Final student response and school participation rates for the 2013 Maine Integrated Youth Health Survey (MIYHS) are now available. Subsequent data and reports will be released before the end of December.
Continue reading “Response rates for youth health survey released, data to follow”
The Maine DOE has completed its review of fiscal year 2014 instructional leased space applications and posted the results online. School administrative units that submitted applications may learn the status of their applications by visiting the web page. Approvals are indicated in the yellow column labeled “Approved by Department of Education for FY ’14.”
Dear Superintendents,
Last fall, former Commissioner Stephen Bowen sent you a letter on the topic of superintendents’ agreements. In that letter, he explained why he has tended to overturn the superintendent transfer decisions that are appealed to him by Maine families more often than not, in the hope that it would make his thinking on the issue clearer to you.
Since then, the issue of superintendents’ agreements has emerged again, and two bills were passed during this last legislative session that amend the current law in important ways, effective Oct. 9. Continue reading “Message to administrators on superintendents’ agreements”
TOPSHAM – An elementary school in Topsham that has seen double-digit increases over the last five years in the percentage of its students deemed proficient is Maine’s National Blue Ribbon School.
The Williams-Cone School in RSU 75 was one of 236 public schools across the country named this morning by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan into the prestigious program that recognizes schools where students perform at very high levels or show significant improvements in closing achievement gaps.
Continue reading “Topsham elementary named National Blue Ribbon School”
With schools now settled into the new academic year, Maine DOE resumed our School Improvement Webinar Series this week. Perhaps not surprisingly for a session on increasing attendance, we had our best turnout yet, with more than 60 educators from the across the state participating.
Continue reading “School improvement webinars offer tangible tips”
Hannaford and CLYNK have teamed up to provide a school fundraising opportunity designed to be simple for students and families with the potential to earn a significant amount for individual schools.
The Maine Education Data Management System (MEDMS) staff edition is open for staff data collection for the 2013-14 school year. Staff data must be entered or uploaded to the MEDMS staff system by Sept. 30.
Updated Oct. 1
Since the release of this dispatch, the Maine DOE has become aware of a need for further clarification. A parent has the right at any time to place his or her child receiving special education in a private school, including a non-approved private school. As stated in MUSER §IV.4.G(3)(a), the residential district in this situation is not required to pay for the cost of the child’s education in the private school. The Department has become aware that some districts, nevertheless, are paying some or all of the educational costs for such children placed in non-approved private schools. Districts should not be making such payments unless the procedures described below (convening the IEP Team, developing an offer of FAPE, explaining to the parent the ramifications of a decision to place the child in a non-approved program and the right to revoke consent for continued provision of special education services) are followed and the parent revokes consent in writing. Under no circumstances should special education funds be used for such payments.
School administrative units (SAUs) sometimes become aware that a student identified as needing special education services has been placed in a program that has not been approved for special education by the Maine DOE. Placement of such a student by the SAU is prohibited by MUSER §XII.1.F(1)(c), but the student may have been placed directly by parents or a State agency.
Students, educators, families and communities are invited to celebrate National Manufacturing Day in various locations across the state on Oct. 4. This annual event aims raise awareness and appreciation of manufacturing in the United States and highlight students and technology.
Continue reading “Governor LePage to celebrate students, technology on National Manufacturing Day”
MetaMetrics is looking for first-grade teachers who are willing to administer a short online study to their students for an ongoing early reader research initiative. The goals of this research include improving understanding of what makes text complex for the earliest readers and how early reading ability can be assessed reliably and fairly across different populations of students.
Continue reading “First-grade classrooms needed for Lexile research study”
Maine DOE Newsroom 