If your school submitted an application for the 30th Annual Maine Schoolsite Health Promotion Program “Wellness” Conference to the Maine DOE but has not yet received a confirmation email with a congratulatory letter, team registration form and Spring Team Leaders’ Meeting information, please contact the Department’s Susan Berry at susan.berry@maine.gov.
Category: Professional Development
Maine DOE continues site visits to support proficiency-based efforts
The Maine DOE will continue school site visits into June to provide targeted technical assistance for proficiency-based extension options five and six.
Continue reading “Maine DOE continues site visits to support proficiency-based efforts”
Commissioner’s Update – April 30, 2015
From the Maine Department of Education
As parts of its commitment to ensuring all students have access to great teachers and leaders, the Maine DOE has developed a resource that districts can use to self-assess their readiness to pilot their Performance Evaluation and Professional Growth (PEPG) systems in the 2015-16 school year. The Pilot Readiness Guide provides:
- The current implementation timeline
- Key system components that districts must and/or should pilot
- Indicators of readiness to pilot each component
- Relevant resources, with page and section references
- Questions that school administrative units might seek to answer during the pilot
- Guidance for Teacher Incentive Fund districts (TIF 3 and TIF 4)
- DEMO student learning and growth effectiveness rating scales
This guide is intended for local district use. It is not for reporting purposes. As a follow-up to this resource, in June, the Department will ask districts to confirm their intent to pilot by completing a short online survey. Details about this process will be provided with the release of the survey.
Notices and Reporting
- Regional School Calendar, due April 14 (Past Due)
More Notices | Administrative Letters | Reporting Calendar
News & Views
Maine DOE invites educators to performance assessment webinar
The Maine DOE is inviting Maine educators to participate in a free webinar, Laying the Foundation for Performance Assessment: Lessons Learned from the Innovation Lab Network Pilot in New England, on Wednesday, May 27 at 3 p.m. | More
Regional school calendars past due
The Department is reminding school administrative units (SAU) and private schools approved for tuition purposes that they are now required to establish regional school calendars, in coordination with their local secondary Career and Technical Education (CTE) school. | More
Educators encouraged to save the date for MLTI Summer Institute
The Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI) is encouraging educators to save the date for its 2015 Summer Institute, scheduled July 21-23 at Bowdoin College in Brunswick. | More
MaineCare Seed payment adjustments made, report review due May 22
The Maine DOE is reminding school administrative units (SAUs) that the remaining 2014-15 subsidy checks for General Purpose Aid for local schools will reflect adjustments for MaineCare Seed payments paid by the Department on behalf of districts. | More
Alternate assessments closing soon
The deadline to submit the MEA Alternate Science (PAAP) portfolios electronically is 5 p.m. today, April 30. | More
Maine teachers invited to participate in assessment hand scoring
Maine’s teachers are invited to apply for part-time work available now through June as a reader/evaluator in the scoring process for students across states who participated in the 2015 Smarter Balanced developed assessment.| More
Newly released ACCESS for ELLs® score reports a resource for supporting students
The Maine DOE is reminding schools that the ACCESS for ELLs® score reports received earlier this month can be used to determine if individual English learners are meeting expected English language proficiency growth. | More
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LATEST DOE Career/Project Opportunities
Maine teachers invited to participate in assessment hand scoring
Maine’s teachers are invited to apply for part-time work available now through June as a reader/evaluator in the scoring process for students across states who participated in the 2015 Smarter Balanced developed assessment. Continue reading “Maine teachers invited to participate in assessment hand scoring”
Educators encouraged to save the date for 2015 MLTI Summer Institute
The Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI) is encouraging educators to save the date for its 2015 Summer Institute, scheduled July 21-23 at Bowdoin College in Brunswick. Continue reading “Educators encouraged to save the date for 2015 MLTI Summer Institute”
Maine DOE provides resources, guidance to support educator evaluation pilot
As parts of its commitment to ensuring all students have access to great teachers and leaders, the Maine DOE has developed a resource that districts can use to self-assess their readiness to pilot their Performance Evaluation and Professional Growth (PEPG) systems in the 2015-16 school year. The Pilot Readiness Guide provides:
Continue reading “Maine DOE provides resources, guidance to support educator evaluation pilot”
Maine DOE invites educators to performance assessment webinar
The Maine DOE is inviting Maine educators to participate in a free webinar, Laying the Foundation for Performance Assessment: Lessons Learned from the Innovation Lab Network Pilot in New England, on Wednesday, May 27 at 3 p.m.
Continue reading “Maine DOE invites educators to performance assessment webinar”
Commissioner’s Update – April 23, 2015
From the Maine Department of Education
The Maine DOE is recognizing 21 schools across the state for their high performance or progress as measured by the State’s federally required accountability system.
As part of Maine’s approved application for flexibility under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA or No Child Left Behind), the State received a waiver to implement its own plan to improve educational outcomes for all students, close achievement gaps and increase the quality of instruction through the implementation of its own tiered statewide system of support. By reviewing annual progress and student proficiency, schools are placed into one of five categories: priority, focus, monitor, progressing and meeting, allowing the Department to most intensively target support to the schools that need it most.
Just as Maine’s system allows the Department to identify schools that most need improvement support, it also recognizes those showing the greatest levels of improvement and performance.
Notices and Reporting
- SPPS Report on Transition to a Proficiency-Based System, due July 1 (Reminder)
More Notices | Administrative Letters | Reporting Calendar
News & Views
Maine DOE specialists support improvement initiatives at newly identified schools
The Department’s School Improvement Team is continuing to provide support and technical assistance to help raise student achievement at the state’s schools, including those recently identified as priority, focus and monitor under Maine’s federally required accountability system. | More
Maine DOE seeks readers for 21st CCLC grant competition
The Maine DOE is seeking qualified grant readers for its upcoming 21st Century Community Learning Center (21st CCLC) grant application review process. | More
Maine Arts Commission seeks teacher leaders for assessment initiative
The Maine Arts Commission is inviting visual and performing arts teachers to consider being a teacher leader with the Maine Arts Assessment Initiative (MAAI), phase 5. | More
Maine School Nutrition Association dishes out top director, manager awards
The Maine School Nutrition Association (MSNA) has honored RSU 13 Director of School Nutrition Charles Butler as Director of the Year and Portland Public Schools Nutrition Manager Nancy McAdam as Manager of the Year. | More
State releases school-based modules on tick and mosquito diseases and prevention
New modules on tick and mosquito diseases and prevention that were developed by the Maine CDC Division of Infectious Disease with input from the Maine DOE are now available to the state’s schools. | More
More Dispatches | Press Releases | From the Commissioner
LATEST DOE Career/Project Opportunities
State releases school-based modules on tick and mosquito diseases and prevention
New modules on tick and mosquito diseases and prevention that were developed by the Maine CDC Division of Infectious Disease with input from the Maine DOE are now available to the state’s schools.
Continue reading “State releases school-based modules on tick and mosquito diseases and prevention”
Department releases reporting requirement, resources to help Special Purpose Private Schools support pathways to proficiency
The Maine DOE is providing the state’s Special Purpose Private Schools (SPPS) with new resources so their students are better positioned on the pathway to proficiency.
Maine DOE Newsroom 