Category: News & Views

Maine Teacher of the Year candidates nearing end of reviews

Eight teachers in the running for the 2016 Maine Teacher of the Year title presented to and answered questions from members of the State review panel last week. The teachers were selected from the 2015 County Teachers of the Year named in May at a ceremony at the State House Hall of Flags. Maine DOE’s Acting Deputy Commissioner Rachelle Tome and the 2015 Maine Teacher of the Year Jenn Dorman from Skowhegan Area Middle School were among the seven member review panel.

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Pilot training of a kindergarten entry assessment

Fifteen Maine kindergarten teachers spent three days last week learning how to pilot a Kindergarten Entry Assessment (KEA) with support from a grant to the Maine DOE. The KEA has been created with input from kindergarten teachers from the start and Maine teachers’ feedback on the benefits of KEA will guide its development.

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Horatio Alger Scholarship for Maine students now open

Maine students are invited to apply for the 2016 Horatio Alger Association Scholarship Program, one of the nation’s largest privately-funded college scholarship programs specifically designed to assist high school students who have faced and overcome great obstacles in their young lives.

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Maine Department of Education awarded flexibility from Feds

AUGUSTA – The Maine Department of Education received a three-year waiver allowing flexibility regarding specific requirements of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), formerly known as the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001(NCLB), whose reauthorization was recently debated and is being revised in our nation’s capital. While the revised ESEA shrinks the federal role yielding greater power to states to judge student achievement and school performance (from regulations outlined under NCLB), this recent waiver provides Maine educators and State and local leaders the opportunity for continued work toward rigorous and comprehensive State-developed plans designed to improve educational outcomes for all students, close achievement gaps, increase equity, and improve the quality of instruction.

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Standardized Assessment Task Force update

Work continues as the Standardized Assessment Task Force participates in an email exchange of questions and answers, a system which was designed to be less invasive on members’ summer vacation and repeated travel to Augusta (even from as far away as St Agatha) for structured meetings.

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A first of its kind in the nation in mathematics coaching

A collaborative effort of Maine DOE, MSAD 17, and the University of Maine at Farmington came to life in June at the first of its kind in the nation — math coaching project. UMF’s graduate program, the Maine Mathematics Coaching Project, brought together 15 teacher coaching candidates and their administrators to participate in the summer institute.

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