Standardized Assessment Scores for 2014-15

AUGUSTA – As Maine shifts to a proficiency-based system by 2018, the 2014-15 Smarter Balanced Assessment scores in English language arts and mathematics for grades 3 through 8 and the third year of high school are the first statewide assessment of our students’ accomplishments in meeting Maine’s college and career readiness standards. These results are reflective of a more rigorous assessment as the world is changing rapidly, and Maine is poised to improve in this educational shift to better prepare our students for future success.

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2016 Teacher of the Year State Finalists Selected

The Maine Department of Education, in partnership with Educate Maine, recently named three teachers as state finalists for Maine’s 2016 Teacher of the Year. They were chosen from this year’s 16 County Teachers of the Year who were named in May at a celebration at the State House Hall of Flags.

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Maine Department of Education awarded flexibility from Feds

AUGUSTA – The Maine Department of Education received a three-year waiver allowing flexibility regarding specific requirements of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), formerly known as the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001(NCLB), whose reauthorization was recently debated and is being revised in our nation’s capital. While the revised ESEA shrinks the federal role yielding greater power to states to judge student achievement and school performance (from regulations outlined under NCLB), this recent waiver provides Maine educators and State and local leaders the opportunity for continued work toward rigorous and comprehensive State-developed plans designed to improve educational outcomes for all students, close achievement gaps, increase equity, and improve the quality of instruction.

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State Board of Education elects new leadership

AUGUSTA – The Maine State Board of Education has new leadership, having elected Martha J. Harris as chair and Alan R. Burton as vice-chair. Come September, Ms. Harris will have served on the board for five years having been appointed by Governor Baldacci and one year for Mr. Burton, appointed by Governor Paul R. LePage.

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Maine educators expand learning technology skills this week

Connecting the dots, online and blended learning, digital content using widgets, iTunes U Course, digital storytelling, GarageBand, and much more are buzz phrases educators will be hearing about this week at the Maine Department of Education’s MLTI 2015 Summer Institute at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Tuesday the 21^st through Thursday the 23^rd.

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State awards $1.63 million through a grant to help a struggling school

Funding granted from the Maine Department of Education will help transform the Auburn school by increasing student achievement, teacher effectiveness and engaging parent and community support.

AUBURN – Washburn Elementary School in Auburn will use just over $1.63 million in School Improvement Grant (SIG) funding awarded by the Maine Department of Education to focus on raising student proficiency in math by 30 percent and reading by 35 percent over the next five years.

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Maine DOE Biennial Budget Breakdown

AUGUSTA – Media is focusing narrowly on just one aspect of State funding to Good Will-Hinckley; specifically, the $530,000 allocated each year to an account for the “Center for Excellence for At-Risk Students,” an account established in 2009 to support Good Will-Hinckley (GWH), but not funded until 2011. However, this is not the only funding the school receives from the State of Maine.

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Annual MLTI student technology conference brings 1000+ to UMaine Thursday

ORONO – Over 1,000 students and educators will bring their Maine Department of Education provided digital devices to UMaine on Thursday for a one-day conference to understand the power and possibilities delivered to them through Maine’s Learning Through Technology Initiative (MLTI).

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First Lady LePage, Acting Education Commissioner announce 2015 County Teachers of the Year

The 2016 Maine Teacher of the Year will be selected from the 16 honorees and named at a surprise all-school assembly this fall

AUGUSTA – First Lady Ann LePage and Acting Education Commissioner Tom Desjardin marked Teacher Appreciation Week by announcing the top teacher from each Maine county at a State House ceremony today.

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Maine Department of Education pledges additional funding to support autism resource, research institute

The funding will allow the Orono-based Maine Autism Institute for Education and Research to improve outcomes for the thousands of children in the state with autism spectrum disorder

AUGUSTA – The Maine Department of Education is committing over $150,000 to continue the work of the state’s first autism institute.

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