LEWISTON — Goodbye, Kaplan. Welcome, Purdue Global. The Higher Learning Commission, an accreditation organization, has approved Purdue University’s purchase of Kaplan University. The commission was the third and final hurdle required to fold Kaplan into the Purdue brand. The new venture — Purdue Global — will provide one of the top public U.S. universities with […]
education
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Scarborough group starts petitions to remove school board members
A group of Scarborough residents began circulating official petitions Tuesday to remove three school board members amid controversy over the recent resignation of the high school principal. The group, which has a Facebook page titled “Road to Renewal,” says its main objective is to force the resignation of Superintendent Julie Kukenberger and the reinstatement of […]
advertisement
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Teachers, parents defend proficiency-based learning
LEWISTON — Supporters of the new student grading system urged the School Committee on Monday night to stay the course, despite opposition from some students, parents and teachers. Freshman Elena Clothier, 14, said this is her first year using proficiency-based learning and it benefits students. Students can redo assignments they failed until they have learned what […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine rethinks requiring student proficiency to earn a diploma
State education officials are proposing a radical restructuring of Maine’s proficiency-based diploma law, which was one of the first in the nation and touted by the governor as one of his key education reforms when it passed in 2012. Six years later, Department of Education officials are proposing the elimination of a key tenet of […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Are school threats the new normal in Maine?
It was fewer than 48 hours after the mass shooting at a Florida high school when officials in Topsham received word of a threat of gun violence against the high school there. No sooner had they cleared Mt. Ararat High when another threat was received against a nearby elementary school. Under normal circumstances, a single […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Lewiston School Committee asked to roll back grading system
LEWISTON — More than 20 students, staff and parents aired their grievances about a new system of instruction, assessment, grading and academic reporting to the School Committee on Monday night. High school student Mackenzie Richard presented a petition signed by 259 high school students opposed to moving from a numerical grading system of 1 to 100 […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Student, 15, follows different path toward learning, happiness
Last year was tough for Oniyah Burns. She was an eighth-grader in the midcoast area. She had social anxiety and was bullied by mean girls at school. She considered suicide, she said. This year is better. Her life turned around, she and her mother said, when she enrolled as an online student at Maine Virtual […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, sj-web
Arm teachers? Bad idea, say L-A teachers, students
Lewiston High School math teacher Samantha Garnett Sias, shown in her class in September, said Friday that the NRA’s suggestion of arming teachers in response to school shootings is a bad one. Other teachers and students also said teachers should not be armed. (Sun Journal file photo) LEWISTON — Giving teachers guns would be “absurd” […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Tests find no problem with Libby-Tozier classroom in Litchfield after strange smell
LITCHFIELD — A group of students at Libby-Tozier School in Litchfield were removed from their classroom for more than a week after a strange smell was detected in the room. But the district has tested the air and carpeting in the classroom and found no evidence of any contaminants, according to Andrew Carlton, superintendent of […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine lawmakers offer no clarity on guidelines for proficiency-based diploma
AUGUSTA (AP) — Lawmakers are requiring high school students, starting with this year’s freshmen class, to prove they truly understand the subjects they study before they can graduate, but they still haven’t worked out many details teachers need to prepare students. And legislators offered no clarity Wednesday, taking no action on a bill to delay […]