In Maine, and across the nation, students are invited to sing in unity our National Anthem on September 11. This year marks the third annual simultaneous sing-a-long organized by the National Anthem Movement and concludes a year-long celebration of the 200th birthday of the Star-Spangled Banner.
Maine schools invited to study and track weather
Are you a WeatherBug? Maine Schools can now connect more closely with the communities they serve through studying and tracking weather.
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Maine Department of Education awarded flexibility from Feds
AUGUSTA – The Maine Department of Education received a three-year waiver allowing flexibility regarding specific requirements of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), formerly known as the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001(NCLB), whose reauthorization was recently debated and is being revised in our nation’s capital. While the revised ESEA shrinks the federal role yielding greater power to states to judge student achievement and school performance (from regulations outlined under NCLB), this recent waiver provides Maine educators and State and local leaders the opportunity for continued work toward rigorous and comprehensive State-developed plans designed to improve educational outcomes for all students, close achievement gaps, increase equity, and improve the quality of instruction.
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Commissioner’s Update – August 6, 2015
From the Maine Department of Education
Work continues as the Standardized Assessment Task Force participates in an email exchange of questions and answers, a system which was designed to be less invasive on members’ summer vacation and repeated travel to Augusta (even from as far away as St Agatha) for structured meetings.
Let’s review the first meeting of the selected members of educators (including Maine Education Association members), principals, superintendents, including some members of the Maine DOE staff. At the June gathering, each member of the task force offered their likes and dislikes with explanations in regard to last year’s assessment. Those comments included an appreciation for the past year’s testing as: shorter, more rigorous, flexible, connected to curriculum, web based, a wider window of testing, a secured platform, having a structured writing component, and statewide there were few issues.
Notices and Reporting
- Local Entitlement Application, due Sept. 15 (Reminder)
- Leased Space Application, due Sept. 15 (Reminder)
- Special Education Tuition & Board Report (EF-S-07), due Sept. 15 (Reminder)
- Title VI: Rural Education Performance Report, due Sept. 15 (Reminder)
- EF-M-240 Year End Report of Private Schools, due Oct. 15
More Notices | Administrative Letters | Reporting Calendar
News & Views
A first of its kind in the nation in mathematics coaching
A collaborative effort of Maine DOE, MSAD 17, and the University of Maine at Farmington came to life in June at the first of its kind in the nation — math coaching project. | More
New application and deadline for gifted and talented program approval
The Maine DOE has unveiled a new application with a Sept. 30 deadline for annual gifted and talented program and budget approval. | More
Suicide awareness and prevention training
A reminder this month that Maine’s school-based suicide awareness and prevention law calls for a one- to two-hour in-service training module which conforms to national guidelines. | More
Indirect cost rate application process announced
The Maine DOE is now required to offer the ability to recover indirect costs associated with management of federal grants to recipients of federal money passed through the Department. | More
Consultation as a special education service
When the revisions to MUSER were approved during the legislative session just ended, they contained an error that was not caught before their enactment. | More
Office of Special Services announces new learning disability evaluation form
Maine DOE’s Office of Special Services has revised Maine’s Learning Disability Evaluation Report form. | More
Clarifying calculation of Local Entitlement for IDEA funds
The Maine DOE Office of Special Services is clarifying the calculation of local entitlement funds under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). | More
Deeper Learning manuscripts sought
Journal of Maine Education seeks manuscripts that discuss specific ways in which deeper learning is provided for students. | More
More Dispatches | Press Releases | From the Commissioner
LATEST DOE Career/Project Opportunities
Standardized Assessment Task Force update
Work continues as the Standardized Assessment Task Force participates in an email exchange of questions and answers, a system which was designed to be less invasive on members’ summer vacation and repeated travel to Augusta (even from as far away as St Agatha) for structured meetings.
Continue reading “Standardized Assessment Task Force update”
A first of its kind in the nation in mathematics coaching
A collaborative effort of Maine DOE, MSAD 17, and the University of Maine at Farmington came to life in June at the first of its kind in the nation — math coaching project. UMF’s graduate program, the Maine Mathematics Coaching Project, brought together 15 teacher coaching candidates and their administrators to participate in the summer institute.
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Maine DOE clarifies calculation of Maintenance of Effort for IDEA funds
The Maine DOE Office of Special Services is clarifying the calculation of local entitlement funds under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The federal requirement, maintenance of effort, may be calculated in four different ways:
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Deeper Learning manuscripts sought
Journal of Maine Education seeks manuscripts that discuss specific ways in which deeper learning is provided for students. Deeper learning is interacting with real world or simulated real world situations, often to solve relevant challenges. Students develop questions, connect with resources, research, challenge-solve, and communicate to an audience their findings and process.
Office of Special Services announces new learning disability evaluation form
Maine DOE’s Office of Special Services has revised Maine’s Learning Disability Evaluation Report form to adhere to the requirement in IDEA that no single measure or assessment is to be used as the sole criterion for determining whether a child is a child with a disability. With a previous version of the form, it was possible for the IEP team to look only at the data for the first question and make a determination of eligibility, whereas the new form will require that the team review data for all questions in the form before making that determination.
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Consultation as a special education service
When the revisions to the Maine Unified Special Education Regulation Birth to Age Twenty (MUSER) were approved during the legislative session just ended, they contained an error that was not caught before their enactment. Section X.2.A(1) states that consultation may be provided by special education teachers or speech/language clinicians or pathologists “as a related service.” That section should have read consultation may be provided by those individuals “as a special education service.” Consultation is a related service only when provided by other providers, such as occupational therapists or physical therapists, or by a speech/language clinician or pathologist to a child whose disability category is not speech or language impairment. The Maine DOE will seek to correct the language in this section of MUSER during the next legislative session.
For more information or if you have questions about consultation services, please contact the Maine DOE’s Roberta Lucas at roberta.lucas@maine.gov or 624-6676; or Jonathan Braff at jonathan.braff@maine.gov or 624-6671.
Maine DOE Newsroom 