Welcome to the Science and Technology page for the Maine Department of Education. The linking buttons at the top left of this page and below take you to a variety of web pages and resources. I hope these resources will help to inform your work. Please contact me with other science and technology related ideas and needs.
- Anita
Recent Science & Technology News
2009-10 Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship Program
The Einstein Fellowship program provides an opportunity for teachers to inform national policy and improve communication between the K-12 STEM education community and national leaders. Selection is based on excellence in K-12 mathematics, science, or technology teaching; demonstrated leadership; an understanding of national, state, and local education policy; and communication and interpersonal skills.
Einstein Fellows spend a school year in Washington, DC sharing their expertise with policy makers. As an Einstein Fellow, you may serve your Fellowship with Congress or one of several government agencies such as the Department of Energy, NASA, the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
The Richard C. Bartlett Environmental Education Award
The Richard C. Bartlett Environmental Education Award is awarded annually to an outstanding educator who has successfully integrated environmental education into his or her daily education programs. The award honors teachers who are bringing environmental education into the curriculum and the community, not just teaching about environmental challenges but also engaging students in the solution. It is given to an educator who can serve as an inspiration and model for others.
A $5,000 cash award is provided for the recipient to continue their work in environmental education. Additionally, as part of the prize, the winner travels to Washington, D.C., to meet with representatives from the environmental community to further his or her network.
Standards, Assessment, and Instruction: Connecting the Dots
Portland and Bangor, November 12 & 13, 2009
Instructional Planning for the 2009/2010 School Year. The Maine Department of Education announces the first in a series of workshops to help Maine educators understand accountability standards and their relation to the Maine Learning Results: Parameters for Essential Instruction, and plan classroom instruction to support student learning. The science sessions will begin with an examination of the MEA data and incorporate instructional strategies.
Time Warner Cable and the Maine Commission for Community Service are excited to offer Maine Schools and community programs, working with children (k-12), Service Learning Project Awards of $1,000 or $4,000 focused on STEM activities (science, technology, engineering, math). Projects should address a local community need while developing students’ academic skills in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Projects should also provide students the opportunity to reflect on civic responsibility and the impact of their service.
During the 2009-2010 school year, Science MEA assessment at grades 5 and 8 will be administered between May 10 and 21, 2010. The Science portion of the MHSA (Maine High School Assessment) for grade 11 will be administered during the first two weeks of April, 2010. These assessments will include multiple choice and constructed responses at all grade levels.
The Maine State Board of Education has officially approved Regulation 132, Learning Results: Parameters for Essential Instruction. The final changes are online AND they are in two formats, PDF and RTF (rich text format).
Science & Technology standards from the Maine Learning Results are available here: PDF / RTF
Supporting Materials for Implementing the 2007 Maine Learning Results
The Maine Department of Education is developing several tools to support deeper understanding of the revised Maine Learning Results: Parameters for Essential Instruction for Science and Technology. As these materials are finalized, they will be posted on this website.
Science & Technology PowerPoint (.ppt) - Provides an introduction to the Learning Results revision process, changes in content and structure for Science & Technology standards, and potential considerations for implementing the revised standards.
Multimedia Presentation - An audiovisual introduction to the Science and Technology standards of the Maine Learning Results: Parameters for Essential Instruction.
Narration Notes for the Science & Technology PowerPoint and Multimedia presentations - available inPDForText Onlyformat.
The Commission on Middle Level Education, under the leadership of Mary Callan and Ed Brazee, created the report Bright Futures! on the current state of middle level education. The purpose of the report is to make recommendations to the Maine Department of Education about improvements for educating Maine’s 10 to 15 year olds. The Commission hopes that middle level educators, parents, and policy makers will gain a clearer understanding of what is needed for high quality, equitable, and effective middle level programs.
The Science Listserv hosted by the Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance (MMSA) is a valuable source for professional development information, as well as science and technology updates. This is a free service provided by MMSA, and requires no subscription renewal.
Many of the documents on this website are in PDF format. In order to view these materials, you will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer. If you do not currently have this software on your computer, or would like to upgrade to a more recent version of Reader, click on the icon below for the free download. This is a safe and quick upgrade directly from Adobe.