Having quality data does not just happen, it is a cooperative process that all educators need to be involved with. Data is how we make informed decisions about policy at school, district, State and Federal levels. The goal of the Maine Department of Education’s Data Quality Certification (DQC) Program is to support school staff in building a culture of data quality.
Continue reading “Data Quality Certification program dates opened”
BUXTON — The Bonny Eagle Middle School Climate Team recently hosted the author of a book that celebrates self-confidence and being oneself.
Continue reading “Author to Bonny Eagle students: Celebrate your differences”
Focus on high-quality early learning and development experiences for children before kindergarten
AUGUSTA – While Maine was not one of the nine states chosen for a major federal grant for early learning programs, state education and health officials pledged Friday to move forward anyway with their plan to bolster high quality early learning and development experiences for children before kindergarten.
Continue reading “Not chosen for award, Maine pledges to move ahead on early learning program”
PORTLAND – Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen met with 10 Portland-area high school students on Dec. 14 to ask for their thoughts on school accountability and how to measure school and teacher effectiveness.
The 10 students represented Portland, Deering and Casco Bay high schools, along with Portland Arts and Technology High School and the Real School in Falmouth.
PORTLAND — About 40 people turned out for a public forum at Portland Arts and Technology High School on Dec. 14 to discuss a new system for holding schools accountable, recognizing success and supporting schools in need of improvement with Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen.
Continue reading “Portland forum focuses on fair, accurate assessment”
AUBURN — Two Auburn Middle School eighth graders were recently honored at the Blaine House for their contributions to the current Maine Youth Excellence in Art exhibit, which is on display in state offices until January.
Continue reading “Auburn Middle School students honored for ‘Excellence in Art’”
A small, but engaged group of Maine residents signed into an online conference room on Dec. 13 to discuss Elementary and Secondary Education Act flexibility with Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen and share their ideas.
Continue reading “Participants join online ESEA flexibility forum”
The U.S. Department of Education is planning to reach out directly to all school districts and state-operated educational facilities — including juvenile justice facilities and centers for students with disabilities — for the 2011-12 Civil Rights Data Collection. This is the first such collection from public schools since 2000.
Continue reading “U.S. DOE plans Civil Rights Data Collection”
We knew there were a lot of opinions and concerns about the nearly decade-old No Child Left Behind Act and its system of for holding schools accountable. We figured people would have a lot to say, and much of it critical.
But almost 1,300 survey responses in a little more than a week?! Well, it’s exactly what we were hoping for. We also had almost 50 people at our Bangor forum last Thursday night, a small but engaged audience online Tuesday night, and about 40 more in Portland last night.
The highlight for me has been sitting with groups of very thoughtful high school students in Bangor and in Portland who shared their thoughts about what makes for an effective school and an effective teacher, and how to measure those qualities.
Keep the comments coming. I especially encourage you to participate in our Newsroom discussion. We are required by the feds to show how we solicited public input. But, more importantly, we need your input to craft an alternative system for measuring up schools, working with those that need help, and recognizing (and sharing best practices from) schools that are excelling.
There’s a bunch of information online about how we’re going about developing our request for flexibility on our ESEA Flexibility web page. Check it out and join the conversation.
The following is a press release from the Maine State Board of Education
AUGUSTA – The Maine State Board of Education has appointed four members to the State Charter School Commission, opening a path for the approval of charter schools in Maine.
Continue reading “Ed board approves charter commission members”
Maine DOE Newsroom 