The 100th annual Maine School Superintendents’ Conference is upon us. It starts Monday at the Senator Inn in Augusta.

That means it’s time to start thinking about this year’s theme: transformation.

Is your school in the midst of a comprehensive reform effort? Why have you undertaken it? What challenges have you run into so far? How will you know your effort has been successful? What support could the Department of Education offer?

Be prepared to share your tales of transformation and learn from others’ when we gather for two days that I believe will be pivotal in setting Maine schools on a path of retooling for a new age in education.
Continue reading “Commissioner’s Update – June 23, 2011” →

Has your rural high school discovered the key to boosting student achievement and graduation rates?

Has your district launched an innovative science, technology, engineering and math (i.e. STEM) program that shows promise?

Do you think other districts would benefit from your innovation, if only they had the funds to replicate it?

They might be in luck this year.

The U.S. Department of Education recently released the guidelines for the latest round of Investing in Innovation, or i3, grants.

The focus for this year’s challenge — with $150 million in awards available — is one that should compel educators in a rural state like ours to reach out to some partners and put together a grant application. The competition places a special emphasis on improvement initiatives in rural high schools and programs that champion the STEM disciplines.

The application deadline is Aug. 2. There’s no reason Maine shouldn’t be well represented when the proposals come in.
Continue reading “Commissioner’s Update – June 16, 2011” →

We’re now into our seventh week of publishing the Commissioner’s Update. Thank you for the comments of support and the suggestions you’ve made. This week’s issue contains an important improvement that we made in response to your feedback:

We’ve combined all reporting requirements, administrative letters, items you should note and other administrative items into the newly renamed “Action Items” section of the Update. If it’s a must-know item for superintendents, it will be in this section.

Also at your suggestion, we’ve made an addition to the online Newsroom:

Now you can forward every item published — be it an administrative letter, press release or blog entry — by email to the appropriate person who needs to see it. Just click on the “Email” link at the bottom of any item and enter the appropriate address.

In addition, don’t forget that everyone can subscribe to the Commissioner’s Update. We encourage you to invite your administrators, teachers, school board members, parents – anyone with an interest in Maine education – to subscribe by clicking here.

Keep sending us your feedback! And when you’re at the Superintendents’ Conference, look for David Connerty-Marin and Matt Stone. They’ll be showing off the Newsroom and soliciting your thoughts, concerns and suggestions.

Continue reading “Commissioner’s Update – June 9, 2011” →

Save for a school visit scheduled for next week, my statewide listening tour to schools in all nine superintendent regions wrapped up last week after a meeting with superintendents, two public forums and two school visits in Washington County.

The listening tour has taken me hundreds of miles across our beautiful state, from Turner to Machias, from Limestone to Sanford. It’s allowed me to remove myself from Augusta one day at a time to see what’s going on in our classrooms — where the policies we set and budgets we craft have their greatest impact.

I have met dozens of dedicated teachers, administrators, students and parents during these trips, and the input they’ve provided me on how we can improve what we’re doing for our children has been invaluable. Thank you to all of those who took the time to share their thoughts with me.

While the listening tour might be coming to a close, that doesn’t mean I plan to stop listening. As always, don’t hesitate to contact me to let me know what you think about education in our state.

Continue reading “Commissioner’s Update – June 2, 2011” →

That final lap I wrote about in last week’s Commissioner’s Update? It’s a long one.

The House and Senate are still debating the two-year budget that will determine once and for all the amount of state funding headed for your districts for the 2011-12 year. On top of that, the fate of legislation dealing with school district reorganization, a standards-based diploma and charter schools is in the hands of the same lawmakers. For now, we sit tight to see what comes out of the legislative process.

While we wait, there’s plenty going on outside of the State House.

Today, for example, we have the chance to see more than 1,000 middle- and high-school students actively engaged in learning the way many of them learn best — digitally — at the eighth annual Maine Learning Technology Initiative student conference. I stopped there on my way back from Washington County and was blown away by the quality of the student presentations.

And in this week’s Commissioner’s Update, we bring you a streamlined Calendar of Reporting Requirements that, hopefully, makes it easier to keep track of some of your administrative work. Please let us know what you think.

Continue reading “Commissioner’s Update – May 26, 2011” →

We’re almost there!

The Legislature’s Education Committee is winding down its work this week, with final discussions on charter schools and other legislation set for Friday. The House and Senate will be working late for the next few weeks to pass a two-year budget and take final action on legislation. And next week I will make my next-to-last listening tour visit – this time to Washington County.

Things are racing to a crescendo here in Augusta, not to mention in your schools, where students, teachers and administrators are focused on a successful finish to the school year.

Soon we’ll have time to step back and focus. I’m looking forward to using the summer to review what we’ve heard from the field, from legislators, and from the public, then building consensus around a strategic plan to improve Maine education and the Department of Education.

For now, we take a deep breath and plunge in for the final lap.

— Stephen Bowen

Continue reading “Commissioner’s Update – May 19, 2011” →

It’s my hope that much of the mystery and fear about charter schools can be set aside during today’s public hearing on LD 1553, An Act To Create a Public Charter School Program in Maine. Charter schools are not private schools; they are not elitist or exclusive; they are not religious. In fact, charter schools today serve a more diverse population nationally than conventional public schools.

The vast majority of Maine students will continue to attend the public schools we have today. But I believe it’s time for Maine to provide parents and students the options that are available in almost every other state: school choice that includes charter schools. They are not a silver bullet that will solve all our education problems. But they are a promising reform that will give educators a model of schooling to work with that may allow them to be more innovative, and that may improve student outcomes for the students that attend them.

You can listen online to the hearing, which will begin shortly after 1 p.m. (The committee will first hold a hearing on LD 1540, An Act to Encourage Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Education, which I am also supporting.)

— Stephen Bowen

Continue reading “Commissioner’s Update – May 12, 2011” →

There’s never a dull moment here at the Department of Education.

This week, bills seeking to expand school choice and overhaul the state school funding formula came up before the Legislature’s Education Committee. In this update, we begin to keep you apprised of the Department’s positions on such high-profile issues.

On top of that, it’s Teacher Appreciation week, so we’re busy recognizing the good work of our teachers.

We’ve heard positive comments from you on our efforts to communicate less often, but more effectively. Continue to let us know how we can do it better. And shoot us an email if you have an idea for a story you’d like to see featured in this publication.

— Stephen Bowen

Continue reading “Commissioner’s Update – May 5, 2011” →

We heard you. You want fewer communications from the Department of Education. You want shorter and clearer information. And you want some predictability about when you will receive it.

Each week, we’ll take the most recent Administrative Letters, news items and updates, and batch them into a weekly Commissioner’s Update for your convenience. Let us know what you think!

— Stephen Bowen

Continue reading “Commissioner’s Update – April 28, 2011” →