Urgent Title V eligibility verification

**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/

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

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.

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.

School Meal Benefits

The School Lunch Program can help families that are struggling financially with their food costs. Households can apply anytime throughout the school year for meal benefits that are offered by school districts. A family may apply for any reason: a change in employment, household size, gaining guardianship of a child or simply applying for the first time.

In accordance with federal regulations, schools must provide hard copies of application materials to families, electronic availability can be offered as well. (7 CFR §245.6(a) General requirements-content of application and descriptive materials., 7 CFR §245.6(a)(3) Electronic availability)

USDA Federal regulations require that information obtained from families must be held in strict confidence. If the student’s eligibility status is released to staff, the district will receive penalties for breaking the family’s confidence.

Your Food Service Director with administrative support, may want to send information home regarding the program to encourage families to apply for meal benefits, which will in turn increase the district’s free and reduced percentages. Districts have realized some success in application returns by including a self-addressed envelope to the Food Service Director.

Students who are eligible for free or reduced price meals at the end of the school year will remain eligible for the first 30 operating days of the next school year (typically mid-October.)

For more information, please call Child Nutrition Director, Walter Beesley at 624-6875 or email walter.beesley@maine.gov.

Free Professional Development Webinar: Overview & Preparation Tips for the NextGen Accuplacer

Reach Higher Maine has developed this series of free webinars designed to help support school counselors in their work exposing students to career and college opportunities.

Each webinar is recorded and posted to our Google Classroom (join code 1bs991n) and available to counselors as an alternative professional development session for use during In Service Days at their school. The Google Classroom also hosts handouts from sessions, a discussion forum and a way to request a certificate of completion to use for continuing education credit. Note: You will need to be logged into a Google email (@gmail.com) account to get access to the Google Classroom.

December’s Webinar: Overview & Preparation Tips for the NextGen Accuplacer

When: December 15^th at 1:00 PM (recording will post to Google Classroom within 1 week after live session)

Description: The Accuplacer has long been a viable testing alternative for many Maine students. The College Board has revised its entire suite of assessments, and the NextGen test will be here in Maine soon. This webinar will be a practical and succinct overview of NextGen and a discussion of how school counselors can prepare for these changes. We will also address how the colleges plan to help schools who used to have their own Accuplacer licenses test students and how the community colleges’ admission and placement policies will be shifting towards a statewide multiple measures approach.

Presenter: Mercedes Pour, State Director, Early College for ME, Maine Community College System

Upcoming webinars include: Second Semester Seniors, Summer Options for Career & College, as well as Helping Career Bound Seniors

For more information please contact Reach Higher Maine at ReachHigherMaine@gmail.com

Regional school calendars due by May 4

School administrative units and private schools approved for tuition purposes are expected to establish regional school calendars, in coordination with their local secondary career and technical education school, by May 4, 2018.

The Legislature enacted that requirement as part of Public Law 2011, Chapter 686, which expands access to career and technical education in Maine and ensures that students completing career and technical education (CTE) coursework have greater access to post-secondary opportunities. Specifically, the law addresses scheduling conflicts that pose barriers to students by requiring that those school districts and private schools approved for tuition purposes that share a CTE school adopt a regional school calendar with no more than five dissimilar days. Implementation of the law is intended to promote collaboration among local school administrative units that may benefit other forms of inter-administrative unit collaboration beyond CTE. The law became effective Aug. 30, 2012, and establishing the regional calendar is a condition for eligibility for state subsidy.

For 2018-19, both regional school calendars and individual calendars for each school administrative unit must be submitted by the director of the local CTE Center/Region to the Department of Education no later than May 4 for a decision on approval by June 8. Guidance and templates can be accessed electronically at www.maine.gov/doe/regionalcalendar/.

Given the coordination required for fulfillment of this law, the Maine DOE recommends that school districts initiate discussions as soon as possible, including representatives from all affected secondary schools and their associated career and technical education center or region.

For more information including guidance, templates, a waiver process and a link to the complete law, please visit www.maine.gov/doe/regionalcalendar/ or contact Doug Robertson (doug.robertson@maine.gov) at 624-6744 or Margaret Harvey (margaret.harvey@maine.gov) at 624-6739.

PRIORITY NOTICE: Proposed changes for Certification and PEPG Rules; Hearings on Dec. 27

As part of the Maine Department of Education’s efforts to streamline certification processes for Maine educators; align certification rules with current statute; and ensure that new and conditionally certified teachers have access to high quality peer support, the Department is proposing revisions to Rule Chapter 180: Performance Evaluation and Professional Growth Systems, revisions Rule Chapter 115: Certification Authorization and Approval of Educational Personnel; and repeal of Chapter 118: Purposes, Standards and Procedures for Educational Personnel Support Systems.

Find the details for proposed changes for Rule Chapters 115, 118, and 180 on the Maine DOE Website. Provided below are hearing dates, details about the comment period and highlights about the proposed changes.

Hearing for Rule Chapters 115 and 118:
December 27, 2017 from 12:00 – 2:00 PM.
Room 103 A and B in the Cross State Office Building, 111 Sewall Street, Augusta, Maine
Comment periods:
Chapter 115 Proposed Section 14: November 17, 2017 – December 18, 2017
Full revisions for Chapter 115 and Rule Chapter 118: December 6, 2017 – January 18, 2018

Hearing for Rule Chapter 180:
December 27, 2017 from 2:00 – 3:00 PM.
Room 103 A and B in the Cross State Office Building, 111 Sewall Street, Augusta, Maine
Comment period:
Rule Chapter 180: December 6, 2017 – January 18, 2018.

Comments can be submitted to Jaci Holmes at jaci.holmes@maine.gov

Highlights:

Chapter 180
Some of the more significant changes are contained in a new Section (11): Peer Support and Feedback, and accomplish the following:

Retain a peer level of peer support and feedback for all teachers and principals.
Establish a mentor/coach component for all newly hired and conditionally certified teachers.
Differentiate peer support requirements to provide greater support for new and conditionally certified teachers.
Provide greater, more structured support for conditionally certified special education teachers.
Provide the SAU with flexibility in establishing mentor and coach qualifications as well as assigning mentors and coaches to better target educator needs.
Sharpen the line between peer support components and evaluation components

Chapter 115
The Department has updated the rules consistent with recent statutory changes and removed redundancy and unnecessary language. The format is being refined to be clear and concise. In brief, the following are some of the more significant changes:

Consolidates the number of credentials available to three: a clearance, a certificate, and a conditional certificate.
Eliminates Rule Chapter 118: Education Personnel Support System. Rather than having two different support systems under two different rules, there will just be one under Rule Chapter 180. Also, some aspects of Rule Chapter 118 will be merged into Rule Chapter 115.
Creates a pathway to become a teacher based on work experience. A person will be able to use work experience to address knowledge areas that are required for an endorsement.
Refines and reformats the rule to be more logical and sequential. There has been confusion about sections of the rule and this should help to make it more clear and efficient.
Part I will be repealed and replaced, Part II will be revised in legislative format

Chapter 115 (Regarding Administrative Hold)
This rule creates a category within Section 14 of Chapter 115, Part I for Administrative Hold. The agency proposed rule would require all credential holders to provide the Department with an address at which the Department may contact them with respect to their credential. An administrative hold will be used in cases where information about certified individuals comes to the attention of the Department and the Department contacts the credential holder at the address on file and receives no response. In those situations, the Department will place the credential on administrative hold until such time as the holder responds. Emergency Rulemaking for Chapter 115 (Regarding Administrative Hold) went into effect November 20, 2017.