The Maine DOE is reminding individuals seeking to renew or apply for initial certification of new hours and a policy for in-person visits. Due to the current volume of applications and processing, including a criminal background check, please allow four to six weeks for completion.
Continue reading “Reminder of new certification hours for in-person visits”
Four observances and recognition days occur in September that provide important civic learning opportunities, one of them is required by federal law. They include:
Over 750 people have participated in the 13 NEO data system training workshops across the state with the final two sessions wrapping up this week.
Nearly 10,000 certifications have been processed this summer at the Maine DOE and the certification team is not done yet. These certifications include all educators’ certifications and criminal history record checks on all those in food services, transportation, adult education, driver’s education and more.
The Standardized Assessment Task Force and a few hundred stakeholders and educators all weighed in as the Maine DOE crafted a Request for Proposals (RFP) seeking a new vendor for the 2015-16 administration of the MEA for math and ELA/literacy. The comments and feedback were crucial to the process and helped inform the writing of the document that is in its final stages. The finalized RFP goes to the Maine State Bureau of Purchases and Sales for approval, which includes securing the Governor’s approval. After that, Maine DOE will make the RFP publicly available.
New and experienced gifted and talented educators will have an opportunity to learn new skills and practices at upcoming mentoring workshops in Augusta and Bangor sponsored by the Maine DOE.
The workshop will consist of two strands: a full-day strand for new educators and an advanced strand for experienced teachers and administrators in the afternoon only.
The new educator strand will consist of a question-and-answer workshop designed for teachers and administrators who have been working in the field of gifted and talented education for only one or two years, or for those in a newly restructured district. Teachers and administrators are encouraged to come with questions and to share resources. The workshop topics will include identification tools; curriculum options; organizing and managing G/T programs; evaluating program effectiveness; and reviewing the application and budget forms new this year. Patti Drapeau, educational consultant in gifted education for the Maine DOE, will be the facilitator for this strand. For more information, contact her at ptdrapeau@aol.com.
The advanced strand will be meeting concurrently with the new educator strand in the afternoon only. It will address particular questions, concerns and challenges that the participants bring to the workshop. The topics should be far-reaching given that experienced attendees will be coming from rural and urban communities, small and large schools, and new or established programs. Examples of topics include dual exceptionalities, K-2 programming, consultation and changing the focus of an established program. Lee Worcester, consultant in gifted education for the Maine DOE, will be the facilitator for this strand. For more information or to suggest a topic for discussion (by Sept. 14), contact her at lee.worcester@yahoo.com or 943-8804 by Sept. 14.
The one-day mentoring workshops will be held on Sept. 24 and 28, free of charge. The same information will be presented on both workshop days. Choose one of the following events:
To register by the Sept. 17 deadline, please complete this online form. Lunch will not be provided at either workshop.
Resources
On August 6 and 7, a conference entitled “ECET2 Maine Teacher Leadership Summit” (Elevating and Celebrating Effective Teaching and Teachers) was held at Colby College in Waterville. It was organized by the Maine Teacher of the Year Association, and Maine DOE’s Learning Through Technology Team (LTTT) joined in offering support with social media.
A local history teacher’s passion for the Civil War and his collaboration with his school librarian and local historical society, led him to a week of learning this summer at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC.
Continue reading “Blue Hill teacher receives week-long learning in nation’s capital”
Results from the spring 2015 Maine Educational Assessment (MEA) for mathematics and English language arts/literacy are being carefully rolled out. The steps in that process include:
Continue reading “Reporting of 2015 math and ELA/literacy results”
The 2014-15 NCLB Report Cards, showing levels of performance at Maine schools for the 2013-14 school year, are now available through the Maine DOE Data Warehouse.
Continue reading “No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Report Cards now available”
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