Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

Teacher training a key to school reform, commissioner says

  • by Robert A. Frahm
  • November 29, 2011
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

NEW BRITAIN – It is one of the state’s largest suppliers of new schoolteachers, but after Central Connecticut State University sends its graduates into the classroom, it knows little about how they perform.

That was among the issues raised Monday as state Education Commissioner Stefan Pryor met CCSU faculty and administrators to zero in on how to improve the quality of teachers in the state’s public schools.

“In a significant sense, it all starts here,” Pryor told representatives of the teacher preparation program at CCSU, the latest stop on a “listening tour” to visit schools, meet educators and assess the needs of the state’s public education system as he completes his second month on the job.

Pryor has made teacher quality a key theme as he seeks to improve public schools and address Connecticut’s worst-in-the-nation achievement gap separating the poor from the well-to-do.

“How do we set the highest standards? … What’s the right way to insure that the activities that happen here relate to student performance?” he asked faculty from CCSU’s School of Education and Professional Studies.

Joining Monday’s discussion was Gov. Dannel Malloy, who appointed Pryor in September and who has pledged to make education a central issue during the next session of the state legislature.

“Stefan has got a very big mission to accomplish in a very short period of time,” he said.

Studies have shown that family background, economic status and other external factors can produce large variations in student performance, but many researchers say that the strongest school-based factor affecting student achievement is the quality of the classroom teacher.

Malloy described the teaching profession as a calling. “When done well, it’s a guarantee of our democracy’s success,” he said. “Unfortunately, when not done well, it’s a guarantee of personal failure.”

In Connecticut, the profession could undergo significant changes. A statewide committee is expected to issue recommendations next year to change the way teachers are evaluated, and student progress is expected to be a factor in those evaluations. Some education reformers suggest that teacher preparation programs also should be evaluated based on the performance of their graduates.

That is among the chief principles of Teachers for a New Era, a project started in 2001 by the Carnegie Corp., calling for reform of teacher preparation programs at selected colleges and universities.

“Recent research … linking individual pupil records with specific teachers in many different cities and states has established beyond doubt that the quality of the teacher has a profound influence on pupil learning,” the Carnegie Corp. said in a summary of the project.

The Connecticut Department of Education granted 331 teaching certificates to CCSU graduates in the 2009-10 school year, making Central the second largest supplier of new teachers that year, state figures show. The largest was Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, where 383 graduates received certificates.

However, there has been little follow-up on how children learn from teachers who have graduated from teacher training programs.

“We really have a dearth of data,” said professor Nancy Hoffman, who directs CCSU’s Master of Arts in Teaching program. “Right now there is no feedback that would let us look at how our graduates’ students gain in their classrooms.”

Malloy agreed that better information is needed.

“We’ve been slow in establishing objective standards by which to measure ourselves,” he said. “Maybe going to an independent analysis by a third party [to determine] the quality of our product is appropriate.”

Pryor pressed faculty members about the standards required for entering the teacher preparation program. “What can we do to increase the number of candidates who come into your program with higher academic acumen?” he asked.

Malloy asked, “Are we doing everything we can to encourage those people to go into teaching who should go into teaching and at the same time discouraging sufficient numbers of people who … may not be as successful?”

One professor, Tim Reagan, suggested the school could recruit better students by offering more scholarships. Anne Pautz, an assistant dean, said some students avoid teaching because other careers offer better salaries. “Engineers can get so much more money,” she said.

State regulations also can be barriers, faculty members told Pryor.

Hoffman said regulations outlining specific course requirements, in some cases, are too complex and can limit the number of candidates for training programs.

“There’s a fine line between too much regulation and too little regulation,” she said later. “I hope they can re-balance.”

 

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Robert A. Frahm

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Vaccinations in nursing homes top 64,000; COVID cases are dropping rapidly among residents
by Dave Altimari

There were 238 COVID infections reported in nursing homes last week, down from 483 a few weeks ago.

Advocates call on state to improve response to vulnerable students
by Adria Watson

State child advocate Sarah Eagan and attorney Martha Stone want the state to do more for these students during COVID.

CT budget leaders want to use massive savings to expand COVID-19 relief
by Keith M. Phaneuf

Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration expects to spend about $630 million less than legislators authorized.

The game is changing. Chris Murphy says he’s ready to play.
by Mark Pazniokas

The question for Sen. Chris Murphy no longer is where might he go next, but what can he do now.

Connecticut’s $100 million college shell game
by Stephen Adair

The plan to consolidate the 12 community colleges in Connecticut into one college with 12 campuses is called “Students First,” which is ironic because it does not fund students first.  It funds a new administration in a new, statewide bureaucracy. The Board of Regents (BOR) and the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) system office […]

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion Connecticut’s $100 million college shell game
by Stephen Adair

The plan to consolidate the 12 community colleges in Connecticut into one college with 12 campuses is called “Students First,” which is ironic because it does not fund students first.  It funds a new administration in a new, statewide bureaucracy. The Board of Regents (BOR) and the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) system office […]

Opinion Inconsistent television captioning is a barrier to equal access
by Jeffrey Bravin and Barbara Cassin

Our world long ago entered the age of the 24-hour news cycle, and a full understanding of the “who, what, when, where and why” of the news is critical for deaf, deafblind and hard of hearing citizens. Yet, Connecticut’s inconsistent quality of television captioning locks our community out of the complete sense of what is happening.

Opinion A just stimulus package is a start toward true racial inclusion
by Carlton L Highsmith

For centuries Blacks have been denied full participation in the American Dream. But for the sake of our collective progress, as we recover from the crippling economic effects of COVID-19, our country has a mandate to acknowledge its history of systematic institutionalized exclusionary practices and not repeat them.

Opinion Hamden taxpayers are left in the dark
by Lauren Garrett

“A budget is a moral document.” This phrase is often heard during budget season from both sides of the aisle advocating for their personal values. The municipal operating budget is the cost of running a town which includes paying for employees, schools, and other services. Asking residents to pay property taxes requires a public trust.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO