Category: Newsroom Articles

Say goodbye to MEDMS Staff Collection and hello to NEO Staff; training is next

In the early 2000s, the Maine Education Data Management System (MEDMS) was created to communicate with local school administration districts and cooperatively manage their staff- and student-level data for state and federal regulatory compliance. Since then, there have been many changes to regulation, as well as advances in technology. In 2005, the Maine DOE removed the student collection piece of MEDMS and added an application known as Infinite Campus to serve as the Department’s Student Information System (SIS). Now, NEO is around the corner.

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Maine DOE announces school transportation software that’s going places

A new and important release of Transfinder school transportation software is scheduled for June 20, 2015. Transfinder Routefinder Pro Version 12.0 is the largest release in the 27-year history of Transfinder, including nearly 40 new features and over 100 enhancements.  For example, simultaneous school routing allowing multiple users to route for the same school at the same time, every grid includes a map allowing users to see the grid and the map at the same time, and much more that is user friendly and requires less clicks. The update is free to Maine public school districts. School districts that now use Transfinder are expected to see the change occur by late June.

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Maine DOE honors finalists for excellence in mathematics and science teaching

Maine DOE recently honored two state finalists for the 2014 Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching Mathematics and Science (PAEMST) with a dinner held at the Maple Hill Farm Inn in Hallowell.  Shari Templeton, Maine DOE Science and Technology Specialist, and Michele Mailhot, Maine DOE Mathematics Specialist, planned the evening event honoring Lauree Gott, elementary science finalist (Veazie Community School) and Laura Stevens, Ph.D., elementary mathematics finalist (Dora L. Small School).

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FAME announces Claim Your Future® available to all Maine middle schools

The Finance Authority of Maine (FAME) recently announced their popular game, Claim Your Future® (formerly known as Get a Life), is now available to all Maine middle schools free of charge. Claim Your Future is a classroom and web-based resource that was created for middle school students to encourage them to explore education after high school, future careers and money management.

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Maine FFA student officers gain leadership skills

Maine FFA Association (formerly known as “Future Farmers of America”) is the leadership organization representing students enrolled in secondary and middle school agriculture and natural resources classes ranging from agriscience to ecology, forestry and horticulture. Student-run, with over 500 members in Maine and over 600,000 at the national level, FFA prepares its new officers in the spring and summer for the many presentations, events and competitions they will conduct for the membership in the coming year.

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Educators invited to attend the 2015 MLTI Summer Institute – Don’t miss out

The Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI) invites educators to attend its 2015 Summer Institute scheduled July 21-23 at Bowdoin College in Brunswick. This is an opportunity you do not want to miss as you learn new techniques and strategies that will help address proficiency-based learning, teacher accountability and higher order thinking skills.

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Department to host writing IEP workshops this fall

The Maine DOE will be offering an evidence-based practice IEP Goal Writing for College, Career and Community Readiness workshop this fall in four locations across the state. This workshop is designed for special education teachers who need assistance aligning IEP goals to standards.

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Maine DOE’s Literacy for ME launches summer reading resources

As the school year comes to an end, many of us are thinking about long hot days and fair weather fun. We may not be thinking about how much literacy learning our children gained during the school year or how much could be lost during the break from school. This loss is often called the “summer slide” and can be avoided with a little planning and support from the Maine DOE and Maine Public Libraries.

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