Category: News & Views

Maine DOE offers strategies to help ELLs demonstrate proficiency

All students in Maine, including English language learners, will need to demonstrate proficiency of both State learning standards and the Guiding Principles in order to graduate beginning in 2018. As schools plan educational opportunities for English language learners in the eight content areas of the Maine Learning Results and the five Guiding Principles, the Maine DOE is encouraging educators to consider the following strategies which may be helpful. Each are based on research on how best a concept or skill is learned in each of the content areas and the Guiding Principles, and the power of background knowledge to support English language learners.

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Notice of proposed rule changes: Chapter 13, Qualifying Examinations for Teachers, Educational Specialists and Administrators

The Maine DOE and the State Board of Education are proposing changes this fall to the rules regarding the qualifying examinations for credentialing purposes for teachers, educational specialists and administrators.

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Scholarship opportunity for Maine students

Maine students are invited to apply for the 2015 Horatio Alger Association Scholarship Program, one of the nation’s largest privately-funded college scholarship programs in the country specifically designed to assist high school students who have faced and overcome great obstacles in their young lives.

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Reminder to superintendents surveys due

The following reminder was sent via Priority Notice to all Maine superintendents on Friday, Oct. 17.

Dear Superintendents,

I am writing to remind you to please complete two surveys that will greatly inform the work of the Commission to Strengthen the Adequacy and Equity of Certain Cost Components of the School Funding Formula, established by the Maine Legislature earlier this year.

In partnership with the Maine Education Policy Research Institute (MEPRI), the Department is compiling information for the Commission about the current use of instructional coaches and the physical space, facility capacity and operations of districts as it relates to existing and expanding preschool programs. Because the Commission begins meeting this coming Monday, I encourage you to submit your responses today, though surveys completed after this deadline will be provided to the Commission for consideration at its future meetings.  Continue reading “Reminder to superintendents surveys due” →

Governor LePage and First Lady to host 4th Annual Blaine House Food Drive

AUGUSTA – The First Family invites the public to visit the Blaine House once again this year in an effort to help fellow Mainers who are less fortunate. Since Governor Paul R. LePage and First Lady Ann M. LePage began the food drive in 2011, they have collected thousands of pounds of food for pantries and shelters across Maine. Continue reading “Governor LePage and First Lady to host 4th Annual Blaine House Food Drive” →