The Department is reminding school administrative units (SAUs) that, in addition to the requirement that they provide parents of children receiving special education (or adult students receiving special education) a copy of the procedural safeguards once each year, the following events also trigger a duty to provide the procedural safeguards:
Category: Special Education
Report of Services to Students with Disabilities (EF-S-05 Part 1 & 2) due Oct. 31
School administrative units (SAUs) should begin preparing data for the EF-S-05, which includes Part 1: Special Education Child Count as well as Part 2: Special Education Personnel Employed, Contracted, and Needed.
Continue reading “Report of Services to Students with Disabilities (EF-S-05 Part 1 & 2) due Oct. 31”
Department provides guidance on learning disability eligibility determinations
The Maine DOE is committed to ensuring the effective and timely identification of learners with special needs. When Individualized Education Program (IEP) teams are considering eligibility of a student under the disability category “Specific Learning Disability,” they may find that some students present with cultural, linguistic or physical characteristics that place them outside the cohort on which standardized measures are normed.
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Proficiency standard applies to special education students
The following Priority Notice was sent to Maine Superintendents and Directors of Special Education by Commissioner Jim Rier and Maine DOE Director of Special Services on Sept. 17.
Dear Superintendents and Directors of Special Education,
As Maine moves towards a proficiency-based system that will ensure that all students graduate from our high schools having met rigorous learning standards, some have asked about the impact of this new expectation on students with disabilities. Continue reading “Proficiency standard applies to special education students”
Maine partnership receives national honor for serving military-connected children
A new military identifier implemented by the Maine Department of Education this fall will help local and State officials know which students are in military families so supports can be provided
AUGUSTA – A local partnership enhanced by the statewide efforts of Maine’s First Lady Ann LePage and the Maine Department of Education has been nationally recognized for serving students whose parents are in the military.
In a recent ceremony in Washington, D.C., ongoing collaboration between the Maine DOE, the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, the Kittery School Department, the Rotary Club of Kittery and the Maine Military Interstate Compact Council (MIC3) was honored with the Pete Taylor Partnership of Excellence Award from the Military Child Education Coalition. Continue reading “Maine partnership receives national honor for serving military-connected children”
Maine DOE provides assessment tool for standards-based IEP goals
The Department has created Self-Assessing for Standards-Based IEP Goals as an optional tool to assist school administrative units (SAUs) to self-assess progress in writing standards-aligned IEP goals.
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Maine DOE offers mentoring workshops for gifted and talented educators
New and experienced gifted and talented educators will have a chance to learn new skills and practices at upcoming mentoring workshops in Freeport and Bangor sponsored by the Maine DOE.
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Maine DOE offers resources to support English Learners
Maine’s population of English Learners (ELs) continues to increase. The Maine DOE offers the following EL guidance and resources to support districts in effectively serving these students:
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Student behavior management and update on restraint and seclusion rules
Safely and effectively managing student behavior in class can be a challenge.
A recently-adopted rule regarding the use of restraint or seclusion in schools (Department of Education Rule Chapter 33) limits the use of restraint or seclusion to manage behavior to situations in which the health or safety of a student or others is at risk, and other less intrusive methods have failed to alleviate the risk or have been deemed inappropriate.
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Educator resources for suicide awareness and prevention
The following Priority Notice was distributed to superintendents on Tuesday, August 19.
Dear Superintendents,
Ensuring the safety of our students is a commitment we all share and by providing supportive places to learn and thrive, we are doing our part to help our young people reach their full potential.
That is why today, I am pleased to announce the release of an online training video and toolkit, Suicide Prevention Awareness for Maine School Personnel, prepared by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Maine and available at no cost to Maine schools. This important resource aids school districts in complying with Maine’s school-based suicide awareness and prevention law (LD 609, PL 53, DOE Rule Chapter 38) that was passed in April 2013.
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