Connecting, Supporting, and Advancing
Gifted and Talented Education in Maine
Gifted and Talented Education in Maine
MEGAT encourages all educators of the gifted in Maine to get involved in their regional groups and consider serving on the board.
It is a rewarding professional experience and extremely important in working to serve the needs of Maine’s gifted youth.
It is a rewarding professional experience and extremely important in working to serve the needs of Maine’s gifted youth.
Dear MEGAT Participants,
I’m sorry that my schedule would not allow me to join you today, as I’d hoped to be able to share some updates with you in person. We have made some minor changes to the application for GT funding this year, based on an examination of the statute and rule which place responsibility for the quality of each program with the SAU superintendent (not with DOE). While the various components of each SAU’s plan are still required as usual, the DOE team is only screening these for completeness (to ensure there is a philosophy, for example) but determinations of the quality of these program components are made by your district and not by DOE. You may have also noticed that you are no longer required to enter specific book titles, itemized materials and supplies, or specific consultants or professional development activities when preparing your budget; we recognize that, at the time of making your applications, you don’t usually know who your students will be and what exactly their needs will entail. We hope this flexibility is helpful as you create innovative programs and educational experiences for your exceptional learners. These changes are in line with other targeted funding programs, which require that certain components are in place, while entrusting the details and the quality of implementation to the school districts.
We are happy to share that, for the first time in many years, DOE is hiring a staff person to provide guidance and to plan technical assistance for GT programs and practitioners. Our multi-tiered systems of support specialist should be on board and reaching out to you in the coming months to identify opportunities to be of help to you as you develop and implement programs to support your students. Please stay tuned as we populate our GT website with helpful information, links, resources, and updates. We will likely be reaching out in the spring to gather input from all of you with respect to a process for developing updates to the statute and to rule chapter 104, which appears not to have been updated since 1987.
DOE is committed to our role as a service organization with primary goals of supporting (not supplanting) the expertise and creativity of expert educators and administrators like yourselves. We hope that you will find the new application and programing flexibility helpful as you innovate on behalf of the students you serve.
Again, please know that I had hoped to be able to attend your event in person, and will make every effort to connect at one of your upcoming meetings. Don’t hesitate to reach out directly if you have hopes, concerns, or ideas to share. The GT.DOE@Maine.gov email is best for day-to-day inquiries.
Thank you for all you do on behalf of Maine’s students!
Sincerely,
Pender Makin
Commissioner
Maine Department of Education
I’m sorry that my schedule would not allow me to join you today, as I’d hoped to be able to share some updates with you in person. We have made some minor changes to the application for GT funding this year, based on an examination of the statute and rule which place responsibility for the quality of each program with the SAU superintendent (not with DOE). While the various components of each SAU’s plan are still required as usual, the DOE team is only screening these for completeness (to ensure there is a philosophy, for example) but determinations of the quality of these program components are made by your district and not by DOE. You may have also noticed that you are no longer required to enter specific book titles, itemized materials and supplies, or specific consultants or professional development activities when preparing your budget; we recognize that, at the time of making your applications, you don’t usually know who your students will be and what exactly their needs will entail. We hope this flexibility is helpful as you create innovative programs and educational experiences for your exceptional learners. These changes are in line with other targeted funding programs, which require that certain components are in place, while entrusting the details and the quality of implementation to the school districts.
We are happy to share that, for the first time in many years, DOE is hiring a staff person to provide guidance and to plan technical assistance for GT programs and practitioners. Our multi-tiered systems of support specialist should be on board and reaching out to you in the coming months to identify opportunities to be of help to you as you develop and implement programs to support your students. Please stay tuned as we populate our GT website with helpful information, links, resources, and updates. We will likely be reaching out in the spring to gather input from all of you with respect to a process for developing updates to the statute and to rule chapter 104, which appears not to have been updated since 1987.
DOE is committed to our role as a service organization with primary goals of supporting (not supplanting) the expertise and creativity of expert educators and administrators like yourselves. We hope that you will find the new application and programing flexibility helpful as you innovate on behalf of the students you serve.
Again, please know that I had hoped to be able to attend your event in person, and will make every effort to connect at one of your upcoming meetings. Don’t hesitate to reach out directly if you have hopes, concerns, or ideas to share. The GT.DOE@Maine.gov email is best for day-to-day inquiries.
Thank you for all you do on behalf of Maine’s students!
Sincerely,
Pender Makin
Commissioner
Maine Department of Education