The Maine Educator Effectiveness Council has met many times this year to develop standards for teacher evaluation systems—and the Council has just submitted its report to the Legislature. Meanwhile, the Department has submitted proposed rules for these systems, based largely on the work of the Council so far.

Legislation passed last session requires school districts to develop and implement systems for evaluating teachers and principals based on professional practice, student achievement growth and other measures. Continue reading “Commissioner’s Update – December 13, 2012” →

As educators it often feels like we’re in the business of addressing problems, so it’s important that we also celebrate the solutions – as we try to do in our weekly Updates. This week we can point to three schools that are doing it well: Maine DOE has nominated Longfellow Elementary School in Portland, Williams-Cone Elementary School in Topsham and Yarmouth Elementary School to be 2013 National Blue Ribbon Schools.

Continue reading “Commissioner’s Update – December 6, 2012” →

Questions have been raised recently about the rules on the use of physical restraints by teachers and other school staff.  The new rules, which went into effect this fall, were developed by a broad stakeholder group that met over 10 months in an effort to re-calibrate the balance between protecting children and others from the risks of restraint (there have been some tragic reports of injury and death across the country) and protecting teachers and other students, and avoiding disruption and property damage.

Please be sure to review the rules and provide training to your staff, as required in the adopted rule changes. Many of the concerns we’ve heard about specific incidents seem to reflect misperceptions about the rules. Continue reading “Commissioner’s Update – November 29, 2012” →

On Monday I had the opportunity to attend an incredible event at the Cole Land Transportation Museum in Bangor. Three middle school and three high school students read their winning essays based on interviews with veterans, arranged by the Museum and the Cole Family Foundation.

It’s one thing to create a museum and fill it with jeeps and a locomotive and other vehicles (and don’t get me wrong – this is impressive). It’s another to actively connect people together with a strong educational component. Cole, largely through the efforts of its founder and the founder’s son, has done both.

Continue reading “Commissioner’s Update – November 15, 2012” →

As we observe Veterans Day this Monday, we’ll be honoring all the men and women who have served in the armed forces.

I’m looking forward to joining veterans and students at the Cole Land Transportation Museum to dedicate a new monument to veterans. Three middle and three high school students will read their essays on the topic “freedom isn’t free,” and we will be joined by each of the veterans that students interviewed for their submissions.

Continue reading “Commissioner’s Update – November 8, 2012” →

The Maine Charter School Commission received on Wednesday five more proposals to open charter schools in the fall of 2014.

Public charter schools are an important part of the growing menu of public school choices for Maine students. Our state is on a clear path to providing more options to more kids.

Continue reading “Commissioner’s Update – November 1, 2012” →

We know that districts look to us for subsidy information in as timely a fashion as possible each spring.

It’s a significant task preparing the information, and one that we cannot even begin until we have all the data from individual school districts. Please do your part to make sure we can provide you with the information you need by getting us the information we need.

Continue reading “Commissioner’s Update – October 25, 2012” →

This week the Department released its new Response to Intervention website and classroom guidelines, which share best practices and resources for increasing student achievement.

Maine law requires all SAUs to implement a system of intervention by this fall, and we’re bringing you the tools to do it. Through RTI, teachers can identify academic and behavioral problems, ensuring success for all students.

Continue reading “Commissioner’s Update – October 18, 2012” →

Today the Department released its annual report on school progress under the No Child Left Behind Act, which showed that a majority of schools aren’t meeting federal targets—just as we anticipated.

We, along with most other states, don’t believe AYP accurately measures school success. Maine schools aren’t doing any worse than last year, but the current AYP system requires schools each year to meet higher testing targets than the previous year, and it doesn’t recognize any degree of improvement unless AYP is met. That’s not fair to our schools, and it’s not fair to our kids.

Continue reading “Commissioner’s Update – October 11, 2012” →

School choice has always been an option for some Maine students, but we’re getting closer and closer to offering choice to all our kids—enabling them to take charge of their own learning.

The school choice work group met for the second time Monday to continue its work on a publicly funded school choice model.

When the Governor proposed school choice to the Legislature last year, we knew we had a lot of kinks to work out. The model we are currently reviewing would allow districts to elect to participate in an open-enrollment program—meaning students from any district could apply to an open-enrollment school located anywhere in the state. The group is still discussing details related to transportation and funding, but the group intends to propose a thorough model to policymakers come January.

Continue reading “Commissioner’s Update – October 4, 2012” →