Maine DOE seeking panel members to set achievement levels

As a governing state in the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, Maine continues to support the efforts to develop a rigorous assessment system that will become operational in the 2014-15 school year. As part of those efforts, the Maine DOE is seeking the nomination of qualified educators, administrators, parents and business/community leaders to participate in the process to recommend cut scores for achievement levels on Smarter Balanced developed assessments.

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More information on the School Facility Management System

The Maine DOE is reminding district leaders that the School Facility Management System (SFMS) provided to school administrative units (SAU) through the Maine DOE will no longer be available after June 30, the end date of the current contract with WFA, Inc., the software provider.

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Maine DOE convenes Governor’s Academy for STEM Leadership

The Maine DOE convened the fifth meeting of the Maine Governor’s Academy for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Education Leadership last month in collaboration with the Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance (MMSA).

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Authority to make educational decisions for adult students

When a student reaches the age of majority in Maine, at age 18, the student gains the right to make his or her own educational decisions. However, a parent or other adult may obtain authority over those decisions if the parent or other adult (1) obtains guardianship over the student or (2) obtains a valid power of attorney from the student.

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Maine DOE Cross Discipline Literacy Network offers instructional strategies in support of proficiency

More than 300 Maine educations have engaged in professional learning through the Maine DOE’s Cross Discipline Literacy Network (CDLN) already this school year.

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Close reading resources available from Maine DOE

As part of its commitment to providing resources to Maine educators, the Maine DOE has recently developed two webinars highlighting an instructional strategy that fosters the ability to read complex texts.

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Portland food service director wins state award

Ron Adams, food service director for the Portland Public Schools, has won the School Nutrition Association (SNA) Outstanding Director of the Year Award for Maine. Adams will be honored at a red carpet awards ceremony in July at SNA’s national conference in Boston.

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Maine DOE offers webinar on maintenance of effort and excess cost

A webinar training provided by the Maine DOE’s Office of Special Services earlier this month is now available online as a tool for districts.

The training, led by the Department’s Director of Special Services Jan Breton and Fiscal Analyst Tyler Backus, focused on the Local Entitlement Application for Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) funds for the 2014-15 school year.

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Maine arts teachers focus on standards, assessment

Arts teachers from across the state met at the University of Maine at Orono for a Maine Arts Assessment Initiative (MAAI) regional workshop earlier this month. The workshop focused on articulating proficiency in arts learning and developing proficiency models for different grade levels.

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Maine’s State Board of Education receives national grant

The National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) has awarded $15,000 to the Maine State Board of Education to advance the state’s education reform work on Common Core State Standards (CCSS), Deeper Learning Principles and school leadership. Maine is one of only six boards to receive a stipend award. Kentucky, West Virginia, Guam, Washington D.C. and Delaware were also selected.

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