legislature’s Education Committee voted unanimously to create a group to develop models for school choice—part of a larger effort to create an education environment with more pathways to engagement and success for students. Continue reading “Commissioner’s Update – July 12, 2012” →

Commissioner’s Update – June 28, 2012

Educators from across the state gathered in Augusta for the 101st annual Maine Superintendents’ Conference earlier this week.

The 145 people in attendance listened to perspectives on student-centered learning, and participated in five of nine possible workshop sessions, ranging in topic from expanded learning opportunities to proficiency-based data management.

In the end, these two days were well spent. Most importantly, we had a chance to discuss the best ways for the Department of Education to collaborate with superintendents on our shared goal: preparing every Maine student for success.

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Commissioner’s Update – June 21, 2012

In the past week the Maine Charter School Commission held hearings on three applications for public charter schools to open this fall. It’s a tight time schedule, but Commission members are putting in many hours to give each application a thorough review. They are striking a balance between the need to provide students and families with choices, and the imperative that they closely follow the criteria laid out for them.

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Commissioner’s Update – June 14, 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.

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Commissioner’s Update – June 7, 2012

As part of my tour of schools to see how students are taking charge of their learning – putting the Maine Department of Education’s strategic plan into action – I visited three places Friday where all the students I met were eager to take control of their learning. Below you can read more about each.

In Auburn, I found kindergarteners learning letters and reading with iPads, enabling teachers to give more personal attention to students. At Gray-New Gloucester Middle School, I spoke with a panel of students who like the freedom they have to move at their own pace.

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