Category: Priority Notices

Grading system top DOE news of 2013

We hope you enjoyed the holidays and some well-deserved down time to recharge for the New Year. As our Department looks forward to serving you in 2014, we also wanted to reflect back on our work from a very busy past 12 months.

Of the nearly 600 items posted in our Maine DOE Newsroom in 2013, not surprisingly our release about Maine’s first school report cards was the most viewed item, with related posts taking up several of the other top traffic spots. Continue reading “Grading system top DOE news of 2013” →

School security strengthened since Sandy Hook

On Saturday, many of us paused to remember the courage of so many in the face of the evil of one on the anniversary of the senseless school shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary.  Just one day before, a  17-year-old senior was critically injured by a classmate, who later shot himself, in a shooting at Arapahoe High School in Centennial, Colorado, just 10 miles away from Columbine, another tragic reminder of our need to always be prepared even for the most unthinkable.

Here in Maine, schools have always taken the safety and security of their students and staff seriously, but even more so since Newtown.  Continue reading “School security strengthened since Sandy Hook” →

Maine schools make EdWeek innovation list

Maine schools have long been looked to as national leaders in education innovation.

That’s why I am not surprised that Education Week recently named three of our state’s schools to a list of those across the country worth visiting. Continue reading “Maine schools make EdWeek innovation list” →

Thankful for great teachers and leaders

Students Adie Hughes and Chase Hathorn from the Weatherbee School in Hampden present their teacher, Susan Carpenter O'Brien, a semi-finalist for the 2014 Teacher of the Year, at a banquet in Portland last Friday as Acting Education Commissioner Jim Rier looks on
Students Adie Hughes and Chase Hathorn from the Weatherbee School in Hampden present their teacher, Susan Carpenter O’Brien, a semi-finalist for the 2014 Teacher of the Year, at a banquet in Portland last Friday as Acting Education Commissioner Jim Rier looks on.

Last Friday, I had the privilege of attending the annual Teacher of the Year banquet, hosted at Unum’s Portland campus.

It was exciting to see the education and business communities come together to celebrate these champions for children. As Acting Education Commissioner, I hope to facilitate us working together more to ensure we are best serving our students and our great State.   Continue reading “Thankful for great teachers and leaders” →

GED completion by year’s end encouraged, but not necessary

There has recently been widespread national media coverage about the rush for test-takers to complete their GED before a new version of the high school equivalency exam is released in January and their previous scores are deleted.

That news has made some Mainers nervous, but they shouldn’t be.

Continue reading “GED completion by year’s end encouraged, but not necessary” →

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.

Continue reading “All Maine schools are our priority” →

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.

Continue reading “Ensuring an effective educator in every Maine classroom” →