The Maine Department of Education is in the process of applying for a third, five-year Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) grant. This latest round of federal grants, called TIF 5, will expand the number of Maine Schools for Excellence (MSFE) districts and offer the opportunity for 20-30 additional high-need schools to gain access to quality educator effectiveness programs, professional development and performance-based compensation.
Category: Standards
Maine Learning Results standards, implementation of the Common Core State Standards and the development of the Next Generation Science Standards
Estimated release dates of 2015-16 assessment data
The Maine Department of Education is negotiating a contract with vendor FocalPointK12 to deliver the 2015-16 assessment results via an online reporting system. The Maine Assessment and Accountability Reporting System (MAARS) is expected to be launched in the coming months and will provide both public and confidential access to data, replacing Measured Progress’ iServices portal.
To keep educators and the public informed, the Department has developed an expected timeline of release for the various assessments conducted during the 2015-16 school year. Although the timing for much of the data is later than desired, it is anticipated that the 2016-17 data will be released much earlier since Maine’s assessment and reporting systems will not undergo major changes in 2016-17.
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Registration open for 2016 Summer Literacy Institute
The Maine Department of Education is pleased to announce registration is now open for the 2016 Summer Literacy Institute: High Impact Instructional Routines and Strategies. The one-day institute will provide a foundation for ongoing professional development throughout the 2016-17 school year.
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Assessment strategies for the theatre classroom
Assessment is part of the educational process. However, assessment can become an afterthought in the theatre classroom due to educator concerns that theatre is too subjective to assess successfully or that traditional assessment tools are not applicable to a performance-based discipline. Fortunately, theatre gurus, Susan K. Green and Stephen Gundersheim, have identified the following six sequential steps that educators can use to prioritize and develop effective theatre assessments.
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The why and how of thematic units in the world language classroom
The December 2015 article on the NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do statements guided world language educators on using the resource for identifying learning targets relative to proficiency level. This article builds off of that idea, and it looks closer at thematic units in order to understand why and how they best empower educators to teach to language proficiency.
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Proficiency Council Preliminary Report presented to Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs
The Maine DOE and the Proficiency Council recently presented the Proficiency Council Preliminary Report to members of the Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs.
Department releases Standards Review Panel Report
The Maine DOE has finalized for release the report from the Maine Learning Standards Review Panel. This broad-based panel was convened by Commissioner Jim Rier in 2014 to review the state’s English language arts and mathematics standards.
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Maine’s academic achievement noted by Education Week
Maine continues to have its strengths and challenges according to a recently published ‘Quality Counts’ report released by the Education Week Research Center.
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Meeting at the Crossroads: Identifying pathways to proficiency through technical programs, mathematics and English language arts
Teachers from culinary arts, health occupations, and early childhood education programs worked for two days with mathematics and English language arts (ELA) teachers to find points of intersections where students can demonstrate proficiency of Maine student learning standards. Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs have always been proficiency-based as students gain knowledge and skills that leads directly into post-secondary programs and professional licensing. Demonstrating proficiency in CTE programs often involves both an academic approach to gathering information and sharing knowledge, as well as performance assessment that reflects skill with various tools including a variety of technologies and human interaction.
Next State of Learning for Maine
Maine is one of four states leading efforts to create innovative opportunities in public school classrooms around the country through the Next State of Learning project. This showcases how states are transforming public education by scaling locally led innovations with a strong focus on student outcomes.
Maine DOE Newsroom 