Alternate student data needed by Dec. 15th, 2017

Finalization of the 1% identification of students to participate in alternate assessments must be complete December 15^th. The Department will apply to the US Department of Education for a waiver on December 19^th.

Registration for the PAAP and MSAA can only be completed with identification of students from each district in Synergy.

Please make sure district data personal have an updated list of alternate students to complete this task by Friday, December 15^th.

Questions and/or comments may be directed to Charlene Tucker, Director of Assessment, at charlene.tucker@maine.gov.

ESEA/ESSA Title I Comparability Report FY18

Section 1118(c) of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)/Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), requires that school administrative units (SAUs) with multiple attendance areas maintain comparability of local/state resources between the Title I schools and the non-Title I schools; or if all the schools at a grade span are Title I schools, comparability of local resources must be maintained among the Title I schools. The list of SAUs required to submit a Comparability Report is noted at the end of this announcement. If your SAU is not listed below, you can disregard this notice.

The ESEA Title I FY18 Comparability Report is ready to be completed and submitted to the Maine Department of Education by January 22, 2018. The FY18 Title IA Comparability Report in both Word and Excel formats; additional resources including a PowerPoint presentation and completed sample reports can be located on the ESEA web site at http://www.maine.gov/doe/title-IA/forms/index.html. The NEO DC & R module has been updated for those SAUs required to complete the Comparability report.

Questions regarding ESEA Title I Comparability Report can be directed to Jackie Godbout, Title IA Consultant, at 624-6712, jackie.godbout@maine.gov or Janette Kirk, Title IA Director, at 624-6707, janette.kirk@maine.gov.

FY18 School Administrative Units Required To Complete a Comparability Report

Those SAUs with an asterisk (*) must attach their teacher count and student enrollment source documents used to complete the FY18 Title IA Comparability Report.

Auburn *

Augusta

Bangor *

Gorham *

Lewiston

Portland *

Sanford

Scarborough *

South Portland

Westbrook *

RSU 1

RSU 2 *

RSU 3/MSAD 3

RSU 4 *

RSU 5

RSU 6/MSAD 6 *

RSU 9

RSU 10 *

RSU 11/MSAD 11

RSU 12 *

RSU 13

RSU 14 *

RSU 15/MSAD 15

RSU 16 *

RSU 17/MSAD 17

RSU 18 *

RSU 19

RSU 21

RSU 22/MSAD 22 *

RSU 24 *

RSU 34

RSU 35/MSAD 35 *

RSU 37/MSAD 37

RSU 38 *

RSU 39

RSU 40/MSAD 40 *

RSU 41/MSAD 41

RSU 49/MSAD 49 *

RSU 50

RSU 52/MSAD 52 *

RSU 54/MSAD 54

RSU 57/MSAD 57

RSU 58/MSAD 58 *

RSU 60/MSAD 60 *

RSU 61/MSAD 61

RSU 72/MSAD 72 *

RSU 71 *

RSU 75/MSAD 75 *

RSU 79/MSAD 1

Department receives 23 Part I applications for Regional Service Centers

The Department received Part I Applications from 23 proposed regional service centers by the November 30 deadline. The proposals include 102 discrete school administrative units from across the state, with all but one with an operational date of July 1, 2018.

The Department will be reviewing applications through the month of December and further guidance will be forthcoming.

Department supported facilitators are still available for those working on a regionalization project with a later start date and can be requested through the EMBRACE Regionalization Information Center.

As a reminder, proposals for the Fund for the Efficient Delivery of Educational Services (FEDES) grant are due by December 19. More information about the FEDES grant can be found on the State of Maine Request for Proposals (RFPs) webpage.

For more information about regionalization opportunities including Regional Service Centers visit the EMBRACE Regionalization Information Center or contact Jennifer Pooler at Jennifer.G.Pooler@maine.gov.

Graduation and Dropout Reporting dates further delayed

**This Dispatch was posted in a previous Priority Notice, found here: https://mainedoenews.wordpress.com/2017/12/01/prioirty-notice-two-important-updates-reporting-delay-and-urgent-title-v-eligibility-verification/

On November 20^th the Department issued a notice announcing that the due date for Graduation and Dropout Reporting was extended to December 21^st. The Department has just learned that the data needed prior to launching the updated Graduation and Dropout reporting module in NEO is not yet available. The NEO module went through an update to fulfill federal reporting regulations and the Department is not willing to launch the updated module before running test scenarios to ensure product quality.

The Department hopes to learn early next week when the data will be available. The Department has notified the federal government of this delay and will issue a new reporting timeline when information is confirmed.

The Department is aware of the angst that this second delay may cause. We assure you our teams are doing everything in our power to get efficient and accurate data systems operative and available for district reporting.

For further questions contact the Maine DOE Helpdesk. Further updates will be forthcoming through the Maine DOE Newsroom.

Urgent Title V eligibility verification

To align the Title V (Rural Education Achievement Program -REAP) Grant timeline to other Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Federal Programs, the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) has revised data collection and submission dates with a more aggressive timeline. This revision will allow Title V (REAP) Federal funds to be awarded to states on July 1 of each program year.

Each individual school district must verify their data and contact Daniel Weeks (Daniel.R.Weeks@maine.gov), Title V Coordinator of any inaccurate data by December 6^th.

Several districts have yet to provide complete Average Daily Attendance (ADA) data. These gaps directly affect funding for ALL Title V grants (Small Rural Schools Achievement (SRSA) and the Rural Low-Income Schools (RLIS)). Please review your data carefully.

We realize that the turnaround time is very limited, and for that we apologize. Initial communication from the USDOE was received on November 21, 2017, which provided Maine DOE minimal time to collect and compile the necessary information into a single tangible spreadsheet. This spreadsheet must now be reviewed by school districts for accuracy. Each individual school district must verify their data and contact Daniel Weeks (Daniel.R.Weeks@maine.gov), Title V Coordinator of any inaccuracies by December 6^th.

The data to be reviewed can be located here: http://www.maine.gov/doe/rural/

Please verify the following data elements:

Column M (Average Daily Attendance)
Column Q (Alternate Poverty Data for districts with a population of less than 20,000)
Column S (FY17 Title II A Award)
Column T (FY17 Title IV A Award)

Please note:

Column M (ADA) directly affects funding for ALL Title V grants (SRSA and the RLIS).

Column Q (Alt. Poverty Data) directly affects eligibility and funding for the RLIS Grant.

Column S & T (Title IIA and IVA Awards) directly affect funding for the SRSA Grant.

For further questions or concerns please contact Daniel Weeks, Title V Coordinator at (207) 624-6749 or Daniel.R.Weeks@maine.gov.

MEDIA RELEASE: Maine DOE partnering in national study to evaluate the effectiveness of anti-bullying law in Maine

The Maine Department of Education (DOE) and the Maine Center for Disease Control are taking part in a study to evaluate the efficacy and implementation of anti-bullying laws in partnership with the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health and with Columbia University, the University of Iowa and Temple University.

The study will evaluate the effectiveness of anti-bullying laws passed in the United States since 1999. In addition, researchers will study how the anti-bullying law is being implemented in the state of Maine to inform anti-bullying legislation that could affect educators, state and local agencies, legislators and students and families.

“This valuable partnership will help to ensure that Maine’s anti-bullying law is effective in promoting the safety of Maine’s students,” said Robert G. Hasson, Jr., Ed.D., Maine DOE Commissioner

In 2013, Maine passed a comprehensive anti-bullying law with new requirements for schools, including the implementation of a bullying incident-reporting system. Maine is one of only four states that require the state DOE to provide a model policy to schools. To maximize the effectiveness of this provision, Maine’s DOE will grant researchers a unique opportunity to conduct surveys with school administrators and school counselors across the state to learn how schools are adopting the state’s model policies and whether these implementation factors affect youth violence outcomes.

To understand both the challenges and the successes in bullying prevention, researchers want to hear the viewpoints of all types of school districts and staff with various levels of experience. Six schools representing rural and urban communities in Maine have been selected to participate in this opportunity. Confidential interviews will take place with a superintendent, principal and school counselor in charge of anti-bullying activities at each school (a total of 18 interviews). The information that the selected school leaders and staff share in the study will help identify supports needed for all schools.

The study group will use the results of the conversations, which will be kept confidential, to form an online survey that will be administered to all Maine schools in the spring of 2018 and the spring of 2019. Results will also be summarized in a research report that will be available to the public.

For more information contact Rachel Paling, Maine DOE Director of Communications at Rachel.paling@maine.gov or (207) 624-6747.

Nominations Now Open for Maine History Teacher of the Year

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History is seeking nominations for the Maine History Teacher of the Year.

State History Teachers of the Year receive $1,000, an archive of materials for their school’s library, and an invitation to attend a 2019 Gilder Lehrman Teacher Seminar.

The deadline for 2018 nominations is March 31, 2018.

Check out the informational flyer or the Gilder Lehrman website for more information.

Winter holidays in the classroom

The following information has been put together with the support of the Council of State Social Studies Specialists (CS4) to help educators who are planning to include seasonal holiday activities in their classrooms and at their schools.

Before planning, think about the following questions compiled from teachhub.com, educateiowa.gov, the First Amendment Center, and Teaching Tolerance:

Is this activity designed in any way to promote or inhibit religion?
How does this activity serve the academic goals of the course, or the educational mission of the school?
Will any student or parent be made to feel like an outsider, not a full member of your classroom community, by this activity?
If in December, are there plans to teach about religious holidays at other times of the year or do we only teach about holidays in December?
Are your planned activities centered around only one winter holiday?
Are you prepared to teach about the religious meaning and significance of this holiday in a way that enriches all of your students’ understanding about history and culture?
Is the activity you planned show tolerance for all religions or is it focusing on one main religion?
Is a celebration a Christmas party or a winter party? The latter is okay.
Are you displaying holiday decorations with a religious theme?

Additional resources for teaching about holidays:

For more information contact Joe Schmidt, Maine DOE Social Studies Specialist at (207) 624-6828 or joe.schmidt@maine.gov

PRIORITY NOTICE: Two important updates; reporting delay and urgent Title V eligibility verification

The following priority notice contains two important notices for districts.

1. Urgent Title V eligibility verification

Each individual school district must verify their data and contact Daniel Weeks (Daniel.R.Weeks@maine.gov), Title V Coordinator of any inaccurate data by December 6^th.

The data to be reviewed can be located here: http://www.maine.gov/doe/rural/

Please verify the following data elements:

Column M (Average Daily Attendance)
Column Q (Alternate Poverty Data for districts with a population of less than 20,000)
Column S (FY17 Title II A Award)
Column T (FY17 Title IV A Award)

Please note:

Column M (ADA) directly affects funding for ALL Title V grants (SRSA and the RLIS).

Column Q (Alt. Poverty Data) directly affects eligibility and funding for the RLIS Grant.

Column S & T (Title IIA and IVA Awards) directly affect funding for the SRSA Grant.

For further questions or concerns please contact Daniel Weeks, Title V Coordinator at (207) 624-6749 or Daniel.R.Weeks@maine.gov.

2. Graduation and Dropout Reporting dates further delayed

For further questions contact the Maine DOE Helpdesk. Further updates will be forthcoming through the Maine DOE Newsroom.

Priority Notice: Maine DOE seeks assessment waiver

The following notice was sent to Superintendents, District Assessment Coordinators and Special Education Directors on November 30, 2017.

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), limits the percentage of students assessed using an alternate assessment to no more than one percent (1%) of the total number of students assessed in the state.

The Maine DOE and Maine’s special education directors have steadily been working toward this goal through trainings about criteria and reviews of student data. As a result, Maine’s percentage of tested students who participate in the alternate assessment is steadily decreasing. However, in 2016-17, the percentage remains greater than 1%. While we are working to meet the 1% statewide limit on the 2017-18 test administration, we are not certain that we will reach that target.

Therefore, the Maine DOE will request a waiver from the U.S. Department of Education from the requirements of 34 C.F.R. §200.6(c)(4), that limit the allowable percentage to no more than 1%. The waiver request will provide: (1) data regarding progress toward the 1% expectation, (2) documentation of our increased efforts in implementing the guidance criteria, and (3) justification for Maine’s current alternate participation rate.

The Proposed USED 1% Waiver request is now available for review and public comment. Individuals and organizations may submit written comments on the proposed waiver request pursuant to 34 C.F.R.§200.6(c)(4) through December 14, 2017.

Questions and/or comments may be directed to Charlene Tucker, Director of Assessment, at charlene.tucker@maine.gov.