WILLIMANTIC – David G. Carter, head of the Connecticut State University System, announced Tuesday he will retire next year after more than two decades in the system, including the last four years as its chancellor. The surprise announcement came after a tumultuous year for Carter, who, along with the system’s Board of Trustees, has been […]

The decision Thursday by the Connecticut State University System not to raise student tuition and fees next year comes with a word of warning: It might not happen. “If we get a brutal cut in the state budget . . . we may have to revisit this, but for now I think it’s the right […]

The Connecticut State University System Board of Trustees revised a controversial policy Thursday that had led some members to complain they were being been left out of crucial personnel decisions. The board agreed that all members – not just the board’s Executive Committee – would vote on policies and procedures covering performance reviews, compensation and […]

The nation’s largest academic achievement gap among poor children is high on the list of challenges confronting Connecticut’s next governor, but another education gap poses a more immediate dilemma. It is the $270 million shortfall that will be left in the state’s education budget when federal stimulus money runs out next year. Dan Malloy Both […]

Students at the four universities in the Connecticut State University System will not see an increase in tuition next fall if a proposal made Friday by members of the system’s Board of Trustees is approved next week. The board’s Finance and Administration Committee recommended what would be the first tuition freeze in more than a […]

Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Foley unveiled a sweeping education plan Wednesday calling for fundamental changes in the state’s public schools, including a controversial proposal on how to pay for them. Foley’s plan is centered on a philosophy of making public education more accountable to market forces. It would reallocate state funds to successful schools, for […]

How do Connecticut’s eighth-graders stack up in math against students from Korea? Italy? Australia? Educators will be able to answer those questions when Connecticut schoolchildren take part next year in an international study of proficiency in mathematics and science. Connecticut is one of eight states that have agreed to test a representative sample of students […]

The latest scores on the SAT college entrance exam could bolster Education Commissioner Mark McQuillan’s argument that Connecticut’s public high schools need more emphasis on math and science. The state’s average SAT reading score for public school students was seven points above the national average for public students and the writing score 22 points higher, […]

Colleges and universities that train teachers in Connecticut are producing too many graduates who don’t know how to teach children to read, according to the latest results of a teacher licensing exam. Three in 10 students failed the exam when it was given in July, only a slight improvement since the test was introduced a […]

On an enrollment form at Hartford’s Classical Magnet School, seventh-grader Elisa Laureano’s mother lists Elisa’s race as white but also checks a box categorizing her ethnicity as “Hispanic.” So is Elisa white? Hispanic? Both? For Classical Magnet, it’s a $4 million question. Under a federal rule that takes effect this year, students can identify themselves […]

Despite the failure to win millions of dollars in a federal school reform competition, Connecticut should not back away from the effort to reshape its public schools, Education Commissioner Mark McQuillan said Wednesday. “We still have much on the table I think is worth doing,” McQuillan told the State Board of Education in a postscript […]

The state’s allocation of federal stimulus money intended to save teaching jobs in cash-strapped school districts excluded charter schools, many of which serve students in Connecticut’s poorest communities. The experimental charter schools, along with the state’s technical high schools and some public magnet schools, were left out under a formula used by the state to distribute […]

If the chronic problem of lagging academic achievement among poor children has perplexed educators for years, can a group of business leaders find a solution? A state commission made up mainly of top business officials will issue recommendations in October that could shape Connecticut’s policy to address what the group described Monday as an educational […]

Despite losing a portion of their recent pay raise, the presidents at Connecticut State University’s four campuses still earn salaries that compare favorably with those of chief executives at many similar institutions. Some university trustees had expressed concern that CSU could lose its competitive edge for attracting top administrators after complying with Gov. M. Jodi […]

The weakness of a plan to link teacher evaluations to student performance was a key factor in Connecticut’s failure to qualify for millions of dollars in federal school aid, according to a government report released Wednesday. The proposed evaluation system lacks detail, won’t be ready for years, and fails to include adequate provisions for rewarding […]