The 2015-16 subsidy checks for General Purpose Aid for local schools will reflect adjustments for MaineCare Seed payments paid by the Maine DOE on behalf of school administrative units (SAUs) for the following:
Continue reading “MaineCare Seed payment adjustments made, report review by June 25, 2016”
The purpose of this notice is to address the issue of full certification for special education teachers under the Every Student Succeeds Act.
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 and amended some provisions of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to reflect changes made by ESSA. The amendments to the IDEA related to personnel qualifications impact Maine schools in significant ways.
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) amended IDEA by reinstating a pre-NCLB requirement. That requirement (34 CFR Section 602(10)(B)) mandated that a person employed as a special education teacher in elementary school, middle school, or secondary school must have obtained full certification as a special education teacher. The teacher must not be working under certification or licensure requirements that are waived on an emergency, temporary, or provisional basis.
In their respective applications for IDEA Part B (Local Entitlement) funds, states were required to assure that for the 2016-17 school year, in accordance with section 612(a)(14)(C), that any public elementary or secondary school special education teacher has obtained full certification. Maine was not able to give that assurance because of our use of conditional, targeted needs, transitional and waived certificates.
As a result, Maine was required to submit an assurance that the State will revise policies and procedures no later than June 30, 2017 which will address special education teacher certification to bring us into compliance with the provisions of IDEA.
The Maine Department of Education will move ahead in the next year with the development of statute and/ or rules that eliminate the above mentioned less than fully certified credentials for special education teachers.
We wish to inform Maine school administrators that effective July 1, 2017, you will not be able to employ a special education teacher who is not fully certified. Please encourage your staff to work towards full certification between now and July 1, 2017.
If you have questions, contact Janice E. Breton, Director of Special Services atJanice.breton@maine.gov.
On April 26, 2016 the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSEP) issued a “Dear Colleague” letter regarding the special education rights and responsibilities surrounding children residing in nursing homes. Education administrators are urged to review the contents of this letter and take steps to ensure that their policies and practices are consistent with the requirements and best practices described in it.
Continue reading “OSEP memo regarding children residing in nursing homes”
The MSAA alternate assessment closes this Friday, May 13.
All “in progress” assessments must either be closed or submitted by 5:00 p.m. No extensions are available.
Assessments for students that have received a Special Consideration should remain open. All requests for additional Special Considerations must be received by the Department by the close of the assessment on Friday, May 13.
For assistance, contact Alternate Assessment Coordinator Sue Nay at 624-6774 or sue.nay@maine.gov.
The Maine Department of Education is seeking volunteers for the Educational Surrogate Parent Program. An educational surrogate parent is a caring individual who acts as a part of the Individual Education Plan (IEP) team to ensure that a child with a disability and who is a child in the custody of the State or is considered homeless, is provided with equal educational opportunities.
Continue reading “Educational surrogate parent volunteers needed”
Senator Susan Collins journeyed back to her home turf of Aroostook County recently and visited the Aroostook County Action Program Early Care and Education Center at Gouldville in Presque Isle. While there, the Senator read a story to children in the Head Start/Child Development Services (CDS) Collaboration Classroom and played with toddlers in Early Head Start.
Continue reading “Senator Collins visits with school children in Aroostook County”
The following notice was sent to superintendents and NCLB coordinators on April 15, 2016.
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), requires that State assessments cover the full range of the state’s academic content standards.
Maine’s English language arts/literacy standards include standards for speaking and listening. However, our state assessment, at this time, does not assess speaking and listening.
The Maine DOE is choosing to proceed thoughtfully as we explore options for how to best assess speaking and listening. In order to effectively design these assessments, we need time to research options, listen to educators, test our technology, and work with our testing contractors.
Maine will be requesting a waiver from the U.S. Department of Education for the 2015-16 and the 2016-17 school years from the requirement to assess speaking and listening.
We invite public comments through April 29, 2016, about this waiver request.
Questions and/or comments may be directed to Charlene Tucker, Director of Assessment & Accountability at charlene.tucker@maine.gov.
The Multi-State Alternate Assessment (MSAA) for mathematics and English language arts/literacy testing window opens Wednesday, March 30 and closes May 13. Maine’s alternate assessment is required for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities in grades 3-8 and in the third year of high school.
The Maine Department of Education is preparing for the 2015-16 administration of the Maine Educational Assessment (MEA) for Mathematics and English Language Arts/Literacy. On Monday, March 21, the test window will open for students in grades 3-8 for the new eMPower™ ME assessment developed by Measured Progress. Then on March 30, the test window opens for the MEA Alternate known as the Multi-State Alternative Assessment (MSAA) for students in grades 3-8 and those in the third year of high school.
Continue reading “Maine DOE provides final preparation guidance to assessment administrators”
The Maine Department of Education’s Office of Special Services will be hosting a training webinar to assist Local Education Agencies in new and important procedural and timeline changes regarding the 2016-2017 IDEA Local Entitlement electronic application process.
Continue reading “Annual Local Entitlement application training webinar”
Maine DOE Newsroom 