Yesterday, Governor LePage and I celebrated our nationally competitive robotics teams and students who have received recognition at the national level for their accomplishments in science, technology, engineering and mathematics – known as STEM.
Maine should be proud of these innovative student leaders who received the Governor’s Promising STEM Awards. Continue reading “STEM education-industry collaboration a model to look to”
When I visited Troy Howard Middle School on Thursday as part of the tail end of my Promising Practices Tour, I was impressed by the school’s two-year academy system that puts students first by placing them in one of three academies based on their learning styles.
Under Principal Kim Buckheit’s leadership, the Belfast school implemented the standards-based academy system to give seventh and eighth graders more control over their learning. The Innovation Academy offers a hands-on approach to those who benefit from project-based learning, the International Academy brings a global perspective to students trying to see the bigger picture, and the Ecology Academy combines experiential learning with the practice of ecological sustainability.
Continue reading “School academies provide customized learning in Belfast”
Dear Schools,
In the month since we announced the next generation Maine Learning Technology Initiative solution, we’ve been busy working with the three vendors and your schools to ensure this initiative continues to best support your learning goals moving forward.
Continue reading “MLTI next generation transition updates”
In response to the call for a moratorium on accountability related to the Common Core State Standards by some in the education community, Chiefs for Change, a coalition of state school chiefs and leaders committed to education reform which Commissioner Bowen is a member of, released the following open letter to U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan this week:
Continue reading “Chiefs for Change call for commitment to accountability”
As you receive this, 1,000 students and 200 educators along with their Apple MacBooks are at the University of Maine showcasing how State-supplied technology is transforming learning and better preparing them for success in their classroom, career and civic life as part of the 10th Annual Maine Learning Technology Initiative Student Conference.
Continue reading “MLTI conference celebrates evolution of learning”
Dear Superintendents:
The Department provisionally adopted Chapter 180, the rules for implementing required teacher and principal evaluation systems, seven weeks ago today. A number of you have been asking me and other Department staff when you can expect the new rules on teacher effectiveness evaluations to go into effect. This is to update you on where that stands and why we have not been able to help you move forward with that work.
Continue reading “Update on status of teacher/principal evaluation rules”
Teachers invited to participate in webinar
Last week, the Maine Department of Education rolled out A-F report cards for each school in the state as part of our new Maine School Performance Grading System.
Continue reading “Empowering Educators with A-F: A Conversation on Where We Can Go From Here”
It’s been over a week since Governor LePage and I released Maine’s School Performance Grading System. I continue to tour schools that are exemplifying promising practices, including several that have received grades on the lower end of the spectrum. Based on what I’ve seen, these schools are doing many of the right things to get their students invested in learning. It’s important that the Department be engaged with these schools to let them know they have support. That is why we’ll be hosting a webinar next Thursday to start a series of informative sessions for Maine educators. Continue reading “Maine schools have Department support”
I had the chance visit three Oxford County schools yesterday as part of my Promising Practices Tour, just a day after releasing the new A-F school grading system designed to improve transparency. As a state, we need to move beyond the one-size-fits-all models of teaching and embrace student-centered models like the ones many Maine schools, like the ones I visited in Oxford County, are doing. Governor LePage and I made reference to that Wednesday when we unveiled the new school report cards, which showed a majority of Maine’s elementary and high schools earned an A, B or C.
Continue reading “Hands-on learning a success in Oxford County”
It’s been a busy week at Maine DOE as we released the first A-F report cards for each of the state’s schools as part of the new Maine School Performance Grading System. Now that we have a usable and understandable benchmark of where schools are, the real work begins!
Maine DOE Newsroom 