Educators help develop formative assessment digital library

This summer, 71 Maine educators began helping to develop a formative assessment digital library to accompany Maine’s new assessments, which will be administered starting in the spring of 2015. The library is an online, interactive clearinghouse of resources, tools and professional learning opportunities for educators, students and families. It will include examples of instructional best practices at each grade level, strategies for cross-classroom collaboration and professional development resources related to the assessment system, such as scoring rubrics for performance tasks.

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Upcoming events provide dyslexia information

Project D.E.B.U.N.K. (Dyslexia Educational Bandwagon, Uniting Noteworthy Kids!) along with Decoding Dyslexia-Maine is inviting educators, legislators and Maine families to several upcoming informational events.

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ELA teachers to host colleagues for teacher-led discussion of next generation assessments

In partnership with the Maine DOE, the Maine Council of English Language Arts is hosting two informational Dine and Discuss sessions about Maine’s next generation assessments. Each session, one at Kennebunk High School and one in Rockland at Oceanside High School, will be facilitated by Maine teachers who participated in range finding on last year’s pilot test of the performance task full writes.

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New toolkit measures alignment of materials to standards

Trying to determine whether a lesson plan, textbook or other item aligns with Maine’s updated math and English language arts (ELA) standards? A free comprehensive toolkit for evaluating alignment to the Expectation of those standards is now available.

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UMaine offers study to students underrepresented in STEM fields

A new three-year project at the University of Maine will empower female and minority high school students, their teachers and communities to create innovative solutions to the environmental problems related to stormwater management.

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Participate in NECAP science inquiry task field test

The Maine DOE is recruiting schools to serve as field testing sites to administer the New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) Science Inquiry Tasks in grades 5, 8 and 11. These field tests give students the opportunity to engage with science content in a different way than traditional assessments and provide feedback about their experience.

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See “great things” happening in central Maine public schools

The Kennebec Valley Superintendents Association (KVSA) will be hosting its “Great Things Happen in Public Schools” event to share with the public the various positive enterprises occurring in area schools. The event will take place Friday, Nov. 1, from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. at Thomas College in Waterville.

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Mainers finalists for top teaching award in math, science

GARDINER – Department of Education Chief Academic Officer Rachelle Tome announced today that four of Maine’s top teachers are finalists for the nation’s highest honor for mathematics and science educators.

Tome was joined Friday by Anita Bernhardt, Maine DOE’s standards and assessment coordinator, and Michele Mailhot, the Department’s mathematics specialist, in congratulating the state’s finalists for the prestigious Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching during a ceremony at the Maine Science Teachers Association conference in Gardiner.

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Resources available for transition to proficiency-based diploma

In 2012, the Maine Legislature passed into law LD 1422, An Act to Prepare Maine People for the Future Economy (Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, section 4722-A). The cornerstone of this law was the requirement that Maine transition to a proficiency-based system in which graduation from a Maine high school after Jan. 1, 2018 would be based on students demonstrating proficiency in meeting Maine’s learning standards in all eight content areas and their guiding principles. Maine DOE was charged with assisting school administrative units (SAUs) with this transition by developing standards-based system tools and by providing technical assistance and targeted funding. Continue reading “Resources available for transition to proficiency-based diploma” →

Commissioner’s Update – October 10, 2013

From the Maine DOE

Earlier this week, Governor Paul R. LePage appointed me as Acting Education Commissioner. It is an honor to be called upon to serve the people of Maine in this new role, especially our students and educators. While the Department’s Commissioner has changed, our commitments have not.

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