Due Date for Graduation and Dropout Reporting Extended to 12/21

The Department of Education has extended the due date for the Graduation and Dropout report to December 21, 2017.

Districts will gain access to the graduation module in NEO on December 4, 2017 and will have access to complete Graduation and Dropout report through December 21, 2017. Please note that 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 for completing this report:

The reports can be accessed through DC & R or through NEO directly.

As a reminder, along with the attending district reporting requirements there are now responsible district reporting requirements as well.
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 624-6897.

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

Maine DOE joins the nation in celebration of “American Education Week”

In a Presidential Memoranda from The White House on Friday, November 10th President Donald Trump proclaimed November 12 – November 18, 2017 as American Education week.

“As we celebrate American Education Week, we are reminded of the vital importance of education for our children, for our communities, and for our world.”

The Maine Department of Education joins The White House and education communities around the nation to recognize and celebrate the hard work and determination of Maine students, their families, educators and schools as they strive for achievement and success.

See the full proclamation on The White House website.

2017 Maine Integrated Youth health Survey Data

The 2017 MIYHS data has just been released. State and public health district data is available to the public for the 5^th and 6^th grade survey, as well as the middle and high school surveys. Kindergarten and third grade parent survey data is available at the State level. Go to MIYHS website: https://data.mainepublichealth.gov/miyhs/2017_reports_results

Over 61,000 students from 300+ schools participated in this past survey. MIYHS is administered as a collaborative project involving Maine DOE and Maine DHHS in February of every odd year to gauge the health and health habits of Maine public school students in grades kindergarten through grade 12. Many thanks to the superintendents and principals who have chosen to participate in this biennial survey over the years!

2017 State level Snapshots for K/3, 5/6, Middle School and High School are available by clicking: https://data.mainepublichealth.gov/miyhs/2017Snapshots

For more information contact Maine Department of Education Health and Physical Education Consultant, Jean Zimmerman at Jean.zimmerman@maine.gov or (207) 624-6687.

Tutoring for students who receive special education

The Maine Department of Education’s Office of Special Education would like to remind special educators about the provision of specially designed instruction on IEPs.

When students are out of school because of discipline, an abbreviated school day, or medical reasons, tutoring may be provided as a short-term measure to ensure that students receive instruction. Tutoring is not specially designed instruction.

Schools should make every effort, including re-entry plans and proposals for definitive placements, to ensure that students with disabilities are enrolled and attending school. The IEP must be revised to add tutorial instruction.

For more information view Maine Unified Special Education Regulation (MUSER) or contact Maine Department of Special Services Director, Jan Breton at Janice.breton@maine.gov . (207) 624-6676.

Maine DOE provides complimentary 2017-18 law books to Superintendents

The Maine DOE acquired enough copies of the Maine Education and School Statutes 2017-2018 Edition law book from the publisher, Swan Island Press, to distribute one at no charge to each Superintendent of Schools in Maine.

The law books are in the mail and should be received soon. To purchase additional copies of this law book directly from Swan Island Press please complete the order form that was inserted with the book or contact Aaron Chase of Swan Island Press at info@swanislandpress.me.

Maine MIC3 Council Meeting

The next meeting of the Commission on Educational Opportunity for Military Children will be held on Thursday November 30 at 1:30 p.m. in Room 228 of the State House in Augusta.

All 50 states, plus the District of Columbia, belong to the Military Interstate Children’s Compact Commission (MIC3). Each state appoints a council to oversee the implementation of the Compact at the state level.

States that sign on to the Compact commit to doing what it takes to:

Enroll children of military families at their new schools as quickly and seamlessly as possible, even in the absence of normally required official records and immunizations; and
Ensure that students with parents in the Armed Forces stay on track to graduate on time, even when such students’ academic records don’t comply perfectly with local graduation requirements.

Meeting Agenda

More information about MIC3 is available at http://www.mic3.net/ or http://maine.gov/doe/special/military.html.

Contact: Tyler Backus, Military Education Liaison. 207-624-6635

Webinars planned for districts over 1% for alternate assessment

All districts above the 1% for alternate assessments will receive an Action Plan document to provide justifications on November 20th. Action Plans will be submitted to the State by December 10th.. Maine will provide an opportunity for Public Comment before the December 19th submission of a state waiver.

Two webinars will be available to aid districts over the 1% for alternate assessments in development of their action plan. Districts will be given the opportunity to choose a webinar on November 27th at 2:00 pm or November 30th at 3:00 pm.

As a reminder, Maine’s percentage of students that participate in the alternate assessments is currently above the 1% federal regulation. If data is not entered into the Synergy State Edition Student System by November 17th to allow the Department to determine anticipated participation for the 2018 test administration, the MAARS reporting information for the spring 2017 tests will be used to capture the information.

For more information contact Sue Nay at sue.nay@maine.gov or 624-6774.

New survey for identifying English learners

The Maine Department of Education (DOE) has developed a new survey called, Language Use Survey (formerly Home Language Survey) to be used in the identification of English learners. The Language Use Survey is to be administered to the parent/guardian of every student enrolling in a School Administrative Unit (SAU) for the first time and must be included in the SAU’s enrollment packet.

The Language Use Survey is available to download in English and 25 of Maine’s most commonly spoken languages from the Department website. It is also available via TransACT, a service provided through the Maine DOE to give districts access to ESSA-compliant parent notifications in English and other languages.

If you have additional questions regarding the Language Use Survey, please contact April Perkins, ESOL Specialist at april.perkins@maine.gov or office: (207)624-6627 cell: (207) 441-9043.

Maine’s 2017 Presidential Awards State Finalists for grades 7-12th Mathematics and Science Teachers

The Maine Department of Education is pleased to announce the Maine state selection committees for the 2017 Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST) program has selected as the state-level finalists for 7-12^th grade teachers of mathematics Ellen Payne from Nokomis Regional High School and Priya Natarajan from Casco Bay High for Expeditionary Learning School.

The state-level finalists for 7-12^th grade teachers of science are Sharon Gallant from Gardiner Area High School, Sara McQuarrie from Hodgdon Middle/High School, Bill McWeeny from Adams School, and Alyson Saunders from Dexter Regional High School.

All State-level finalists will be honored at state ceremonies this year.

Up to five state-level finalists for each content area are forwarded to a national selection committee composed of mathematics and/or science educators, researchers, district officials, and past awardees who will meet to select the PAEMST awardees at the national level. The teachers chosen to be Presidential Awardees will be notified by the White House, honored at various ceremonies in Washington, D.C., and will receive $10,000 from the National Science Foundation.

Join us in congratulating the 2017 PAEMST State Finalist and wishing them luck in the national selection process.

Nominations are now open for the 2018 PAEMST Awards. This year’s awards will honor mathematics and science (including computer science) teachers working in grades K-6. Nominations close on April 1, 2018 and applications are due by May 1, 2018. Nominate a teacher today!

If you have any questions about the PAEMST program feel free to contact:

Michele Mailhot – PAEMST Mathematics State Coordinator (michele.mailhot@maine.gov) or Shari Templeton – PAEMST Science State Coordinator (shari.templeton@maine.gov)

New feature added to assist Helpdesk communicate known issues and system updates

The Department has added a new knowledgebase feature designed to communicate known issues and updates pertaining to our data systems (NEO/Synergy). We hope this will provide those in need of help with a quick way to search and filter by issue or topic to find more information and possible resolutions.

The knowledgebase can be found on the Data Team Helpdesk page.

Column Heading Definitions:

Updates/Issues: Is this a known issue that has been reported or is it a system updates such as a code change, etc.

System: The Data System the issue is pertaining to such as NEO or Synergy.

Report/Upload: The name of the specific report or upload within the system.

Issue: Brief description of the actual issue reported or actual work done during the system update. Note: This field is hyperlinked and will display more information, including possible resolution, when clicked.

Description: This is a detailed description of the issue reported or work done during the system update.

Priority: Rating of Low, Medium, High or Completed.

Report to Helpdesk: If the issue is marked with a Yes in this column, please contact the Helpdesk to provide more information specific to your school or situation.

Last Updated: This is either the initial date the issue/update was entered or the last time information was updated for this specific record.

Please direct any questions to medms.helpdesk@maine.gov or (207) 624-6896.