All Maine schools are our priority

In August, the Department announced that we’d secured federal flexibility for Maine schools in the form of a two-year waiver from some provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), also known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB).

At the heart of Maine’s approved plan is a system of differentiated recognition, accountability and support for Maine’s 380 Title I-served schools. Schools are placed, based on student proficiency and progress, in one of five categories: priority, focus, monitor, progressing and meeting.

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Ensuring an effective educator in every Maine classroom

Improving educator effectiveness is the single most important action we can take for our students. Study after study shows that students who are assigned to effective teachers and school leaders make noticeably more academic progress than those who are not.

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Math and reading proficiency rates rise, work continues

Last week, we released the statewide results from the 2012-13 Maine High School Assessment (MHSA).

The good news? Proficiency in math and reading is on the rise again in our high schools, suggesting students are better prepared for success in college and their careers.

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Successful transition to proficiency-based diploma starts now

In the spring of 2018, the students now in eighth grade will become the state’s first class to graduate having demonstrated their mastery of all State standards in the eight content areas of the Maine Learning Results.

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Resources available for transition to proficiency-based diploma

In 2012, the Maine Legislature passed into law LD 1422, An Act to Prepare Maine People for the Future Economy (Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, section 4722-A). The cornerstone of this law was the requirement that Maine transition to a proficiency-based system in which graduation from a Maine high school after Jan. 1, 2018 would be based on students demonstrating proficiency in meeting Maine’s learning standards in all eight content areas and their guiding principles. Maine DOE was charged with assisting school administrative units (SAUs) with this transition by developing standards-based system tools and by providing technical assistance and targeted funding. Continue reading “Resources available for transition to proficiency-based diploma” →

New Commissioner, same commitment to supporting schools

Portrait of Jim Rier, Acting Commissioner of the Maine DOE — Governor LePage named Jim Rier Acting Commissioner of the Maine DOE.

Earlier this week, Governor Paul R. LePage appointed me as Acting Education Commissioner. It is an honor to be called upon to serve the people of Maine in this new role, especially our students and educators. While the Department’s Commissioner has changed, our commitments have not.

I look forward to working with the Governor and the talented team at Maine DOE to continue the work begun under former Commissioner Bowen to transform our education system so that it truly serves all Maine students and prepares them for success after they leave our schools. Central to that is the Department focusing on supporting schools in their improvement efforts, and I will be in touch later this month with more specifics on what Maine DOE’s system of supports will look like and how it will help you.

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Message to administrators on superintendents’ agreements

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” →

Thank you for putting our students first

This week, I had the honor of presenting the 2014 Maine Teacher of the Year to Karen MacDonald of King Middle School in Portland.

The sixth-and seventh-grade English language arts teacher is described by students as a “gift,” by colleagues as a teacher leader who is “the most consistently innovative,” and by her principal as “relentlessly committed to the success of all of her students.”

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Affirming Maine’s commitment to high standards, implemented locally

As you may have seen in the press, some concerns and questions have been raised recently about the Common Core standards in math and ELA, which the State incorporated into its Learning Results standards in 2011. Many of those concerns seem to stem from suspicions that the Common Core is an attempt by the federal government to influence education policy in the states and, as a consequence, that the adoption of these standards will diminish Maine’s longstanding tradition of local control as it regards things like curricula and instructional approaches. Continue reading “Affirming Maine’s commitment to high standards, implemented locally” →

Planning for a seamless transition

In the days since I announced I would be leaving Maine DOE to become the national Director of Innovation for the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), I’ve received calls and notes of support from many in Maine’s learning community, for which I am very grateful. Thank you.

The decision to accept the opportunity offered by CCSSO was the most difficult of my career, and hearing from you was a reminder of why I’ve felt so honored this past two and a half years to be Maine’s Commissioner of Education. I can move on assured that the reforms that are underway to improve educational outcomes for all students will continue to move forward, because of your commitment – and that of the incredible team here at DOE – to our kids.

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