PRIORITY NOTICE: New certification system set to open for pilot schools and admins on 10/30

The Maine DOE’s new online certification system, Maine Certification Information System (MCIS), is scheduled for a soft release to staff and educators at pilot schools, and will be available to administrators, and local support system chair people statewide on Monday, October 30th. MCIS is targeted to be available to all educators and the general public by mid-November.

MCIS will completely replace the Maine DOE’s current paper certification application system. Highlights include a simple account creation process, electronic notifications about actionable items for both educators and administrators, and the ability to pay fees online.

The certification office will be closed to educators from 10/16/2017 – 10/27/2017. The office will re-open on Monday, October 30^th with MCIS fully operational for all staff at pilot schools, and to administrators, and local support system chair people statewide.

As a reminder, once MCIS is in place, educators and administrators will need to create an account in order to use the system. The Maine DOE’s Certification team will be sending out individual notices to the email addresses that are on file in the NEO staff system to initiate this process. Additional training and guidance will be forthcoming.

For more information contact Ángel Martínez Loredo at 207-624-6603 or email cert.doe@maine.gov.

Additional support for regionalization now available

Earlier this week seven educators participated in the Maine DOE’s orientation and training session to become approved facilitators and consultants for the Department’s EMBRACE regionalization initiatives. The Department is providing regional groups of school administrative units (SAUs) with up to $7,500 in funding for facilitation services delivered by individuals who have met these training expectations.

The facilitators are available by request to provide technical assistance and guidance to regional groups of SAUs during the process of planning and developing regionalization project proposals under the Fund for the Efficient Delivery of Educational Services (FEDES) Request for Proposal (RFP # 201708145) or to plan the formation of a Regional Service Center, pursuant to MRSA Title 20-A, chapter 123: School Management and Leadership Centers.

The roster of approved facilitators can be found on the EMBRACE Regionalization Information Center. You may request a facilitator by contacting Maine DOE’s Regionalization Project Manager, Jennifer Pooler at jennifer.g.pooler@maine.gov.

Also in support of the EMBRACE initiatives, the Department hosted an online/telephone Informational Session on the FEDES RFP this week. More than 50 participants asked a wide range of questions during the 45-minute session. Those questions and our responses are being transcribed and will be available early next week on the State of Maine’s Division of Purchases website. You may also download the FEDES RFP (# 201708145) from that website.

The Department is anticipating the release of the Regional Service Center Application Part I, Application Part II, and the accompanying Guidance document by early next week. School district administrators will be notified by Priority Notice when these resources are available.

Initial Audit Report to the Commissioner Due November 1st

Statements of assurance and the Maine Education Financial Systems (MEFS) Financial reconciliations, as required by Title 20-A MRSA 6051 §4, are due by November 1^st. Any adjustments identified by these reconciliations should be submitted to Maine Education Financial System by November 30^th.

Annual audits are due December 30, 2017

The Department requests all annual audits, requests, and correspondence be submitted electronically by email to DOE.Audit@Maine.gov or by the direct link on the audit website www.maine.gov/education/audit.

20-A MRSA §6051 (6) states that annual audit reports are due within six months after the end of the audit period; e.g., reports for the fiscal year ending June 30 are due on or before December 30.

Per 20-A MRSA §6051 (1-K), Maine DOE must receive a SEFA (Schedule of Expenditure of Federal Awards), which includes federal award expenditures for all reporting entities, regardless if an A-133 audit is not required to be conducted. The SEFA provides information needed by MDOE to conduct sub-recipient monitoring as required by US DOE and is due at the time of the annual audit. In municipal school units where a combined audit is not conducted, this means that MDOE receives a SEFA for the School Department and the city/town.

If a management letter is prepared by the auditor, a copy should be submitted to MDOE with the annual audit as this letter provides MDOE with information needed to conduct sub-recipient monitoring as required by US DOE. Authority to request this is provided to MDOE under 20-A MRSA §6051 (1-F).

20-A MRSA §6051 (1) states that it is the school board’s responsibility to submit the audit unless it is included in the engagement letter that the audit firm will submit the audit to the Department on behalf of the school board.

The auditor shall review the audit with the school board as required under 20-A MRSA §6051 (3).

It is the Superintendents responsibility to request extensions/exceptions. The forms are available online at www.maine.gov/education/audit.

Town Reports from Municipalities are not required, and are kindly requested, to withhold from submitting to the Department. The municipal annual report cannot be accepted in lieu of the complete municipal annual audit. Municipal school units are required to submit either a combined annual audit or a school department audit and a municipal audit to the Department

State and Federal Requirements:

State Requirements

20-A MRSA §6051
Title 20-a: education, part 3: elementary and secondary education, Chapter 221: school records, audits and reports, Subchapter 2: audits

Federal Requirements

2 CFR 200.501 Audit Requirements

(a) Audit required. A non-Federal entity that expends $750,000 or more during the non-Federal entity’s fiscal year in Federal awards must have a single or program-specific audit conducted for that year in accordance with the provisions of this Part.

For more information please contact Stephanie J. Clark Fiscal Compliance Associate School Finance & Operations for the Department of Education at 207-624-6807 or Stephanie.Clark@maine.gov.

Information regarding special education teachers in NEO and certification

The Maine Department of Education’s Office of Special Services would like to request Directors of Special Education and other school personnel to check the information in the Department’s data system, NEO, to ensure that special education teachers are correctly coded in the system. Please check to see that:

There are no missing codes.
The coding for each teacher is correct.
Teachers who were granted a one-year extension for certificates expiring on July 1, 2017 per Commissioner Hasson’s priority notice dated May 5, 2017 should not be coded as having a waiver.
Special education teachers who teach children with a number of disabilities should not be coded as teachers of children with Multiple Disabilities unless the students are coded with that disability.
Educational technicians should not be coded as special education teachers or teachers.

This is an important correction for SAUs to make since we are trying to determine capacity needed to address the alternate pathways requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) and Maine’s newly revised certification rule, Chapter 115 which became effective on August 12, 2017.

Log in processes to NEO can be found at the following link: https://neo.maine.gov/DOE/NEO/Accounts/Account/Login?ReturnUrl=%2fDOE%2fneo%2fAccounts%2fHome%2fHome.

For questions about logging into NEO, contact the Maine DOE Help Desk at MEDMS.Helpdesk@maine.gov or 207-624-6896.

Fostering Artful Early Childhood Classrooms

The Maine Department of Education invites you to be part of an exciting professional development opportunity, “Fostering Artful Early Childhood Classrooms”. Early Childhood Specialist, Sue Reed and Visual and Performing Arts Specialist, Beth Lambert are looking for teachers who want to energize their teaching and learning through focusing on art in the public preschool classroom. Applicants must apply in teams of two: one Public Preschool teacher and one Visual Art teacher from the same district. The Visual Arts teacher must currently teach at the elementary level.

Under the expertise of Early Childhood facilitator, Terri Petnov, and Early Childhood Arts facilitator, Judy Fricke, teams will work on building a collaborative partnership to ensure that preschool students receive an artful learning experience. Public preschool teachers will learn the research as to why art is important in a preschool classroom and how it encompasses Maine’s Early Learning and Development Standards and how to include art into their daily routines. Visual Art teachers will learn developmentally appropriate pedagogical approaches to teaching art to our youngest learners. As a culmination of their work, participants will create a presentation to share with their school community.

The training is free and each team selected will receive $500 worth of equipment and supplies for their classroom. These training will be offer in three regions of the state on the following dates:

Northern cohort at the University of Maine, Presque Isle campus (Nov. 17^th, Feb. 15^th, April 12^th)
Central cohort at Educare in Waterville (Nov. 7^th, Feb. 6^th, April 3^rd)
Southern cohort at Southern Maine Community College ( 3^rd, February 9^th, April 6^th)

If you are interested in participating fill out an application using the links listed above. Only one application is necessary per team. If you have any questions contact Visual and Performing Arts Specialist, Beth Lambert or Early Childhood Specialist, Sue Reed.

MEDIA RELEASE: Maine students improve on state assessments

The Maine Department of Education is pleased to release the 2016-17 Maine Education Assessment (MEA) results in the content areas of mathematics, English language arts (ELA)/literacy, and science. In all content areas, performance has improved or remained stable.

“I am encouraged with how well our students are performing. In 2016-17, students were assessed for the third time on the rigorous standards Maine adopted in 2011 and while participation rates remained high, students showed consistent improvement,” said Robert G. Hasson, Jr., Maine Department of Education Commissioner. “This is a true testament to the hard work and determination of our students and their teachers.”

With two years of data from the same assessments, this is the first opportunity since 2013 that the State has been able to compare results over two years in mathematics and ELA/literacy. Results are very encouraging.

Highlights include:

In ELA/Literacy 52.58% of Maine students scored at or above state expectations – a notable improvement over 50.58% in 2015-16.
In Mathematics 38.54% of Maine students scored at or above state expectations – a slight improvement over 38.31% in 2015-16.
In Science 61.07% of Maine students scored at or above state expectations – a slight improvement over 60.97% in 2015-16.

The number of students exempted from the state assessment due to special considerations (e.g., serious medical condition) was reduced by about half from 2015-16 to 2016-17.
Participation rates in all subjects were greater than 95%.

The public results can be viewed by school or district and by subgroups, including grade level groups, in the MAARS Public Reports system.

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Maine DOE to release 2016-17 Maine Educational Assessment (MEA) results on 9/25

The Maine Department of Education will release the 2016-17 MEA results on Monday, September 25, 2017, within the Maine Assessment and Accountability Reporting System (MAARS) Public Portal

Users will be able to see both 2015-16 data and 2016-17 data in the content areas of: (1) mathematics; (2) English language arts (ELA)/literacy; and (3) science. In all content areas, the assessments have remained stable, and results can be compared across those two years. This is the first opportunity since 2013 to compare results over two years in mathematics and ELA/literacy.

Mathematics and ELA/literacy results are based on the following assessments:

eMPowerME for most students in grades 3-8
SAT for most students in 3^rd year high school
MSAA for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities in grades 3-8, and 3^rd year high school

Science results are based on the following assessments:

MEA Science for students in grades 5 and 8, and 3^rd year high school
PAAP for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities in grades 5 and 8, and 3^rd year high school

MAARS Public Reports of assessment results are presented in two ways:

QUICK REPORTS (default) show high level participation and performance data for schools, districts, and the state.
INTERACTIVE REPORTS (click Interactive in the upper left corner) allow users to make specific comparisons across years, subgroups, selected schools or districts.

For more information, please contact charlene.tucker@maine.gov or varun.motay@maine.gov.

Maine DOE to release 2016/17 ESEA Report Cards on 9/25

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires all states to provide an annual report card to inform stakeholders about the progress of students and schools on indicators of student achievement, graduation rates, status of ESEA accountability and information on fully certified teachers – information that is related to student success.

This report card also displays statewide academic achievement results in grades four and eight on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading and mathematics assessments, as well as the participation rates for students with disabilities and limited English proficiency on the NAEP exam.

The Department of Education continues to support school districts in providing this annual report card to its stakeholders. The 2016-17 ESEA report is for informational purposes only. It had no impact on school accountability status. Title I Accountability status for 2016-17 remained the same as determined based on the 2013-14 school year data. As part of Maine’s submitted ESSA plan approved U.S. Department of Education a new accountability system will be implemented beginning with school year 2018-19.

ESEA report cards will be available in the Maine Assessment and Accountability Reporting System (MAARS) on Monday, September 25, 2017.

In order to expeditiously retrieve pertinent school level ESEA Report Cards for 2016-17, the Maine DOE recommends using the “School” tab to select to download the excel spreadsheet. After locating the applicable school, the ESEA Report Card can be found in the final column. To access the district level ESEA Report Card, select the “District” tab to download the excel spreadsheet. After locating the applicable district, the ESEA Report Card can be found in the final column. Please note, spring 2016 assessment data is used to populate the 2016-17 ESEA Report Card.

Further questions regarding the 2016-2017 NCLB Report Cards should be directed to ESEA Federal Programs and Title I Director Janette Kirk at janette.kirk@maine.gov or call 624-6707 or connect with Director of Assessment and Accountability Charlene Tucker at charlene.tucker@maine.gov or call 624-6827.

Update on launch of Synergy State Edition Student System and access for school administrative units

Progress is continuing toward the full release of Synergy as Department staff have successfully uploaded and created thousands of student IDs. The next phase in the process will begin on Friday morning, September 22, when the Department will begin a “soft roll out”. This process will have a select group of school administrative units testing the process and providing feedback for improvements, to ensure a smoother upload process for all units. Also, a Synergy developer is on site to assist the Department with issues that arise. The Department’s goal is to make available full access for all superintendents and data specialists, as listed in NEO, on Monday, September 25. Access for other requested personnel follow within a few working days. At this time, the upload capability encompasses: New Student IDs, Student Enrollment and Student Personal. Other upload capabilities will be available in the following days and weeks.

The Department fully anticipates that the system will be ready for the October 1 EPS reports that are required to be certified by October 30.

As a result of the delay in getting data into Synergy, the Department will not be requiring all Quarter 1 reports to be submitted or certified and these reports from the DC&R calendar. Additionally, the “Tips and Trick Web session” will be postponed until the system is fully functional. Additional updates on this will be posted via the Commissioner’s Update and noted on the Department’s professional development calendar.

Please continue to check the Maine DOE Newsroom communications via the Maine DOE Update for further communications. Thank you for your patience. If you have questions or we can be of assistance, please contact the helpdesk at (207) 624-6896, medms.helpdesk@maine.gov or Shannon Bartash, helpdesk manager at (207) 624-6799, shannon.bartash@maine.gov

Update about revisions to Rule Chapter 232, expansion of CTE to middle school

Public Law Chapter 171, “An Act To Enable Earlier Introduction of Career and Technical Education in Maine Schools,” was enacted in June to expand career and technical education opportunities by requiring Maine schools to provide access to developmentally-appropriate career and technical education for middle school students (grades 6-8). The expansion of Career and Technical Education (CTE) to middle school builds on a long history of providing high-quality and industry-relevant CTE to students in high school grades 9-12.

Revision of Department of Education Rule Chapter 232, currently underway in accordance with the Administrative Procedures Act (APA) process, will provide a framework to develop and implement middle school career and technical education.

CTE centers and regions will collaborate with all schools serving students in grades 6-8 to provide CTE experiences and will be active partners in how these programs are structured and offered in the best interests of middle school students.

The Department is developing a funding plan for 2018-19 to present to the Legislature designed to ensure adequate resources for this expansion.

Once the proposed rules are adopted and the Legislature has taken action on funding, a timeline for implementation, including program approval and funding, will be made available. Schools will not be required to offer CTE for middle school students in the 2017-2018 school year but they are free to do so if they choose.

Questions may be directed to Margaret Harvey, State Director of Career and Technical Education, at 624-6739 or at Margaret.harvey@maine.gov.