Substantial Changes to the October EF-S-05 Special Education Child Count Parts I and II

EF-S-05 Part I, Special Education Child Count, Due Oct 31, 2017: As in previous years, Special Education Directors will be required to verify the Special Education Students for Federal Count between October 1 and October 15 and certify the accuracy of the report using the Special Education Federal Count Certification between October 16 and October 31. However, this year the federal count and certification will be in NEO. Additionally, SAUs will no longer send a copy of the certification form to DOE – the certification process will be electronic and will require certification by the Special Education Director and the Superintendent. The report will be located under the student data link within NEO. The Special Education Director and the Superintendent will certify the data for Special Education counts and the EPS counts on the same report. The refresh of the data, after the 15^th, will now be completed by the SAU’s data person, Special Education Director, or the Superintendent by clicking a refresh button. If you have trouble logging into NEO, contact the help desk at 207-624-6896. Instructions for the verification and completion of the EF-S-05 Part 1 and a link to the reports (link to NEO) will be posted in DC&R in the coming weeks.

EF-S-05 Part II, Special Education Personnel Employed, Contracted, and Needed: All teachers, staff, administrators, and contractors should be entered into NEO and verified as accurate by October 15. For special education teachers and related services personnel who serve students with disabilities, NEO contains a field in which the full time equivalency (FTE) of the special education position should be entered and a field to indicate whether a special education teacher is highly qualified and whether an education technician is qualified. Although the data should be entered into NEO and verified as accurate by October 15, certification of the EF-S-05 Part II will not occur in October. It will occur at a later date to be determined. An announcement of the due date and instructions for certifying the EF-S-05 Part II will be forthcoming.

For questions about the EF-S-05 Part I and II, contact Sheryl Banden at sheryl.banden@maine.gov or 207-624-6658 or Shawn Collier at shawn.collier@maine.gov or 207-624-6615. For questions about NEO, contact the Maine DOE Help Desk at MEDMS.Helpdesk@maine.gov or 207-624-6896. For EPS questions, contact Travis Wood at travis.wood@maine.gov or 207-624-6742.

Update on launch of Synergy and new student IDs

Progress is continuing toward the full release of Synergy and much work is being done behind the scenes. Although we are still not ready to release the full product, we do now have the ability to search for and generate new student IDs for districts. In the future, this will be a process done by individual districts but in the interest of time and the urgency of having IDs for students, the help desk will run the files for districts and return a file with the IDs.

To have IDs searched and generated,

Download the New State ID Request file.
Using either the extract provided by your SIS vendor, or creating your own file using the data available to you and the upload template, create a newstatestudentid csv file.
Request a secure email from the helpdesk medms.helpdesk@maine.gov .
Reply to the secure email attaching the file created in Step 2.
Helpdesk staff will process the file and return the student ID results to you via secure email.

Please continue to check the Maine DOE Newsroom communications via the Maine DOE Update for further communications. We appreciate your patience.

Maine DOE welcomes educators and students back to school

As many Maine schools welcome students back on campus and into the classroom over the coming weeks, the Maine Department of Education would like to wish every student and educator an exhilarating start to the 2017 – 2018 school year.

We hope the coming year is filled with new aspirations, fascinating challenges, and exciting learning.

For more information about how Maine DOE can support educators and students please visit the following links or contact the Department at (207) 624-6600.

Students: http://www.maine.gov/doe/students/

Teachers: http://www.maine.gov/doe/teachers/

Click here to sign up to receive Maine DOE news.

Public Preschool Funding 2018-19

The Maine State Legislature has provided start-up funding in FY19 state budget for public school districts to begin new or expand preschool classrooms.

The Maine Department of Education requires information from school districts anticipating starting new or expanding current public preschool programs in 2018-19. Expanded programs are those in SAUs that currently run approved public preschool(s) and want to add another classroom(s).

In order to be included in the state start-up preschool funding count, you must complete this survey NO LATER than Tuesday, October 31, 2017.

Please estimate high for anticipated preschool enrollment so that the Maine DOE may budget accordingly. Prek counts may not exceed district kindergarten enrollment as of October 1, 2017.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PreKStart-upFunds

This survey is only meant to capture the level of interest in accessing funding provided by the Legislature and does not guarantee funding.

For more information please contact Sue Reed at 624-6632 or susan.d.reed@maine.gov

Maine DOE Literacy Links newsletter is now available as a blog

As the dog days of summer come to an end and the new school year begins, we look forward to continuing what we have begun and making a few changes.

Perhaps one of the biggest changes for the Maine DOE English Language Arts (ELA) team is moving their newsletter, Literacy Links, from a static document to a blog format. We will still provide the same essential elements: a feature article, relative resources, suggestions for children’s and adolescent literature, as well as a link to news and events. The blog format allows for discussion to continue in the form of comments. It also gives us some flexibility in presentation as it is easier to embed video or other media.

Please check out the Literacy Links Blog at https://maineliteracylinks.wordpress.com/. You can still access the archives of all the past newsletters at this site as well.

Topics we will address this year include;

Text complexity: why it matters
Assessment: reading, evidence, complexity
Assessment: writing, evidence, language
Language standards and disciplinary literacy
Text Sets: why and how to use multiple texts

For further questions about Literacy Links please contact, Morgan Dunton English Language Arts Specialist morgan.dunton@maine.gov or Lee Anne Larsen Literacy Specialist leeann.larsen@maine.gov.

Workshops to support SAT

The Maine Department of Education and College Board are pleased to provide Maine educators with three opportunities to learn more about the updated SAT and tools available to inform instruction. College Board will present its annual Fall Counselor Workshop to share updates, tools, tips and resources to support students as they move along the college and career path.

Maine DOE and College Board will present half day workshops for administrators to explore tools that inform instruction and curriculum. Maine DOE and College Board will also present full day workshops for teachers to better understand SAT data, analysis tools, and instructional responses relative to implementing Maine’s ELA and math standards.

Annual Fall Counselor Workshops, Presented by the College Board

The College Board will present Annual Fall Counselor Workshop in five locations. These sessions will focus on enhancements to programs and changes to protocols in ordering and administering the SAT Suite of Assessments. Sessions begin at 8:30 and will end at 11:00.

Date	Site	City	Registration
Sept.12	University of Maine at Presque Isle	Presque Isle	UMPI
Sept. 13	University of Southern Maine	Portland	USM
Sept. 19	Husson University	Bangor	HUSSON
Sept. 20	University of Maine Farmington	Farmington	UMF
Sept. 26	Thomas College	Waterville	THOMAS

Do More With Your SAT Scores! Presented by The Maine Department of Education and College Board

Making meaning of assessment data is a critical component of providing support for teachers, for students, and for families. Perhaps the most powerful tool available to teachers is the Question Analysis tool. This digital tool includes every question on the annual common form and allows sorting by a variety of options. In this session, we will explore methods of making effective use of the College Board’s Assessment Reporting for K12 Educators. Sessions will begin at noon and end at 2:30. Please plan lunch on your own as lunch will not be provided.

You will need a user name and password for the K12 Score Reports portal at College Board.

(Please note that you must register even if you have already registered for the morning session)

Date	Site	City	Registration
Sept.12	University of Maine at Presque Isle	Presque Isle	UMPI
Sept. 13	University of Southern Maine	Portland	USM
Sept. 19	Husson University	Bangor	HUSSON
Sept. 26	Thomas College	Waterville	THOMAS

SAT: Standards, Instruction, and Responding to SAT Data

During full day workshops, teachers will take a deep dive into either ELA (Evidence-based Reading and Writing along with the essay) or math to better understand how the SAT measures our learning standards, how to use data from the SAT results to inform instruction, and what instructional moves reflect the deeper learning necessary to demonstrate achievement on the Updated SAT. Participants in this day-long workshop will learn about the updated SAT and how to use the system of supports to benefit student learning and teacher instructional strategies.

The ELA (ERW) session will include strategies for identifying instructional priorities based on data, a deeper understanding of the standards and how they are assessed, and an exploration of essay data and instructional strategies for on-demand writing.
The participants in the math session will identify common errors and misconceptions in student responses and will experience instructional strategies to support student learning.

Participants will have to register for either ELA or math sessions for the full day. Schools are encouraged to send teams consisting of content teacher leaders at grades 9/10 and 11/12 as well as a building administrator or curriculum coordinator.

Please note that you will have to enter each person separately.

Date	Site	City	Registration
10/17/2017	University of Maine at Farmington	Farmington	UMF
10/18/2017	University of Southern Maine	Portland	USM
10/20/2017	Black Bear Inn & Conference Center	Orono	BLACK BEAR INN
11/14/2017	University of Maine at Presque Isle	Presque Isle	UMPI

For more information about these workshops, contact Michele.r.mailhot@maine.gov, math specialist, or morgan.dunton@maine.gov, ELA specialist.

2018 Teacher of the Year State Finalists Selected

The Maine Department of Education, in partnership with Educate Maine, announced the state finalists for Maine’s 2018 Teacher of the Year. They were chosen from this year’s County Teachers of the Year who were named in May at a celebration at the State House Hall of Flags.

The state finalists are:

Kasie Giallombardo, Nokomis Regional High School (Penobscot County)
Kaitlin Young, SeDoMoCha Elementary School (Piscataquis County)
Jennifer England, Noble High School (York County)

The process going forward for the state finalists include personal interviews and a school site visit before the 2018 Maine Teacher of the Year is selected. Review panels during the selection process consist of past Teachers of the Year, school administrators, Department staff, members of professional education organizations and the business community. The 2018 Maine Teacher of the Year will be announced at a surprise all-school assembly in October and will represent Maine in the National Teacher of the Year program.

The Maine Teacher of the Year is a program of the Maine Department of Education and is administered and managed by Educate Maine, a business-led organization working to advance education policies and practices that prepare Maine students to be the next generation of productive, engaged citizens. The program has a longtime partnership with the Maine State Board of Education and the Maine State Teacher of the Year Association. You can view an overview of the Maine Teacher of the Year program here.

Maine’s Teacher of the Year program receives financial support from Bangor Savings Bank, Dead River, Geiger, Hannaford, Maine State Lottery and Thomas College. The program also received a one year grant from Walmart to support professional development and classroom innovation.

Biographical information and photos of the 16 County Teachers of the Year can be found at: http://www.mainetoy.org/teachers/county/2017.

For more information about the Teacher of the Year program, please contact Dolly Sullivan at Educate Maine at 207-631-3385 or Dolly@EducateMaine.org.

Reminder: Purposeful Integration of Technology in Mathematics Workshop for Educators

This is a reminder that the Maine Department of Education is sponsoring a workshop addressing Purposeful Integration of Technology in Mathematics for new and experienced math educators at Keeley’s Banquet Center on 178 Warren Ave in Portland on September 21, 8:30am – 3:30pm and at Jeff’s Catering, located at 15 Littlefield Rd. in Brewer on September 22, 8:30am – 3:30pm.

The workshop will consist of two all-day sessions, grades K-5 and grades 6-12. Pam Buffington, PhD, and Peter Tierney-Fife from Education Development Center (EDC) will present sessions for K-5 with Jenn Vadnais, a representative from Desmos presenting for the 6-12.

Registration to attend the above sessions closes September 6^th, 2017. Please note, due to limited capacity, each district has the opportunity to register ONE representative to a K-5 session and ONE representative to a 6-12 session. Districts are encouraged to sign up extra participants in the event there are seats available. A notice will go out on September 7^th, 2017 to confirm attendance to the workshop. Educators interested in registering should utilize the appropriate registration link below:

Thursday, September 21, 2017
Keeley’s Banquet Center,
178 Warren Ave,
Portland, ME 04103

Grades K-5 Registration

Grades 6-12Registration

Friday, September 22, 2017
Jeff’s Catering and Event Center
15 Littlefield Rd,
Brewer, ME 04401

Grades K-5 Registration

Grades 6-12 Registration

Further questions should be directed to Daniel Weeks, Title V Coordinator at Daniel.R.Weeks@maine.gov or (207) 624-6749.

Further information regarding session content and presenters is provided below.

Pam Buffington, PhD, is an education researcher and practitioner who specializes in technology integration in mathematics and science instruction. During a 35-year career, she has provided critical guidance to states, local education agencies, teachers, and administrators in investigating and implementing strategies to improve students’ learning outcomes.

Pam has been at the forefront of the classroom technology integration movement in New England and more broadly. She has led partnerships with both rural and urban school districts to improve student mathematics learning through the integration of interactive mobile technologies and has worked to expand access to high-quality virtual manipulatives and mathematics simulations. She also works to support researcher-practitioner partnerships, with an eye towards using evidence-based strategies to improve student outcomes in mathematics.

Peter Tierney-Fife works primarily on mathematics professional development and research projects. His expertise includes professional development materials creation and technical work such as applet and database development. He loves collaborating with teachers to improve student experiences with mathematics. His current projects focus on the areas of technology integration in mathematics and professional development for mathematics teachers with diverse student populations, including students who are English learners. Prior to working at EDC Peter taught middle school mathematics, was a Field Researcher for a technology-infused mathematics professional development research project, and was a carpenter and furniture maker.

Jenn Vadnais started out teaching in the Bath-Brunswick area. For her first year, she taught geometry at Morse High School in Bath and then spent 15 years teaching 8th grade at Brunswick Junior High School. In the summer of 2009, she relocated to Southern California with her family where she was hired as a 7th grade math teacher for Redlands Unified School District. In 2014, Jenn stepped out the classroom to become a Middle Level Math Coach for RedlandsUSD. During her time as a math coach, she was introduced to Desmos and was accepted into the first Desmos Fellow Cohort in 2016 and became a Desmos Certified Presenter in 2017. About the same time, Jenn switched positions to join her district’s brand new Instructional Technology Department as a k-12 Instructional Technology Coach.

K-5 Session Details:

During this session you will learn meaningful technology integration strategies and about digital tools for improving grades K-5 mathematics learning and teaching. Example tasks and related resources will concentrate on numeracy and the Standards for Mathematical Practices (particularly MP3, MP4, and MP5) aligned with the Maine’s College and Career Readiness Standards. We will focus on improving student mathematical communication and discourse while using digital devices in rich, open, problem-solving contexts. You will learn about interactive apps and Web sites with information and strategies, engage in the use of open tasks with the interactive apps, and reflect on and discuss the use of the digital tools and related resources. We will also discuss strategies and tools to manage student-created rich media artifacts such as screencasts and photos. You will leave with handouts and links to free digital resources suitable for use with students to enhance your classroom practice.

6-12 Session Details

Polygraph

Participants will experience how Desmos brings joy to vocabulary development through Polygraph. The focus of connecting informal and formal language will be discussed.

Level up your calculator skills

Awesome Graphs. See what’s possible in the Desmos graphing calculator by exploring this collection of course-specific graphs for Grades 6-12.
Desmos Calculator Scavenger Hunt. Level up your Desmos graphing skills by working through a series of beginner, intermediate, and advanced graphing challenges.

Activity Builder Lesson

The Activity Builder platform allows students to interact with, explore, reflect on and write about math. Participants will experience Desmos’ Activity Builder, including the Classroom Conversation Toolkit, as a student by diving into a rich mathematical situation. The Toolkit includes three features: Pause Activity, Anonymize and Teacher Pacing.

Marbleslides

Participants will explore the connections between equations and graphs with Desmos’ Marbleslides activities.

Getting Started

Participants will set up a teacher.desmos.com account, turn on the lab feature which activates the Marbleslides and Card Sort options as well as, learn how to search, bookmark and edit premade activities.

Depending on time …

Introduction to Creating an Activity Builder

Participants will learn the basics of creating their own Activity Builder.

Important clarification for districts with public preschool and Head Start collaborations

Chapter 124: Basic Approval Standards for Public Preschool Programs is fully in effect as of July 1, 2017, and there is a need to clarify the roles and responsibilities of school nurses and Head Start health services staff in order to meet both Head Start program, and Maine Department of Education standards.

Specifically, public school nurses and teachers as well as Head Start health services staff must know that all of the health requirements for each party are being met while not duplicating services.

The Maine Department of Education has collaborated with State Head Start representatives and Child Development Services to create a sample Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for public schools that collaborate with Head Start to deliver 4-year old programs. The MOA outlines what is required for each program and allows partners on the local level to decide who is will be responsible.

This “Health Services Memorandum of Agreement” may be used as an addendum to the SAU/Head Start Memorandum of Understanding that is required in partnerships.

The Health Services MOA includes all the requirements of both Head Start and Chapter 124; Head Start is responsible for the additional federal requirements. However, it is important to note who will take responsibility for the overlapping requirements. It also outlines who will create the individual health plan, train in medication management as well as how information will be shared.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact one of the following:

Emily Poland, RN, School Nurse Consultant at emily.poland@maine.gov or 207-624-6688, or Sue Reed, Early Childhood Specialist at susan.d.reed@maine.gov or 207-624-6632.

Link available for Recorded Hearing on Proposed Rule Chapter 134 (Regulations for Awarding a High School Diploma)

A recording of the August 14 public hearing of proposed rule Chapter 134 (Regulation for Awarding a High School Diploma) is now available at the following link.

Link to recorded public hearing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mA1QZ88BOuw&feature=youtu.be

Written comments may also be submitted by 5pm on September 8, 2017 to the attention of Diana Doiron at diana.doiron@maine.gov or at Maine Department of Education, 23 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333.

Pursuant to the rulemaking requirements in 20-A MRS §4722-A, Chapter 134 rule must address the following:

Allow flexibility and innovation at the school and district level for the development of consistent graduation standards.
Identify the manner in which multiple pathways in career and technical education can provide evidence of proficiency in the disciplines of the content areas and Guiding Principles of Maine’s system of learning results.
Establish criteria for the placement in career and technical education programs while ensuring all students are exposed to all content areas of the system of learning results.

For more information on proposed rule Chapter 134 and the diploma based on proficiency, contact Maine Department of Education Proficiency-Based Education Specialist, Diana Doiron at diana.doiron@maine.gov