http://www.maine.gov/education/medms/BehaviorGuidance/behaviorguidance.htm 

You may also wish to review training on this reporting.  Visit:  http://www.maine.gov/education/lds/sessions.html and scroll to the session: Reporting Behavior Data – 14 Dec 2009.

 The AM Session will be from 9-10:30AM.  Use the following link to register:

  http://slds.me/moodle/course/view.php?id=65

The PM Session is scheduled from 2:30-4:00PM. Use the following link to register:

  http://slds.me/moodle/course/view.php?id=66

 Training / Informational webinars Training/Informational webinars are developed to help users understand the following components of the ACGR:

• Understanding the start status options
• Understanding the end status options
• Understanding the validation process
• Understanding the certification process

ADMINISTRATIVE LETTER: 21
POLICY CODE: JF

TO: Superintendents of Schools and School Administrators for 60% Publicly Funded Schools
FROM: Angela Faherty, Ph.D., Commissioner of Education
DATE: October 20, 2010
RE: Completers, Dropouts, Cohort, and Transfer Certifications

Validation and certification of the completer report, dropout report, cohort report, transfer-in report and transfer-out report for the 2009/10 school year must be completed by November 15, 2010.

Topics in this letter:

• Explanation of Maine’s graduation rate
• Validation and certification process: Due date: November 15, 2010
• Impact of Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate (ACGR) on Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP)
• Training / Informational webinars

Explanation of Maine’s graduation rate. Beginning with the 2008/09 school year, Maine began using the new federal ACGR methodology for calculating the graduation rate. The intent of this federal regulation is to standardize methodologies across states, to provide more consistency in reporting and to make better comparisons across states.
The 4 year ACGR for the 2009/10 school year will serve as the graduation rate that is used in AYP determinations for the 2010/11 school year.

The 4 year on-time ACGR is calculated as follows:

• Number of students that graduated between 2006/07 and 2009/10 who were also 9th graders for the first time in 2006/07 divided by the total number of students who were 9th graders in 2006/07 plus students who transferred into the school minus students who transferred out of the school during those 4 years.

In an attempt to show a clearer picture of Maine’s high school student population, the Department will calculate an additional rate called the 5 Year Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate. This rate is based on the same basic formula as the 4 year ACGR, but includes the additional year.

At this time, the 5 year rate will be used for comparative purposes only.

The 5 year ACGR is calculated as follows:

• Number of students that graduated between 2005/06 and 2009/10 who were also 9th graders for the first time in 2005/06 divided by the total number of students who were 9th graders in 2005/06 plus students who transferred into the school minus students who transferred out of the school during those 5 years.

More detailed information for deriving the ACGR formula can be obtained from the Maine Department of Education document titled “School Administrators Guide to Maine’s New High School Graduation Rate Calculations” which can be found at http://www.maine.gov/education/gradrates/gradratefaq.pdf . Validation process:
All validations must be done through the new report called the “Graduation Cohort Validation Report”. This report opens in Excel and is to be used for validating completers, dropouts, cohorts, transfer-ins, and transfer-outs. Please see the document titled Graduation Cohort Validation Report Instructions located at http://www.maine.gov/education/gradrates/validate_inst.html for detailed instructions.

Validation and certification process

The Graduation Cohort Validation Report should be submitted on or before November 1, 2010 so as to allow the Department adequate time to analyze and respond to your requests in time for you to be able to certify all the other required parts by November 15, 2010. Graduation Cohort Validation Reports received after November 1, 2010 may not be reviewed in time for you to certify by November 15, 2010. Your completed Graduation Cohort Validation Report should be emailed as an attachment to Richard Bergeron at Richard.Bergeron@maine.gov . School administrative units with more than one high school are asked to submit separate emails for each high school.

Certification process:
In an attempt to make the graduation certification process easier, we have modified it slightly this year. All five certifications will now be due on the same date; November 15, 2010. The five certifications are:

1. Completers Report
2. Dropouts Report
3. Cohort Report
4. Cohort Transfer-In
5. Cohort Transfer-Out

In addition, we have modified the reports slightly. The above-named reports are in PDF format. Do not send these reports back with change requests.  These reports should be printed, signed by the Superintendent and faxed to 207-512-1150 no later than November 15, 2010. Do not fax these reports unless they are 100% accurate, as these are the counts that will be used for the calculation of subsidy.

All public high schools as well as all 60% publicly funded secondary schools are required to certify this data.

The letter continues…

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Reference: Administrative Letter #21

Contact: Rick Bergeron, statistician and enrollment consultant, at 624-6799 or Richard.Bergeron@Maine.gov

“The ARRA web-based monthly reporting template has been refined and is available now. Please enter any June expenditures that occurred after the template was closed on June 25, 2010, as well as current July expenditures. School administrative units must report by the 30th of each month the ARRA expenditures for each of the federal programs.”

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Reference: Informational Letter #6

Contact:  Jaci Holmes at 624-6620 or email at jaci.holmes@maine.gov

“With this letter we are releasing the 2008-09 graduation rates for all public high schools and private 60% publicly funded schools in Maine. These rates use the new, federally mandated, Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate method, described below and in Administrative Letter #14, dated October 1, 2009.

All high schools have previously seen their own 2008-09 graduation rates and worked with Department staff to ensure that all data and coding for students are accurate.

This letter summarizes the new method for calculating the graduation rate, how the new method differs from the old, limitations of the new method, transition and training, and provides additional information.”

The letter continues…

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Reference: Informational Letter #5

Contact: Rick Bergeron, statistician and enrollment consultant, at 624-6799 or Richard.Bergeron@Maine.gov or Rachelle Tome, Title I director, at 624-6705 or Rachelle.Tome@Maine.gov

“The official 2009-2010 Special Education Tuition & Board Report (EF-S-07) for each school administrative unit is now available through the Maine Education Data Management System (MEDMS). This web-based Special Education Tuition & Board Report (EF-S-07) is available on the Special Services Report Forms website:

http://www.maine.gov/education/forms/specservices.htm“

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Reference: Administrative Letter #55

Due date:  September 15, 2010

Contact: Denise Towers at (207) 624-6655 or denise.towers@maine.gov

“The FY 2010 year-end Pupil Transportation Reports are provided to all school administrative units in electronic format for on-line submission.  The reports follow the protocol for all MEDMS reports.  The person completing the reports must have MEDMS permission as Transportation Director/Administrator in order to access the reports through the MEDMS system.  Reports will be available July 1, 2010 through the MEDMS sign-in page at: https://www.medms.maine.gov/MEDMS/Medms_Welcome.aspx Once again we have made an Instruction Manual available to assist you in completing these reports.  We strongly recommend that you print and refer to the Instruction Manual while completing your reports.  You can find the link to the MEDMS sign-in page and a link to the Instruction Manual at http://www.maine.gov/education/forms/transportation.htm We have also put a link to the Instruction Manual at the top of each of the reporting forms.”

The letter continues…

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Reference: Informational Letter #131

Due date:  July 31, 2010

Contact: Rick Soules at: Richard.J.Soules@Maine.Gov or 624-6884

• 2009-2010 Staff Data
• Behavior Data Certification
• Student Enrollment Data
• Special Education Exit Data
• Title I Program Data-Targeted Assisted Programs
• Aggregate Daily Attendance
• Truancy Data
• Changes for 2010-2011
• Receiving Reporting Updates
• Additional Contact Information

In addition, CTE program and enrollment data is due by Friday, June 25, as well.

“Each school administrative unit must complete and submit the 2009-10 Transportation Data for Out-of-District Special Education Students, Homeless Students and Career & Technical Education (CTE) Students Report (EF-M-43) by September 15, 2010.  This report is now available on the Department of Education website.  The data from this report may impact the calculation of the Essential Programs and Services Transportation Total Allocations.”

The letter continues…

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Reference: Administrative Letter #54

Due date:  September 15, 2010

Contact: Suzan Beaudoin at suzan.beaudoin@maine.gov