State agency clients returning to their parental home, part II

This notice is to refine the information provided in the previous notice on this subject.

With respect to a child who is in the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services (a state ward) and who is subsequently reunited with his/her family, MUSER IV.4.D(2) provides that the child remains a state agency client for six months from when the child returns to his family. When, on the other hand, a child is removed from his/her family home by the Department of Health and Human Services and becomes a state agency client but remains in the custody of a parent or family member, and is subsequently returned to live in the family home, the child will lose state agency client status on the date that the child resumes residence in the family home.

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AP4ALL registration is next week

Student registration begins March 7 for AP4ALL, which provides online Advanced Placement courses free of charge to any student residing in a Maine school administrative unit who is educated at the public expense. By offering online Advanced Placement courses at no charge, AP4ALL provides equity of access to any student residing in a Maine public high school regardless of where they live and the limits of resources available in their local school.

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ACCESS for ELLs® 2.0 testing window closes March 7

The ACCESS for ELLs® 2.0 testing window for both the computer-based and paper-based versions closes March 7, and districts are required to pack and return all testing material to Data Recognition Corporation by March 9, 2016.  Please direct all questions regarding shipping and returning of all testing materials to Data Recognition Corporation at (855) 787-9615.

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“Content Corner” releases second round of instructional improvement articles

The Maine Department of Education is pleased to release the second collections of 2015-2016 articles in the “Content Corner.” These resources are designed to support teaching and learning in Maine classrooms and make connections to classroom applications and research.

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Mathematically speaking, what is fluency?

This is the second in a series of instructional articles to support teachers in implementing the 8 Effective Teaching Practices outlined in the book Principles to Actions: Ensuring Mathematical Success for All. This article discusses teaching practice 6: Build Procedural Fluency from Conceptual Understanding.

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Feedback: A valuable teaching strategy for health education and physical education, Part 1

Feedback is an essential instructional strategy; when implemented effectively it can improve both student and teacher performance in Health Education and Physical Education. This article will introduce just a few of the many concepts and resources that are available and encourage educators to explore additional resources through the links provided.

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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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Instruction in preschool programs

“Instruction” is not a word that rises to the top in a preschool teacher’s vocabulary list. In fact, some teachers hear the word and envision “instruction” as equal to inappropriate practice.  It is a word that often connotes preschool becoming too “academic,” a “push-down curriculum from kindergarten,” or taking the fun out of young children’s curiosity about the world. And, if one mentions the term “direct instruction,” many preschool teachers will end the conversation, running out of the room.

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