• Laptops/computer devices are NOT required as during these training sessions you do not need to be logged into either the eMPowerME or SAT portals.
• If you are unable to attend one of the in-person trainings, a recording of the 2/13 training at USM Portland will be posted on the eMPowerME Help and Support Site https://maine.onlinehelp.cognia.org/training/

The Department of Education offers quarterly windows for districts to review, for accuracy and comprehensiveness, the data that has been entered and reported to us. It is our hope that review of this data on a more regular basis will save district personnel time and work at the end of the year, and that it will provide time for analysis and to make any necessary corrections.

The certification period for Quarter 2 (Q2), which includes attendance, behavior, bullying, and truancy opens January 1st.  Review and certification are required by January 15th. Superintendent certification is required for all quarterly reports.

Attendance data certification can be found here, and guidance on reporting attendance can be found here.

Behavior data certification can be found here, and guidance on reporting behavior can be found here.

Bullying data certification can be found here and guidance on reporting bullying can be found here.

Truancy data certification can be found here, and guidance on reporting truancy can be found here.

If you have difficulties navigating to Synergy or NEO, please call the Helpdesk at 624-6896 or email at medms.helpdesk@maine.gov

All due dates for reports are listed on the MDOE reporting calendar. All quarterly reports are based on the following months:

Quarter Two (Q2) – As of Jan 1 (to include Oct through Dec) – due Jan 15

Quarter Three (Q3) – As of April 1 (to include Jan through March) – due April 15

Quarter Four (Q4)– As of July 1 (to include Apr through June) – due July 15

Quarter One (Q1)– As of Oct 1 (to include July, August, Sept) – due Oct 15

 

In order to assist SAUs with their legislatively mandated student truancy data reporting, the Maine Department of Education Data and School and Student Supports Teams are jointly offering a free webinar to review the requirements, and answer questions from the field as they relate to the truancy reporting process. The webinar is strongly encouraged for those responsible for the compilation and entry of required student truancy data. The Truancy Q&A Webinar will be held on Wednesday, January 22^nd from 10:00 am to 11:00am.

Webinar registration link:

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5230591621775051019

Truancy definitions and guidelines on reporting truancy can be found here.

Instructions on how to report incidents of truancy can be found here.

If you have any questions, comments or concerns in regards to this webinar, or in regards to how to enter incidents of truancy, please call the Helpdesk at 624-6896 or email at medms.helpdesk@maine.gov .

If you have any questions, comments or concerns in regards to what constitutes a reportable truancy incident, please call Gayle Erdheim at 624-6637 or email at Gayle.Erdheim@maine.gov .

The Maine Department of Education is pleased to announce the release of a request for proposals (RFP) seeking bids from interested parties to implement comprehensive 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) programming in 2020-2021.  It is anticipated that roughly $2M will be available to issue grant awards later this year.

Authorized under Title IV, Part B of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Act of 2015, the 21st CCLC program provides competitive grant funding to support before school, after school, and summer learning programs that focus on improving the academic performance of students in pre-Kindergarten through grade 12.

The primary purpose of Maine’s 21^st CCLC program is to provide funding for school and community partnerships to establish or expand community learning center programs.  These programs provide students in high-need, economically-disadvantaged communities with academic tutoring and enrichment opportunities designed to complement their school-day academic program.  In addition, these programs can provide a broad array of additional support services related to overall student health and well-being.

Local 21^st CCLC programs – which can be located in elementary schools, secondary schools or similarly accessible community facilities – provide high quality support services to students during non-school hours.  As such, these programs also support working parents and families by providing safe, supportive learning environments for students at times when school is not in session.

The request for proposal (RFP), which includes information regarding eligibility, program requirements, and more, is available here . An informational webinar for this RFP will be posted to the  Department’s on application website January 16, 2020.  It is strongly recommended that interested parties view this presentation, in its entirety, prior to submitting a proposal for 21^st CCLC program funding.

Below is the anticipated timeline for the Department’s current 21^st CCLC grant competition:

Date	Task
January 2, 2020	RFP Released to Public
January 16, 2020	Informational Webinar Posted Online
February 20, 2020	Deadline for Submission of Questions in Response to RFP
March 3, 2020	Interested Parties Submit Letter of Intent to Apply
April 2, 2020	Proposal Deadline
April 2020	Formal Peer Review of Proposals
May 2020	Grant Award Notifications
July 1, 2020	Grant Award Start Date

Please be advised that the dates above are subject to change.  Interested parties must consult the RFP document for the most accurate dates and deadlines regarding this opportunity.

For more information on the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21^st CCLC) Program, contact State Coordinator, Travis Doughty, at travis.w.doughty@maine.gov.

In the first session of the 129th legislature, LD 1370, An Act To Address Dangerous Behavior in the Classroom, was passed. In a collaborative effort to provide unified guidance to our profession and colleagues, the leaders of Maine Department of Education(DOE), Maine Education Association (MEA), Maine Principals Association(MPA),Maine School Superintendents Association and Maine School Board Association (MSSA/MSBA), and Maine Administrators of Services for Children with Disabilities(MADSEC) have met and reached consensus on the following:

Unified Guidance on LD1 370

• Dangerous Behavior – student behavior that presents a risk of injury or harm to others; this applies to all students, including those with 504 plans or IEPs.

• Procedure –
  1. A school employee reports behavior, invoking the process;
  2. Administrator/designee investigates the incident and reaches out to bargaining unit leadership, who will appoint an individual.
  3. The administrator/designee reviews report with the appointed staff person.
  4. If incident is substantiated as dangerous behavior, the administrator/designee consults with the staff member who was subjected to the behavior (if applicable) in the development of a response plan aimed at supporting safer behaviors. *If the plan is not in alignment with an existing 504 plan or IEP, the administrator/designee will provide the appropriate team with information from the consultation with impacted staff person.  The team will consider appropriate revisions to the 504 plan or IEP, as needed.

• Staff Sick Leave –
  1. A physician’s note must verify that time out of work is necessary due to injury caused by substantiated dangerous behavior by a student.
  2. Paid leave will be provided without impacting the employee’s existing benefits.
  3. If the necessity of time out of work, due to injury caused by substantiated dangerous behavior of a student, cannot be verified by a physician’s note, paid leave will be adjusted accordingly.

We are grateful for the partnership and stewardship of these organizations.

The Maine Department of Education would like to remind Maine’s early care and education community that they are able to access to the WIDA Early Years online learning modules. These modules focus on supporting young multilingual children, ages 2.5 to 5.5 years and are available at no cost to teachers and administrators. Multilingual children, commonly referred to as dual language learners, are children who are developing more than one language.

Each self-paced, interactive module provides opportunities for reflection and offers suggestions for applying content to local practice. The following modules are available:

• Dual Language Learners and their Families
• WIDA Early English Language Development Standards Framework
• Dual Language Learners with Disabilities
• Scaffolding Language Learning
• Promising Practices

A description of each module, frequently asked questions, and instructions for creating a user account and registering for the modules can be found in the documents listed below:

• WIDA Early Years Online Learning Modules
• WIDA Early Years Online Modules: Frequently Asked Questions
• Online Modules: Instructions for Creating User Accounts and Registering

Access the modules: WIDA Early Years online modules (visit and create your user account)

If you are a program leader, administrator, trainer, or coach, we hope you will utilize these modules as a resource to support the professional learning needs of those serving multilingual children. The modules can be used in staff development sessions and/or shared with individual educators or teams of educators, such as professional learning communities.

Contact hours are available upon completion of a module. To receive a contact hours certificate, please download the certificate of completion generated by the WIDA Early Years online system and email it to april.perkins@maine.gov.

Additionally, the Department has purchased a set of WIDA Early Years Promising Practices Implementation Kits to assist districts in refining their programs for young multilingual children. These kits serve as a program self-evaluation tool, highlighting several evidence-based, highly effective strategies for supporting children’s development of multiple languages. Several districts with a significant number of dual language learners will receive these kits. A district that does not receive its own kit may request to borrow one from the Maine Department of Education.

WIDA Early Years resources have been provided to Maine educators through Title III, CDS, Head Start and public pre-k funds.

If you have any questions about these resources, or to request to borrow a WIDA Early Years Promising Practices Implementation Kit, please contact Maine DOE Director of ESOL/Bilingual Programs & Title III April Perkins at april.perkins@maine.gov or (207)624-6627.