The Maine DOE is reminding district leaders that the School Facility Management System (SFMS) provided to school administrative units (SAU) through the Maine DOE will no longer be available after June 30, the end date of the current contract with WFA, Inc., the software provider.
Continue reading “More information on the School Facility Management System”
The following Priority Notice was distributed by the Department this week to superintendents to invite them to the 103rd Annual Commissioner’s Conference for Superintendents:
Dear Superintendents,
The implementation of systems that support proficiency-based diplomas and educator evaluation necessitate some of the most significant shifts our state’s public education system has ever undertaken. The Maine DOE has and will continue to provide resources and clarity to benefit your locally led transition work, including through our upcoming 103rd Annual Commissioner’s Conference for Superintendents. Registration is now open for the conference, which is scheduled for Monday, June 23 through Wednesday, June 25 at Point Lookout in Northport.
Continue reading “Registration, agenda available for Commissioner’s Conference for Superintendents”
One year ago today, the Department released the first school report cards under the Maine School Performance Grading System. Using a familiar A-F scale, existing public data, and measuring all students and all schools, the grades provide Maine’s first true statewide accountability system. As importantly, our formula acknowledges that many students arrive in our schools already behind, and equally credits student proficiency and student growth, including how elementary schools help their most struggling 25 percent of students.
That roll-out sparked a difficult yet critical statewide conversation on school quality and drove thousands of Mainers to the Department’s website and new Education Data Warehouse to learn more about their local school’s performance and how it compared to others. While on an average day our website at www.maine.gov/doe draws around 8,000 unique views, in the three days surrounding the launch of the school report cards, the site received more than 200,000.
We’ll be releasing this year’s school grades late the week of May 12. While the formula for the grades remains unchanged so as to allow for comparison from one year to the next, you will notice some differences on the report cards and how the Department rolls them out. We believe these improvements will allow the conversation to move beyond the merits of school grading and the validity of the data used so the focus can be where it should: celebrating successes in our schools and surfacing areas needing more support.
Continue reading “Preparing for the 2014 school report cards”
The Maine DOE convened the fifth meeting of the Maine Governor’s Academy for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Education Leadership last month in collaboration with the Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance (MMSA).
Continue reading “Maine DOE convenes Governor’s Academy for STEM Leadership”
When a student reaches the age of majority in Maine, at age 18, the student gains the right to make his or her own educational decisions. However, a parent or other adult may obtain authority over those decisions if the parent or other adult (1) obtains guardianship over the student or (2) obtains a valid power of attorney from the student.
Continue reading “Authority to make educational decisions for adult students”
More than 300 Maine educations have engaged in professional learning through the Maine DOE’s Cross Discipline Literacy Network (CDLN) already this school year.
As part of its commitment to providing resources to Maine educators, the Maine DOE has recently developed two webinars highlighting an instructional strategy that fosters the ability to read complex texts.
Continue reading “Close reading resources available from Maine DOE”
Ron Adams, food service director for the Portland Public Schools, has won the School Nutrition Association (SNA) Outstanding Director of the Year Award for Maine. Adams will be honored at a red carpet awards ceremony in July at SNA’s national conference in Boston.
Continue reading “Portland food service director wins state award”
Welcome to the April issue of the Maine DOE Monthly.
The two busiest months of the school year are ahead of us and Education Commissioner Jim Rier used his column in last week’s Commissioner Update to let all who work with and for districts know how much they are appreciated.
One of the best ways our Department can show our support for Maine’s hardworking educators is by being clear and consistent about where we stand, and where we are headed. That’s why this month, we affirmed our committed to rigorous standards and aligned assessments, which so many of you have been working to effectively implement over the past three years. We also show our thanks by providing resources to local districts that hopefully make their work easier. In April, we provided an analysis of the latest NECAP results and graduation rates, shared a new guide of simple strategies for safe schools, began a series of regional workshops for principals and reminded districts about a self-assessment tool to help them transition to a proficiency-based diploma.
As always, read on for a roundup of other recent updates from the Department and stay tuned to our Newsroom and weekly Commissioner’s Updates for the latest news you can use from the Maine DOE.
The Department believes Maine should have rigorous standards that ensure students leave our schools prepared for college and career and that there needs to be a way of objectively assessing where our students are in meeting those standards. | More
AUGUSTA – Maine’s high school graduation rate continues to climb with 86.36 percent of all students who entered the ninth grade in the fall of 2009 earning their diplomas on time in 2013, but State education officials stress that proficiency must be the top priority. | More
AUGUSTA – The Maine Department of Education has begun creating the 2014 school report cards that will be published in May. In an effort to expand the snapshot of a school the report card provides, the Department will add information about student poverty, teacher tenure and education levels, and funding. | More
Thanks to two security reports, Maine schools now better understand their vulnerabilities and opportunities to better ensure student and staff safety.Knowing how important this work is can often make it daunting for districts and schools boards to figure out where to best begin. That’s why as a follow-up to those assessments and in partnership with Safe Havens International, we are pleased to provide a free school security guide entitled 20 Simple Strategies to Safer and More Effective Schools.| More
The Maine DOE is offering a series of free regional workshops this month to support principals in mentoring and coaching teachers to implement instructional practices that allow all students to demonstrate growth and proficiency in State standards. | More
While 2013 marked the last NECAP administration as Maine moves to a next generation assessment system aligned with its recently updated academic standards, we hope schools are looking closely at their results. Ultimately, it is by doing this level of analysis locally that you can most meaningfully improve instruction and student learning. | More Part I | More Part II
Tripp Middle School is the first middle school in Maine to earn a Gold Medal in the US Department of Agriculture’s HealthierUS School Challenge. | More
AUGUSTA – Arts educators were recognized at the Maine State House Wednesday as part of Maine’s annual celebration of Arts Education Day. | More
The Maine DOE is reminding district leaders that the comprehensive online self-assessment developed in collaboration with Great Schools Partnership is available in its electronic form through June 30. The online district self-assessment is designed to support districts with their action planning for proficiency-based education and the transition to a proficiency-based diploma. | More
Maine has been selected as one of 15 states to work with the US Department of Education and the National Dropout Prevention Network/Center on the Rural Dropout Prevention Project. | More
Dear Superintendents and Business Managers,
I am writing to let you know that the remaining 2013-14 subsidy checks for General Purpose Aid for Local Schools will reflect additional adjustments for MaineCare Seed payments paid by the Maine DOE on behalf of school administrative units (SAUs) for the following:
Continue reading “Subsidy checks reflect MaineCare Seed adjustments”
Maine DOE Newsroom 