Governor LePage Recognizes School District Collaboration To Benefit Students

Released on Wednesday, February 14, 2018

AUGUSTA – Governor Paul R. LePage has issued the following statement recognizing today’s State Board of Education vote to accept the scoring for the finalists for the Integrated, Consolidated 9–16 Educational Facility Pilot Project.

“Communities across Maine are demonstrating that when the state provides them with support and incentives, they will work together to create more opportunities for students in an efficient and effective way,” said Governor LePage. “I commend the local superintendents and school boards for putting the needs of their students first.”

The Governor added, “Enabling Maine students to benefit from regional and collaborative approaches to education is the right thing to do. When these projects are up and running, they will serve as a shining example of what is possible when our communities work together to benefit students.”

The Maine Department of Education (DOE) has implemented the Integrated, Consolidated 9–16 Educational Facility Pilot Project as part of the EMBRACE initiative, providing support and incentives to communities that work together to increase opportunities for students through regional partnerships that enable efficiency and take advantage of scale that the communities could not achieve on their own.

Most recently, Maine DOE announced grant awards of $4.6 million to school districts to pursue more than $10 million in savings through regional projects.

Maine DOE offers new resource to help local districts monitor student growth in reading

The Maine Department of Education (Department) will begin using a universal reading metric called The Lexile® Framework for Reading to help Maine school districts monitor student growth and progress.

The Lexile Framework, which aligns with Maine’s State eMPowerME Assessments administered to grades 3 through 8 (among many other nationally used assessments), will allow districts to benchmark reading growth and assist with a comparison of data across commercial assessments.

“The framework will provide all schools in Maine with an additional resource to enhance classroom instruction,” said Maine Department of Education Commissioner Robert G. Hasson, Jr. “It will also help schools in their efforts to support families working at home with their children.”

The Lexile Framework was created by MetaMetrics® and provides a scientific approach to measuring growth and matching students to ability-appropriate learning materials. The Lexile Framework involves a scale for measuring both the reading ability of an individual and the text complexity of materials he or she encounters.

Content specialists at the Maine Department of Education, in collaboration with MetaMetrics, are beginning to prepare professional development opportunities that align with Lexile Framework data to help districts make instruction improvements based on student need.

The new resource is available through funds from Title I grant money from the U.S. Department of Education and administered by Maine’s Department staff, with ongoing professional learning opportunities to support statewide implementation.

Set to become available late spring/early summer, districts will be able to start using the new resource to monitor growth beginning in the 2018/19 school year, both within a single school year and from year-to-year going forward.

For more information contact Rachel Paling, Maine DOE Director of Communications at Rachel.paling@maine.gov or (207) 624-6747.

MSAA Alternate Assessment Test Coordinator Training Webinar

As a reminder to District Assessment Coordinators, Test Coordinators providing assistance with the upcoming administration of the MEA alternate Assessment, MSAA are invited to attend a training this Friday, February 16 at 2:30pm. This webinar may be accessed online here.

This webinar will be recorded and posted on the Maine DOE MSAA website. Online training will also be available within the MSAA site March 5 – May 4, 2018.

For questions regarding this training, please contact Sue Nay at sue.nay@maine.gov.

Mainers take on the Read to ME Challenge

After First Lady Ann LePage launched the Read to ME Challenge with second graders at Gilbert Elementary School in Augusta on February 1, it didn’t take long for others across the state to join in the campaign to promote awareness of the importance of reading regularly to and with children. The Saco School Department hosted Maine children’s author, Chris Van Dusen, who accepted the challenge and read to students at Fairfield Elementary School that same day. Van Dusen quickly challenged the Saco School Department’s superintendent and Fairfield Elementary School’s principal and their efforts have even reached Maine State Senator Chenette.

A bit further north, Lewiston Public Schools’ superintendent, Bill Webster, posted the challenge encouraging educators, parents, and community members read to children throughout the month. Very quickly, students at Lewiston’s McMahon School stepped up to get busy reading followed by students at Montello Elementary.

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Each year the Maine Department of Education (DOE) promotes the challenge as an opportunity to help communities throughout Maine contribute to children’s literacy growth by reading aloud to one or more children for at least 15 minutes. Part of the challenge is capturing the moment via a photo or video and then posting it on social media (with the hashags #ReadtoME or #ReadaloudME) with a challenge to others to do the same. Since the kick-off, parents, educators and community members have been stepping up to accept the challenge and issue challenges of their own. With more than 60 partner organizations helping to support the effort, many minutes of reading have been logged across the state.

Some of the partners in the campaign have included institutions of higher education and community literacy teams. In northern Maine, a number of staff and administration from the University of Maine at Fort Kent have read to students in three St. John Valley elementary schools – Fort Kent Elementary, Madawaska Elementary, and Dr. Levesque Elementary in Frenchville. They targeted 1^st and 2^nd grade classrooms and read Mahalia Mouse Goes to College by John Lithgow to emphasize the importance of literary with the dual purpose of promoting college and post-secondary aspirations.

At the University of Maine at Farmington, Beaver Pride is strong for the challenge. UMF has partnered with Mallett Elementary School. UMF students have signed up to read to kindergarten and first grade students. UMF students can also be Super Beaver Readers by signing up to read to second graders every week for 4 weeks.

Southern Maine Community College President Cantor read to 4^th and 5^th grade students at Skillin Elementary School in South Portland.

In Houlton, the Rotary Club’s community literacy team has plans to sponsor Read to ME Challenge events every Saturday in February. They have combined reading with other fun activities at a variety of locations around Houlton. Additionally, they invited First Lady LePage to read to students at Houlton Elementary School and to speak with their Rotary Club about the importance of reading to children.

Maine Department of Education employees are also taking on the challenge by visiting schools and day care centers to read to children. During the February vacation week, the Maine DOE will be hosting a “read-in” during which employees can bring their children in listen to stories throughout the day.

For more information about the Read to ME Challenge, contact leeann.larsen@maine.gov.

Seeking special education mentors for MACM Program

Maine’s Alternative Certification and Mentoring (MACM) Program is seeking up to 50 practicing or recently retired special educators interested in mentoring conditionally certified first-year teachers for 2018-2019. Maine’s Alternative Certification and Mentoring program is a collaboration between Maine DOE and the UMaine System.

The mentorship position requires the following:

Current or recently expired certification and endorsements in 282, 286, 290, or 291 and at least 5 years of experience supporting students with disabilities. Special education directors and recently retired educators are also encouraged to apply. Must be available to attend training in late June 2018.

For more information and to apply – view the online application.

About Maine’s Alternative Certification and Mentoring Program

For conditionally certified special educators, Maine’s Alternative Certification and Mentoring Program offers intensive, ongoing support and mentoring for up to three years from an experienced special educator in the same area of practice. Find out more information about the MACM Program.

Guidance for reporting Quarter 3 attendance and truancy

Quarter 3 attendance information may now be uploaded into the Synergy Student Information System. The Department is providing some additional guidance for Quarter 3 reporting because student attendance data is now an accountability indicator in the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). It is important that districts are clear on the instructions for uploading truancy and attendance reports so that the data is accurate and consistent.

The following are guidance for truancy and attendance uploads:

Attendance

Under ESSA, Maine is now required to report Chronic Absenteeism to the U.S. Department of Education. A student is considered absent if that student is present for less than 50% of his or her instructional day. A student is either considered absent or present for any given day. Less than half a day is counted as zero; half or more of a day is counted as one. A student is considered chronically absent if a student is absent 10% or more of the days enrolled and is enrolled for a minimum of ten days.

Most students have an instructional day that is defined by the school’s daily schedule, but there may be students for whom this is not the case. For example, a high school senior taking only two classes might have a full instructional day of 3 hours. That student would be absent if present for fewer than 1.5 hours. Your schools may also have specific attendance policies that address the completion of instructional activities off-campus (e.g., distance education, community projects).

The student attendance report will ask that you provide the following information for each student:

Number of days enrolled (whole number only. Decimals not allowed). This is the number of active instructional days that school has been in session since the student’s initial enrollment. Holidays, in-service days, and days that the school is closed for inclement weather would not be included. With some exceptions (See Maine Statute Title 20-A Section 4801)a student who is enrolled for the full school year would be expected to
Total days absent (whole number only. Decimals not allowed). Students should NOT be counted absent when participating in sanctioned school activities that cause them to miss classroom instruction (e.g. field trips, school sports team activities)
Total days of excused absences (whole number only. Decimals not allowed)

This will allow you (and the DOE) to determine the number of unexcused absences the student accrued and therefore give you a tool with which to double check your truancy data. For example, you would expect to see a truancy incident created for a student with 10 or more unexcused absences (days absent – excused absences).

Truancy

Truancy refers only to a student’s unexcused absences and is a term that only applies to students who are of compulsory school age (7 to 17). There are four different truancy thresholds:

A student aged 7 or above who hasn’t completed 6^th grade and has 5 or more consecutive unexcused absences
A student aged 7 or above who hasn’t completed 6^th grade and has 7 or more cumulative unexcused absences.
A student who has completed 6^th grade but is not yet 17 and has 7 or more consecutive unexcused absences.
A student who has completed 6^th grade but is not yet 17 and has 10 or more cumulative unexcused absences.

For schools to determine when a student reaches any of these thresholds, it would be necessary for the school to track daily attendance and maintain information on whether each absence is excused or unexcused.

Maine Statute Title 20-A, Section 5001-A enumerates six categories of excusable absence:

Personal illness;
An appointment with a health professional that must be made during the regular school day;
Observance of a recognized religious holiday when the observance is required during the regular school day;
A family emergency;
A planned absence for a personal or educational purpose that has been approved;
*Education disruption resulting from homelessness, unplanned psychiatric hospitalization, unplanned hospitalization for a medical emergency, foster care placement, youth development center placement or some other out-of-district placement that is not otherwise authorized by either an IEP, other education plan, or a superintendent’s agreement.

Local school boards have the responsibility for developing rules to administer the attendance statute, which could include any local policies on what, if any, documentation is required to excuse an absence.

Truancy reporting requires student information to be submitted that indicates which of the four truancy thresholds the student crossed and documentation of the school’s response to the truancy. The sequence of steps to that response are also described in statute Title 20-A, Section 5051-A.

Going forward, attendance and truancy data will be need to be uploaded at no less than on a quarterly basis. For the 2017-2018 year, the Department will be requiring only Quarter 3 and the Final report to be certified. However, for intervention purposes, the Department recommends districts review student attendance on at least a weekly or monthly basis.

For questions regarding attendance and truancy, please contact Gayle Erdheim 207-624-6637. For questions regarding access to Synergy or NEO, please contact the help desk, 207-624-6896.

Peer reviewers sought for Maine’s 21st CCLC program

The Maine Department of Education is seeking qualified peer reviewers to read, assess, and score competitive grant proposals for the 21^st Century Community Leaning Centers (21^st CCLC) Program. This federally-funded grant program provides opportunities for schools and communities to develop “community learning centers” that serve children and youth during out-of-school time. Maine currently has 26 grant-funded 21^st CCLC programs operating 45 individual centers in communities across the state. Grant proposals for the 21^st CCLC program will be evaluated through a formal peer review process, which will ensure that quality applications are selected for funding.

This year’s Request for Proposals (RFP) for the 21^st CCLC program was released to the public on January 15 and is available online. The Department anticipates receiving applications from local education agencies, community-based organizations, and other eligible entities seeking awards under this RFP.

Qualifications:

Peer reviewers will be selected for their experience in providing effective academic, enrichment, youth development, and related support services for children and youth. The most qualified reviewers will be individuals who have experience in the administration of high-quality youth development programs within schools and communities. Examples of the experienced individuals sought include, but are not limited to:

21^st CCLC program directors and site coordinators
Teachers and principals
College and university staff
Youth development workers
Community service providers

Please note that an applicant or member of an applicant’s organization will not be selected to serve as a member of the Department’s peer review team.

Required Tasks:

Selected peer reviewers will work individually to read each assigned application and create detailed, objective, constructive, and well-written comments on approximately 10-15 applications on the basis of the criteria established in the RFP. These comments will be turned in to the Department prior to participating in on-site consensus scoring sessions. Reviewers must be able to participate in an online training webinar and review grant applications through a web-based system. It is anticipated that peer reviewers will have a three (3) week window in which to complete their individual review of assigned applications. Following the individual review of applications, each peer reviewer will be required to travel to the Maine Department of Education for two scheduled scoring days. It is during these consensus scoring sessions that each peer reviewer will work with the other members of the peer review team to score each application. Selected peer reviewers must complete the following tasks during the following date(s):

Task	Date(s)	Time(s)
Participate in an online training webinar	April 19, 2018	1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Review grant applications through a web-based system and provide individual, written comments on each application (which MUST be turned in to the Department)	April 27, 2018 – May 18, 2018	Any Time
Participate in on-site consensus scoring sessions which will be located at the Maine Department of Education in Augusta, ME	May 22, 2018; May 23, 2018	9:00 AM – 4:00 PM; 9:00 AM – Finished

Compensation for Services: Peer reviewers who complete the required tasks will be reimbursed for travel costs to and from the consensus scoring sessions as well as provided a $75 honorarium per assigned application.

Previous peer reviewers have found that serving as a member of the peer review team is an excellent opportunity for professional development and growth. It is likely that, if selected, reviewers will be exposed to new program models, strategies, and practices. These new concepts may provide ideas and support for ongoing work as well as future grant writing efforts. Most importantly, the time given to this effort will be of great benefit the children and families of Maine.

How to Apply: Interested parties must contact Travis Doughty at travis.w.doughty@maine.gov to obtain a copy of the 2018 peer reviewer application and then return the completed application along with a current resume or CV.

Pursuant to Title IV, Part B of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015, peer reviewers may not include any applicant, or representative of an applicant, that has or will be submitting a proposal in response to the current competition.

Deadline:

The Maine Department of Education will be accepting peer reviewer applications on a rolling basis until March 22, 2018 or until the needed positions are filled. Interested parties are encourage to submit applicants as soon as possible.

Contact: For more information, contact Federal Grant Coordinator, Travis Doughty at travis.w.doughty@maine.gov or 624-6709.

Notice of proposed rule change to Chapter 82 School Bus Driver Fitness Determination

The Maine Department of Education is proposing to repeal Chapter 82 School Bus Driver Fitness Determination. Current motor vehicle laws provide substantial protections for public safety. The repeal supports local school districts in the selection and hiring of school bus drivers. This repeal affects bus drivers hired by public schools.

Written comments should be mailed to: Maine Department of Education, Attn: Jaci Holmes, 23 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333-0023, or emailed to jaci.holmes@maine.gov . The comment deadline is March 16, 2018.

Title I schoolwide program eligibility waiver request now available

Section 1114(a)(1)(A) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), requires a Title I school to have at least 40% poverty to be eligible to operate a schoolwide program. Schoolwide flexibility allows a school to upgrade the entire educational program of a school. ESEA section 1114 (a)(1)(B) permits a State Education Agency (SEA) to waive the 40% poverty threshold requirement, after taking into account how a schoolwide program will best serve the needs of the students in the school while improving academic achievement and other factors.

If a Title I participating school does not meet the 40% poverty threshold and wishes to obtain a waiver to operate a schoolwide program, the School Administrative Unit (SAU) must complete the attached waiver request form on the school’s behalf. If multiple Title I schools wish to receive a waiver, the SAU must complete a waiver request form for each individual school.

The SAU and school remain responsible for meeting all other ESEA section 1114 requirements for operating a Title I schoolwide program. This includes the development of a CNA/SAU Consolidated Plan that addresses the needs of all students, but particularly the needs of students experiencing challenges to meet State academic standards.

Waiver request forms must be signed by the Superintendent to be accepted by the Maine Department of Education. To ensure timely waiver approval, it is recommended that waiver requests are submitted prior to the submission of a CNA/SAU Consolidated Plan for the school.

Download Waiver

Please submit completed waiver requests to:

Chelsey Fortin-Trimble
ESEA Federal Programs & Title I Director
Maine Department of Education
23 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04330
Chelsey.A.Fortin@maine.gov

Cybersecurity opportunity for young women in high school

There is still time to encourage young women in high school to participate in GirlsGoCyberStart’, national program created by CyberStart that uses online games of discovery to introduce high school students to the field of cybersecurity.

In a collaboration between the Maine DOE, the Maine Office of Information Technology and the Governor, the State of Maine helping promote this program in order to provide Maine students with an opportunity to learn more about the field of cybersecurity and to discover their ability for a careers in cybersecurity.

Participating students do not need prior cybersecurity knowledge or programming experience. All that is required is a computer and an internet connection. Young women in high school who excel in the GirlsGoCyberStart game will have the opportunity to win computers and other prizes as well as a trip, with a parent, to the 2018 Women in CyberSecurity Conference.

The website explaining the program is available at GirlsGoCyberStart.com. Registration will begin on January 29 and end on February 16, 2018. The first 10,000 young women in high school who have registered by then, can play the game online from February 20 through February 25.

For more information about eligibility visit GirlsGoCyberStart.com and for more information about Maine’s participation in the program contact Dr. Kelly Rickert, Director of Workforce Development for the Maine Office of Information Services.