Commissioner’s Update – May 15, 2014

From the Maine DOE

Maine Education Commissioner Jim Rier presents Rose M. Gaffney School Principal Mitchell Look with a certificate of achievement for earning an A on their 2014 school report card. The school received a C last year.
Commissioner Jim Rier presents Rose M. Gaffney School Principal Mitchell Look with a certificate of achievement for earning an A on their 2014 school report card. The Machias school, which the Commissioner and his three sons attended, received a C last year.

In a few hours, the 2014 school report cards will be made available to the public via the Department’s Education Data Warehouse.

Meanwhile, I am spending the day visiting elementary schools in South Hiram and Gorham that have each seen a two-letter grade gain since last year’s report card was released. The grading system certainly can’t be credited for those increases, but it has helped to surface success stories that can inform the improvement work happening at so many of our schools.

That’s why I’ve spent the week traveling from Washington County to western Maine to visit schools with 2014 report cards that show a letter grade or more of growth. It’s been exciting to celebrate these schools and see their pride upon being presented with their improved report card. But more so, it’s been an incredible learning experience for me

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Commissioner celebrates Washington County school improvements on first day of report card rollout tour

MACHIAS – Maine’s Commissioner of Education spent Monday in Washington County, recognizing two schools there for raising their grades on the 2014 school report cards that will be released to the public on Thursday. | More

In conjunction with the release of this year’s school grades, the Maine DOE is pleased to make available a school improvement webinar series recorded this spring based on the needs surfaced by the latest grades and our improvement-related discussions with schools. | More

The Maine DOE is accepting registrations for the 4th Annual ESL Summer Academy to be held June 24-26 at the University of Maine in Orono. Administrators and school teams are encouraged to attend the academy, which will feature interactive sessions on working with the academic language demands in content standards. | More

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently awarded 170 Maine schools $2,022,150 for distribution during the 2014-15 school year to provide fresh fruits and vegetables at no cost to students. A list of the Maine schools who received the award is available on the Department’s School Nutrition website. | More

K-12 educators, teaching artists and interdisciplinary teams are invited to the New England Summit on Arts Education hosted by the Maine Arts Assessment Initiative (MAAI). The summit will be held July 29-August 1 at the University of Southern Maine in Portland. | More

The passage of LD 1850 (PL 2013, Resolve Ch. 114) charged the Maine DOE with conducting an analysis of the Title I component in the Essential Programs & Services (EPS) school funding formula. To ensure the accuracy of that review, the Department is asking that districts review the staff they reported in the Maine Education Data Management System who are paid with federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Title I Disadvantage funds. | More

As the end of the school year approaches, the Maine DOE is reminding school administrative unit (SAU) staff that discipline reporting is due on June 30. The Department’s focus on bullying prevention has enabled us to expand the reporting capabilities available to SAUs and a detailed explanation of these improvements can be seen here. | More

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Dispatches Press Releases From the Commissioner

Commissioner to visit Maine schools, release report cards

Commissioner Jim Rier will travel to personally congratulate six of the 93 schools that improved by at least one letter grade since the first school report cards were released by his Department one year ago

MACHIAS – Maine’s Education Commissioner will kick-off a multi-day tour culminating with the release of the 2014 statewide school report cards with a visit on Monday to the Washington County elementary school where his own schooling started.

Continue reading “Commissioner to visit Maine schools, release report cards” →

Commissioner’s Update – May 8, 2014

From the Maine DOE

This Teacher Appreciation Week, I had the honor on behalf of the Department and the LePage Administration of recognizing the first-ever Maine County Teachers of the Year.

Maine students are being inspired each day by the effective, engaging educators we are fortunate to have in so many of our classrooms and the 16 teachers named this week are among the best of the best.

I look forward to recognizing one of them as Maine’s 2015 Teacher of the Year this fall, though I believe all of them are certainly more than deserving of that distinction. I also want to thank Hannaford, Geiger, Bangor Savings Bank, Unum, the Maine Board of Education, Educate Maine and the Maine Teacher of the Year Association for their tireless support of the Maine State Teacher of the Year Program.

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Registration, agenda available for Commissioner’s Conference for Superintendents

The Department has opened registration for its 103rd Annual Commissioner’s Conference for Superintendents. | More

Certification changes to become effective May 14

The Maine State Board of Education has finally adopted the revised Rule for Certification, Authorization and Approval of Education Personnel. The two part (Rule Chapter 115, Part I and Part II) revised rule becomes effective May 14. | More

Maine DOE seeking panel members to set achievement levels

As a governing state in the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, Maine continues to support the efforts to develop a rigorous assessment system that will become operational in the 2014-15 school year. As part of those efforts, the Maine DOE is seeking the nomination of qualified educators, administrators, parents and business/community leaders to participate in the process to recommend cut scores for achievement levels on Smarter Balanced developed assessments. | More

School nutrition standards to become effective July 1

Federal school nutrition standards adopted in 2010 will become effective on July 1. The Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act (HHFKA) requires that all foods sold on a school campus outside of the school meal program must meet the Smart Snacks nutrition standards set forth in the interim final rule titled “National School Lunch Program (NLSP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP): Nutrition Standards for All Foods Sold in School as required by the HHFKA of 2010.” | More

Maine DOE to offer trainings on National School Lunch Program improvements

Maine DOE Child Nutrition Program staff will be offering training sessions this summer to update local school unit nutrition program staff on federal and State improvements to the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). A regional training schedule will be available in June and published in the Commissioner’s Update and on the Department’s professional development calendar. | More

More information on the School Facility Management System

The Maine DOE is reminding district leaders that the School Facility Management System (SFMS) provided to school administrative units (SAU) through the Maine DOE will no longer be available after June 30, the end date of the current contract with WFA, Inc., the software provider. | More

Department guidance on annual review of IEPs

The Maine Unified Special Education Regulation (MUSER) requires that the Individualized Education Program (IEP) Team review a child’s IEP no less than annually. | More

Consultation by teachers of the visually impaired

An appropriately qualified teacher of the visually impaired (TVI) who provides consultation to regular education teachers and/or to special education teachers of children from age 3 to 20 under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is providing consultation, as a special education service.   It is a service in itself, not a level of intensity of service.  Also, this consultation should not be confused with “vision services,” which are available under IDEA only to infants and toddlers. | More

Nominations being accepted for Maine Curriculum Leader of the Year

Nominations are now open for the 2013-14 Maine Curriculum Leader of the Year award.

Strong curriculum and instructional leadership is particularly important in our state as schools work to implement proficiency-based education. Nominees should be effective curriculum leaders who have been active at the local, regional and state level. | More

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Dispatches
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From the Commissioner

Appreciation for our teachers, this week and always

This Teacher Appreciation Week, I had the honor on behalf of the Department and the LePage Administration of recognizing the first-ever Maine County Teachers of the Year.

Maine students are being inspired each day by the effective, engaging educators we are fortunate to have in so many of our classrooms and the 16 teachers named this week are among the best of the best.

I look forward to recognizing one of them as Maine’s 2015 Teacher of the Year this fall, though I believe all of them are certainly more than deserving of that distinction. I also want to thank Hannaford, Geiger, Bangor Savings Bank, Unum, the Maine Board of Education, Educate Maine and the Maine Teacher of the Year Association for their tireless support of the Maine State Teacher of the Year Program.

As I often say, there is no greater calling than preparing our children with the skills they’ll need to be successful after they leave our schools. Yet as teachers know, theirs is a calling that is increasingly becoming more challenging, given the changing needs of students and our commitment to centering our entire education system around each individual’s learning styles and speeds.

Continue reading “Appreciation for our teachers, this week and always” →

School nutrition standards to become effective July 1

Federal school nutrition standards adopted in 2010 will become effective on July 1. The Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act (HHFKA) requires that all foods sold on a school campus outside of the school meal program must meet the Smart Snacks nutrition standards set forth in the interim final rule titled “National School Lunch Program (NLSP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP): Nutrition Standards for All Foods Sold in School as required by the HHFKA of 2010.”

Continue reading “School nutrition standards to become effective July 1” →

Consultation by teachers of the visually impaired

An appropriately qualified teacher of the visually impaired (TVI) who provides consultation to regular education teachers and/or to special education teachers of children from age 3 to 20 under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is providing consultation, as a special education service.   It is a service in itself, not a level of intensity of service.  Also, this consultation should not be confused with “vision services,” which are available under IDEA only to infants and toddlers.

Continue reading “Consultation by teachers of the visually impaired” →

Certification changes to become effective May 14

The Maine State Board of Education has finally adopted the revised Rule for Certification, Authorization and Approval of Education Personnel. The two part (Rule Chapter 115, Part I and Part II) revised rule becomes effective May 14.

Continue reading “Certification changes to become effective May 14” →

Maine DOE to offer trainings on National School Lunch Program improvements

Maine DOE Child Nutrition Program staff will be offering training sessions this summer to update local school unit nutrition program staff on federal and State improvements to the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). A regional training schedule will be available in June and published in the Commissioner’s Update and on the Department’s professional development calendar.

Continue reading “Maine DOE to offer trainings on National School Lunch Program improvements” →