Cook’s Corner – Winter 2026: Mallory Cook, Director of Training and Early Educator Engagement
Whether you’re preparing to attend a conference, enrolling in an asynchronous course on our Learning Hub, or drafting a professional certification renewal plan, being intentional about how we invest our professional learning time ensures meaningful growth and impact.
Educator Effectiveness Tools
Start by self-assessing with your district’s educator effectiveness tool to identify strengths and areas for growth. Feedback from your evaluator can also highlight opportunities for targeted professional learning.
Emerging Focus Areas
Explore topics that spark curiosity and reflect innovative, cutting-edge trends in education. While these areas may not be essential for your current role, they can enhance your practice and positively influence student outcomes.
→Example: Using artificial intelligence to deliver personalized learning support.
Academic Requirements
These are courses required for graduation or certification. They provide the foundational knowledge and skills necessary to meet program standards and professional qualifications.
→Example: Human development, teaching students with exceptionalities.
Student Demographics
Focus on topics and subject areas tailored to the populations you serve, based on the region where you live and work. These areas help you understand and address the unique needs, backgrounds, and experiences of your students.
Maine’s Every Student Succeeds Dashboard
To better understand the students you work with, the Department of Education provides a dashboard with statewide, district, and school-level data on demographics, assessments, behavior, chronic absenteeism, educator workforce, graduation rates, and more. Visit: maine.gov/doe/dashboard
→How to Access Data:
- Select Year → Choose statewide, district, or school.
- Use the drop-down to select your district or school.
- Click on categories such as Student Demographics or Chronic Absenteeism.
→What You’ll Find:
- Demographic breakdowns by race/ethnicity, economic disadvantaged, homelessness, and disabilities, including percentages and trends over time.
- Chronic absenteeism data showing the percentage of students missing more than 10% of school days, broken down by demographic groups.
→Why It Matters:
- Analyzing this data can reveal gaps in meeting student needs. For example:
- A growing number of multilingual learners may prompt you to seek training on supporting language development.
- Rising chronic absenteeism might lead you to attend sessions on family engagement or strategies to reduce absenteeism.
Remember, MEA offers a growing collection of professional learning opportunities, ranging from in-person conferences to asynchronous online courses. Visit: maineea.learnupon.com/
Be sure to mark your calendar for our upcoming webinar series, Experiencing and Managing Challenging Student Behavior in Schools, facilitated by leading experts in the field.
