New Teachers and Mentors – Dine and Discuss Event (Three sessions)

Due to extenuating circumstances this series has been cancelled.

The Dine and Discuss series for new teachers and their mentors is designed to provide professional learning that builds fundamental instructional skills of new teachers. Note: New teachers are defined as teachers in their first two years of teaching who have assigned mentors. Each session in the 3-part series will have a specific focus.

January Focus: Formative Assessment

Sessions goals are as follows:

Increase the integration of foundational strategies into ongoing daily classroom instructional practices
Build peer networking communities throughout the State
Introduce a statewide, online support platform to facilitate ongoing dialogue between new and more experienced teachers
Highlight teacher leaders and build a resource bank statewide to deliver professional learning
Develop a video resource bank of topics with supporting materials from each of the regional sessions

Registration fee: $25 per person per session and includes dinner. Registration is now open for the January session. New teachers are invited to come with or without their mentors. If your mentor cannot be there, we will group you together with other participating mentors. Please register to secure your spot (below) as we have limited space.

Payment: Credit card only, use the individual event registration links below.

Topics for future sessions may include: backward design, goal focused planning, classroom management strategies, time management in the classroom, family engagement, and instructional strategies. Additional topics will be determined by follow up feedback surveys and input from the field.

If a larger location is necessary to accommodate more participants in subsequent sessions, locations may be changed.

Location / Registration Links	January Session
The Green Ladle, Lewiston	January 16, 2018
Bangor High School, Bangor	January 17, 2018
University of Maine – Presque Isle	January 23, 2018
University of Maine – Machias	January 24, 2018
University of Southern Maine, Portland	January 31, 2018

Workshop Contact: Peggy Pisini, Acting Educator Effectiveness Coordinator at peggy.pisini@maine.gov or call 624-6748.

Maine DOE receives 19 FEDES grant proposals as part of EMBRACE regionalization initiative

The Maine DOE is pleased to announce the receipt of 19 regional grant proposals in response to RFP# 201708145 – Fund for the Efficient Delivery of Educational Services (FEDES) grant by the December 19, 2017 deadline.

The FEDES grant is part of the Department’s ongoing EMBRACE regionalization initiative. There is $5 million in FEDES grant funding available in 2017, and an additional $5 million will be available in 2018 to assist in financing the cost of local and regional initiatives to improve educational opportunity and student achievement through more efficient delivery of education programs and services.

For more information about FEDES or the Department’s other regionalization efforts, visit the EMBRACE Regionalization Information Center.

For further questions contact Maine DOE Regionalization Project Manager, Jennifer Pooler Jennifer.G.Pooler@maine.gov.

New State expectations for SAT essays set to help improve student writing

The Maine Department of Education (DOE) will start using a “cut score” that includes State expectations for the essay portion of the SAT for the first time. A cut score is the minimum score required for performance at each State expectation level. The essay cut scores are expected to help educators further enhance student writing.

The essay cut score was researched and determined as a collaborative effort among the Maine DOE, Maine educators, technical support from assessment experts, the Delaware Department of Education and approval by Maine’s Technical Advisory Committee (TAC).

While essay scores have previously been reported to the State, no expectation has been provided for satisfactory performance until now. Starting in 2018, the SAT essay score will have a designation of “Meets Expectations” or “Does Not Meet Expectations.” There are no changes to the State expectations for student performance in the SAT mathematics and reading score metrics.

In order to meet expectations for the essay cut score, students must score at least 3 out of 8 points on each of the three sub scores, and they must achieve an overall essay score of at least 13. Schools and districts will be provided with data that includes the percentage of students that meet the SAT expectation.

In addition to providing school officials with a measurement of the over-all student achievement level in writing, the new essay cut scores will also provide educators with an opportunity to seek improvement in teaching students analytical writing techniques.

While the goal may be a challenge for some Maine students, the Maine DOE is eager to assist educators in helping students achieve these expectations through professional development opportunities. A set of workshops took place in the fall of 2017 and materials are available on the Maine DOE Website. For questions or to discuss future professional development opportunities contact Morgan Dunton, English Language Arts Specialist at morgan.dunton@maine.gov or (207) 624-6625.

The SAT essay cut scores will also be one of the factors that contribute to performance in the federal Every Students Succeeds Act Accountability System. For more information about ESSA contact Chelsea Fortin-Trimble, ESEA Federal Programs & Title I Director at Chelsey.A.Fortin@maine.gov or (207)-624-6815.

For more information about Maine Education Assessments including the SATs contact Andrew Hudacs, Director of Assessment at Andrew.Hudacs@maine.gov or (207) 624-6636.

Due date for school facilities inventory reporting extended to 01/12/18

The Maine Department of Education has extended the due date for the FY17 School Facilities Inventory Report to January 12, 2018.

The due date has been extended to ensure NEO functionality is ready to receive the incoming FY17 data. Updated instructions have been posted on the NEO Dashboard.

For technical assistance with reporting contact the Maine DOE helpdesk at medms.helpdesk@maine.gov.

For more information and questions about policy contact Pat Hinckley at pat.hinckley@maine.gov or call 624-6886.

Maine DOE office closed December 22 – 26

The office of the Maine Department of Education will be closed the following days as part of the State of Maine’s administrative holiday closure:

· Friday, December 22, 2017

· Monday, December 25, 2017

· Tuesday, December 26, 2017

The office will reopen at 8:00am on Wednesday, December 27, 2017. For questions or concerns call (207) 624-6600.

PRIORITY NOTICE: Extended due date for graduation and dropout reporting set for 1/19/18

The Department of Education has extended the due date for the graduation and dropout report to January 19, 2018. The updated NEO module is ready and districts can begin entering data on December 20, 2017.

All public, charter, and 60% publicly funded districts (even those districts without schools) will gain access to the graduation module in NEO on December 20, 2017 and will have access to complete the graduation and dropout report through January 19, 2018.

Please note that along with the “attending district” reporting requirements there are now “responsible district” reporting requirements as well. This is because there are new federal reporting requirements that prompted a change to the Maine DOE’s Graduation and Dropout report. Because of this change, there will be multiple districts that are required to submit these reports for the first time. If your district has never completed this report, be sure to check DC & R to see if it is now required.

Instructions and assistance for completing this report:

The reports can be accessed through DC & R or through NEO directly.
Login issues: If you can log in to NEO but do not see the graduation tab or if you find that you cannot login; you will need a NEO access request form to be filled out and then signed by the superintendent. Send completed forms to the MEDMS help desk.
If you need assistance with the graduation reports or have questions you may email Travis Wood, or call 624-6742; or email Leda Cunningham, or call 624-6816.

For other questions about NEO or the Graduation module contact Maine DOE Help Desk at MEDMS.Helpdesk@maine.gov or 207-624-6896.

Join us for the 2018 Read to ME Campaign

Following two years of strong statewide participation, the Maine Department of Education’s Literacy for ME initiative will once again be promoting the Read to ME Challenge. This simple but powerful campaign challenges adults to read to children for 15 minutes, to capture that reading episode via a photo and then post it on social media to challenge others to do the same. Over 100 Maine schools, community literacy teams and other literacy related organizations partnered in the 2016 and 2017 campaigns and the Maine DOE is hoping that even more organizations will partner in the 2018 campaign scheduled to kick off the first week of February.

Reading aloud to children is one of the most cost effective and highly beneficial methods of building children’s literate abilities. The simple act of reading aloud to a child 15 minutes a day for five years results in 27,375 minutes of language exposure which can put children on the path to high literacy achievement. Reading aloud exposes children to the world around them, helps them see reading as an enjoyable and valuable activity and often strengthens bonds with trusted adults.

We invite your school or organization to join the challenge and to encourage community members to do the same. The collective voice of many key partners, leaders and those in respected positions will send a clear message about the vital importance reading to children plays in the social and economic well-being of Maine. Maine DOE also encourages partners to be creative and to use this opportunity to enhance ongoing literacy education outreach efforts.

If your organization is willing and able to promote the Read to ME Challenge, please follow this link to provide us with your contact information: Read to ME Challenge Partner 2018. Read to ME Challenge resources, including a guidance document, public service announcements, fliers and a list of engaging ways to incorporate the challenge are available on the Read to ME webpage.

Thanks for your consideration of this opportunity, and don’t hesitate to contact leeann.larsen@maine.gov (624-6628) with any questions.

PRIORITY NOTICE: Guidance for part I applications for regional service centers

The Maine Department of Education today released guidance concerning the establishment of regional service centers (School Management and Leadership Centers), informed by the 23 applicants who submitted part I conceptual proposals by the November 30, 2017 deadline.

In the letter sent to applicants, Commissioner Hasson reflects on the collaborative efforts involved in reaching this important milestone:

“While this marks only a first step in a multi-year journey to establish robust regional service centers, it is an important step, and represents many hours of hard work and local leadership,” wrote Commissioner Hasson. “Neither I nor my colleagues at the Maine Department of Education take this for granted, and we acknowledge the many emotions that accompany an undertaking of this nature. The emotions that I wish to convey today are gratitude, encouragement, and hope.”

Among the guidance issued by the Department were:

Determinations for 10 geographic areas, with guidance that more than one regional service center may be formed in each area;
Clarification on the state subsidy that will be available to each school administrative unit (SAU) that joins a successfully established regional service center; and
Feedback to each applicant including a determination as to whether each applicant met the minimum criteria to be considered as a regional service center for the 2018-19 school year and specific commentary and suggestions.

A copy of the general guidance is available at: Regional Service Center Part I Letter and Guidance.

The individual letters that include the specific feedback and determination in section VI will be posted to the EMBRACE Regionalization Information Center on Wednesday, December 20, 2017 in order to give applicants time to review and share with their proposed members the individual feedback and determination before posting by the Department.

For further questions about the EMBRACE Regionalization initiative contact Jennifer Pooler at Jennifer.G.Pooler@maine.gov.

Administrative Letter: Guidance for residency determination for split residence students

Administrative Letter: #10
Policy Code: JCA
TO: Public School Administrators
FROM: Robert G. Hasson, Jr., Ed. D. Commissioner
DATE: December 14, 2017
SUBJECT: Guidance for residency determination for split residence students

This guidance is offered by the Maine Department of Education (Department) to clarify the determination of residence and enrollment in the case where a student has parents or guardians who reside in two different school administrative units (SAUs).

In accordance with 20-A, MRSA, §5202(2), “A person is eligible to attend schools in the school administrative unit where the person’s parent resides.”

The Department interprets this section to mean that the student is eligible to attend school in the SAU where the student normally sleeps at night in a parent’s or guardian’s home during the time that school is in session. The statute does not recognize any other definition of residency, such as “primary residence.”

When there are two parents/guardians who do not live together but both have educational decision-making rights for a student, they may agree on a residency for the child that regularly includes some time in both residences during the school year and school week. In these cases, the parents must choose which SAU the student will attend.

Please contact Pamela Ford-Taylor, Maine DOE School Enrollment Specialist at 207-624-6617 or Pamela.Ford-Taylor@maine.gov with questions or comments about the guidance.

School Based Health Center Survey

In an effort to learn more about what health services are available in School Based Health Centers (SBHC) around the State of Maine, the Department of Education requests any school unit that has one to complete a short survey.

The survey consists of 5 questions that ask about partnered agencies, services provided, clientele served, as well as some basic financial information. The purpose is only to gather information that may inform future Department guidance and resources.

Your participation is voluntary, but we hope that you will take a few minutes to help gather data. Please be sure that this request gets passed along to the appropriate person in your school unit so that it can be completed by December 21, 2017.

School Based Health Centers (SBHC) Survey

For more information contact Emily Poland, Maine DOE School Nurse Consultant at 207-624-6688.