Category: Special Education

DOE, UMaine launch autism resource, research institute

AUGUSTA – Mainers who serve children with autism and their families will soon have a statewide system of supports.

The Maine Autism Institute for Education and Research (MAIER), a partnership of the Maine Department of Education and the University of Maine’s College of Education and Human Development, will open on Jan. 1 at the UMaine campus. The two organizations have committed to contribute a total of $288,000 to fund the first 18 months of the new collaborative.

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Spring training for educators of English learners

The University of Maine Project Reach program invites K-12 teachers across subject areas to apply to its scholarship program, which aims to improve classroom instruction for English learners (ELs) in Maine. The project focuses efforts on current teachers of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects and provides a variety of professional and financial assistance to help teachers complete the English as a Second Language (ESL) endorsement coursework.

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Transfer decisions refocused on student best interest

AUGUSTA – Starting today, superintendents who reject a parent’s request to send their child to school in another district will have to explain why that transfer would not be in the best interest of the student.

Under Maine law, a parent who believes it is in the best interest of their child to attend school in a different district than where the student lives can request the two superintendents agree to a transfer.

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ACCESS for ELLs® to provide media-based listening test

Beginning this testing year, the listening test of Assessing Comprehension and Communications in English State to State for English Language Learners (ACCESS for ELLs®) will be media-based, meaning that all listening items for all tiers and grades 1-12 are prerecorded. Rather than listening to the test administrator read the scripted items as in the past, the students will listen to a recording. This allows for students to listen to more authentic language use, such as conversations involving more than one speaker.

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Maine’s 2013-14 ACCESS for ELLs® testing cycle available

As part of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act, all Maine schools annually assess the English language proficiency (ELP) of their English learners in kindergarten through grade 12 using Assessing Comprehension and Communications in English State to State for English Language Learners (ACCESS for ELLs®), a standards-based ELP assessment common throughout the state. The testing cycle for 2013-14 is as follows: Continue reading “Maine’s 2013-14 ACCESS for ELLs® testing cycle available” →

Revised special education EF-S-03 form available

The EF-S-03 form for contract approval for special education services has been updated to include categories of service providers listed in Maine Unified Special Education Regulation Birth to Age Twenty (MUSER) that were not listed on the form, including those from the most recent updates to MUSER. The form, which is due Oct. 15, also requires a more precise identification of the funding source for these services.

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Report of Services to Students with Disabilities (EF-S-05 Parts 1 & 2) due Dec. 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, Sections A and B: Report of Special Education Personnel Employed, Contracted and Needed.  Continue reading “Report of Services to Students with Disabilities (EF-S-05 Parts 1 & 2) due Dec. 31” →

Discover alternative interventions for at-risk students

Teachers, administrators, school counselors and mental health specialists are invited to attend the third annual Lives in the Balance summit, “There’s a Better Way,” which focuses on non-confrontational interventions for at-risk children.

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Updated: Reminder about special education students placed in non-approved programs

Updated Oct. 1

Since the release of this dispatch, the Maine DOE has become aware of a need for further clarification. A parent has the right at any time to place his or her child receiving special education in a private school, including a non-approved private school. As stated in MUSER §IV.4.G(3)(a),  the residential district in this situation is not required to pay for the cost of the child’s education in the private school. The Department has become aware that some districts, nevertheless, are paying some or all of the educational costs for such children placed in non-approved private schools. Districts should not be making such payments unless the procedures described below (convening the IEP Team, developing an offer of FAPE, explaining to the parent the ramifications of a decision to place the child in a non-approved program and the right to revoke consent for continued provision of special education services) are followed and the parent revokes consent in writing. Under no circumstances should special education funds be used for such payments.

School administrative units (SAUs) sometimes become aware that a student identified as needing special education services has been placed in a program that has not been approved for special education by the Maine DOE. Placement of such a student by the SAU is prohibited by MUSER §XII.1.F(1)(c), but the student may have been placed directly by parents or a State agency.

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