ConnCAN was pleased to see The Mirror’s recent in-depth comparison of education outcomes between Connecticut and Massachusetts. As Jacqueline Rabe Thomas’ series pointed out, Massachusetts and Connecticut share more than just state boundaries. Our states are similar in many ways, including that our public schools serve similar students with similar learning needs. But our neighbors are doing a better job of educating all students, especially those in poverty and students of color. Massachusetts students also outperformed all other states in math and reading for grades four and eight on the Nation’s Report Card (NAEP).
Jennifer Alexander
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Soft bigotry of low expectations has no place in Connecticut
I have been a certified teacher. I now lead an education advocacy organization. I am a mother of small children. I am a white woman.
To me, the results of a new study by researchers at Johns Hopkins University, titled “Who believes in me? The effect of student–teacher demographic match on teacher expectations,” feels like a punch in the gut. The study presents stark differences in how African-American teachers versus non-African-American teachers view the potential of students of color.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
For the sake of Connecticut’s children, embrace the SBAC data
The Washington Post recently published a piece by Superintendent Thomas Scarice, who leads a school district much like the leafy Connecticut suburban town that I grew up in. In fact, I grew up in the town right next door, but I couldn’t disagree more with the superintendent’s piece. Here’s why.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Fix Connecticut’s broken school funding system
We know that a great education can be life changing for so many students. Looking ahead, we must continue to ensure that we have a funding system that puts a great public education within reach of every child. The economic and civic future of our students, our communities and our state, depends on it.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
No time to waste in re-imagining Connecticut’s education funding
Each legislative session, we engage in the same political fights that yield only incremental progress towards the goal of providing quality education for all children. These unproductive debates, which pit traditional schools against public charter schools, underscore the need to solve our fundamentally broken funding model that currently plagues our education system.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Schools’ alarmed cries for help should echo across Connecticut
With 40,000 students attending chronically low-performing schools, many thousands of families on wait lists for schools of choice, and the largest-in-the-nation achievement gap, Connecticut leaders must expand and sustain schools that are delivering results for students, especially children in poverty and children of color.
Posted inEducation
Op-Ed: Schools’ alarmed cries for help should echo across Connecticut
With 40,000 students attending chronically low-performing schools, many thousands of families on wait lists for schools of choice, and the largest-in-the-nation achievement gap, Connecticut leaders must expand and sustain schools that are delivering results for students, especially children in poverty and children of color.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
The success for our schools rests in the governor’s hands
Gov. Dannel Malloy’s upcoming budget proposal, and the General Assembly’s actions that follow, will either move us forward toward continuing to improve public education or act as an impediment to building upon the progress we’ve made in recent years.
Posted inNews
Op-Ed: The success for our schools rests in the governor’s hands
Gov. Dannel Malloy’s upcoming budget proposal, and the General Assembly’s actions that follow, will either move us forward toward continuing to improve public education or act as an impediment to building upon the progress we’ve made in recent years.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Connecticut’s school funding system inefficient, ineffective, outdated
Connecticut needs an education funding system that allows all families to access good schools, not just those who can afford them.
Posted inNews
Op-Ed: Connecticut’s school funding system inefficient, ineffective, outdated
Connecticut needs an education funding system that allows all families to access good schools, not just those who can afford them.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Op-Ed: Don’t let misinformation destroy the promise of Common Core
Let’s not let misinformation and political rhetoric hold us back from putting in place the Common Core Standards — an initiative with great promise to ensure that all students, regardless of where they live, are prepared for college and career and success.
Posted inNews
Op-Ed: Don’t let misinformation destroy the promise of Common Core
Let’s not let misinformation and political rhetoric hold us back from putting in place the Common Core Standards — an initiative with great promise to ensure that all students, regardless of where they live, are prepared for college and career and success.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Op-ed: Common Core a huge leap forward for Connecticut
It’s unfortunate to read about the confusion and misinformation being spread about the Common Core Standards, which, in fact, focus on developing the skills that colleges and employers say students need to know in order to succeed.
Posted inEducation
$47.1 Million Worth of Broken Education Reform Promises to Kids
Last year, when state legislators voted overwhelmingly in favor of landmark education reform legislation, they made a promise of great teachers, principals and public schools for every child. In doing so, lawmakers did what’s right by kids and families. A recent Global Strategy Group survey of more than 600 Connecticut voters found that 73 percent […]