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:
Maine high schools invited to register for Poetry Out Loud competition
Maine high schools are invited to register for Poetry Out Loud, a nationwide program that encourages youth to learn about poetry through memorization and recitation while helping students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence and learn about their literary heritage.
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Informational meetings on new rural funding scheduled
A new grant is now available to 25 rural schools in Maine to implement a program which has proven to increase academic growth and achievement for first-year high school students by providing a proven, flexible, data-driven system centered on the relationships between students and teachers.
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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.
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Department releases leased space approvals
The Department has completed its review of FY 2015 leased space applications and posted the results here.
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Nominations open for state’s top financial literacy educator
The Maine Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy is seeking nominations for the Maine Jump$tart Coalition Educator of the Year Award.
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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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Department shares further guidance for processing charter invoices
The Maine DOE has posted additional guidance clarifying the process for preparing or disputing charter school invoices to resident school administrative units. This second clarification as well as additional resources are available on the finance section of the Maine Charter School Commission’s website.
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Maine’s Teacher of the Year asks for votes
The Department is encouraging Mainers to vote for Karen MacDonald, the current Maine Teacher of the Year, in her quest to win a $2,500 grant to extend learning opportunities to struggling students in Portland.
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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”
