On Monday, I had the honor of presenting a $25,000 check from the Milken Family Foundation to Morgan Cuthbert, a deserving middle-school teacher in Yarmouth who has found the secret to motivating his math and science students. As a result of Morgan’s hard work, his students are excited to learn about topics ranging from the circulatory system to invasive species.

On Tuesday, I spoke with curriculum leaders from Maine schools during their conference in Freeport, which focused on a school system design that puts student — rather than administrative — needs at the center of everything we do.

And today and tomorrow, I plan to spend some time at the fall conference of the Maine School Management Association, whose members plan to focus on standards-based learning, closer integration of career and technical education with all other academics, and better preparation and more constructive evaluations for our educators — all in support of improved student learning.

Continue reading “Commissioner’s Update – Oct. 27, 2011” →

Staff members at the Maine DOE worked with colleagues at the Maine Department of Health and Human Services and with partners in higher education to craft a plan that sets consistent standards of quality for our current patchwork of early learning programs and offers the programs incentives to subscribe to those high standards. The plan also proposes improvements that will make it easier for families to make informed early childhood care and education decisions, and proposes significant investments in the resources available to train Maine’s workforce of early childhood educators.

If we’re fortunate enough to receive Race to the Top funding, the benefits will be widespread and longlasting. The funding will help us add to the solid foundation for early learning we already have in Maine.

And the results are something the professionals in our public schools will notice. The high-needs children who enter kindergarten with a solid educational foundation will enter our state’s schools ready to succeed.

Continue reading “Commissioner’s Update – Oct. 20, 2011” →

Today, though, we bring you news about two ways the Department of Education is working to make it easier for our school districts to manage their central-office operations and, as a result, spend more of their resources where they should be spent — in the classroom.

First, in today’s update, we’re announcing that the Department has signed a contract with Pearson to make its PowerSchool product a second, state-supported student information system for Maine schools. (We have already been supporting district implementation of Infinite Campus.) We’re also offering a reminder about Transfinder — a software program the Department offers to school districts at no charge to help them plan more efficient school bus routes that result in savings.

Both announcements are part of the Department of Education’s efforts to be more of a resource to our school districts — all in support of the teaching and learning at the core of our mission.

Continue reading “Commissioner’s Update – Oct. 13, 2011” →

The discussion at Rockland’s Strand Theatre was a productive one. Our educators spoke of ambitious plans to make learning an engaging experience for our students by connecting them with resources and experiences that interest them — whether they’re within the school building, at the local career and technical education center, at a nearby community college or at a university campus.

Continue reading “Commissioner’s Update – Oct. 6, 2011” →

For nearly 10 years, that federal law has trapped Maine’s schools in a system that emphasizes test preparation at the expense of genuine learning, test results at the expense of more honest measures of students’ academic growth, and instruction in math and reading at the expense of the broader curriculum our students need to develop the skills colleges and employers will demand.

Continue reading “Commissioner’s Update – Sept. 29, 2011” →

The economy is slow, but we have job openings, the employers told Gov. Paul LePage. More than 20,000 Maine people are receiving unemployment benefits, but we can’t find the workers we need, they said.

In other words, what we have in Maine isn’t only a jobs deficit. It’s a skills deficit, too. We have more available jobs in some sectors than we do workers with the skills needed to do them.

Continue reading “Commissioner’s Update – Sept. 15, 2011” →

On Tuesday afternoon, the entire DOE was treated to a presentation by Bea McGarvey, former executive director of education for the Portland Public Schools and co-author of the book “Inevitable: Mass Customized Learning.”

Bea shared with us a compelling vision for the future of public education: one that harnesses the power of technology to customize learning for each student based on his or her interests, learning style and educational needs.

Continue reading →

Continue reading “Commissioner’s Update – Sept. 8, 2011” →

This week, we’ve made changes to streamline the Action Items section of the Commissioner’s Update. We’ll post notices of most reporting items only once – and we’ll post many of them earlier than we have been in order to give more lead time.

As in the past, we won’t provide notice of every form that’s due — monthly food service reporting, for example. Please be sure to check the online Reporting Calendar regularly to know which requirements have approaching deadlines.

Please encourage business managers, special ed directors, and others to sign up for the Commissioner’s Update: It’s now the primary way the Department communicates with the field.

Stay tuned for additional improvements to the online reporting calendar. We are actively seeking feedback, so let us know how we can continue to improve the reporting calendar and all of our communications.

Continue reading “Commissioner’s Update – Sept. 1, 2011” →

The federal government this week released the final application that states will need to submit to enter the Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge. Maine is eligible for up to $50 million in the competition, which asks states to do some thoughtful planning to determine how they can expand access to early childhood education and make existing early childhood education programs better.

We’ve already started this work in collaboration with the Department of Health and Human Services, the Maine Children’s Growth Council and others.

In the coming weeks, we’ll launch a web page devoted to our Race to the Top efforts and ask you — the public — to submit your ideas for how we can improve early childhood education in Maine.

Continue reading “Commissioner’s Update – Aug. 25, 2011” →