If you want to predict children’s chances for success in school, the latest test scores tell only part of the story. You might want to check their ZIP codes, too. That was a key message at a forum Wednesday in Hartford, where a series of experts said the quality of children’s health and education is […]

Lawmakers and representatives of education groups moved closer Thursday to crafting a bill designed to shake up Connecticut’s public schools and help the state qualify for millions of dollars in federal school reform funds. Among other things, the bill would require more rigorous evaluations of teachers, a fast-track training program for principals and tougher graduation […]

Capital Community College in Hartford has turned to one of its sister colleges to find its new president. Wilfredo Nieves, president of Middlesex Community College in Middletown, will become Capital’s new president at the end of the school year, the Connecticut Community Colleges system announced Wednesday. Nieves, 61, will replace Calvin Woodland, who is retiring after […]

Connecticut is missing out on millions of dollars in federal subsidies because too many of the state’s poorest children do not eat breakfast in school, state officials and anti-hunger advocates said Monday. Among low-income children in the federal school lunch program, only 39 percent receive federally subsidized school breakfasts – one of the lowest figures […]

In a lengthy interview with New Haven Magazine late last year, Cheryl Norton talked about her goals as Southern Connecticut State University’s president. “Norton,” the magazine said when it published the interview in December, “is still kicking butt and taking names.” But by then, Norton had been notified that she was being dismissed from her […]

Some of Connecticut’s lowest-performing public schools could qualify for up to $2 million by agreeing to undergo major shake-ups under a $25.7 million federal stimulus grant announced Thursday. To be eligible, the schools would have to take steps such as replacing principals, overhauling curriculum, hiring new teachers, or converting to charter schools. Gov. M. Jodi […]

Connecticut’s public schools could be required as early as this year to keep most suspended students in alternative in-school programs rather than sending them home, a key legislative committee has decided. A law limiting out-of-school suspensions was passed in 2007 but has been delayed because some educators and municipal officials have said it would be […]

A statewide council of educators, business leaders and civic officials pledged Monday to build stronger ties among education systems from preschool to graduate school, but their task will be daunting, a survey of other states suggests. In a ceremony in Hartford, members of the state’s P-20 Council signed a pledge of cooperation to turn around […]

When lawmakers revised a bill on high school reform recently, they inserted a provision that jeopardizes the state’s bid to win millions of dollars in federal stimulus money, some state officials believe. The revised bill calls for expanded high school graduation requirements–but only if the state wins the federal grant. That contingency could prove costly […]

The State Board of Education backed away Wednesday from a labor dispute over seniority for Hartford schoolteachers, avoiding for the moment an issue that is part of a volatile debate over school quality. Is seniority a hard-won union right that protects experienced teachers against indiscriminate layoffs or arbitrary dismissals? Or is it a roadblock to […]

The State Board of Education backed away Wednesday from a volatile dispute over seniority for Hartford schoolteachers facing potential layoffs. The board decided not to step into the dispute, urging the Hartford Board of Education and the district’s teachers’ union to attempt to resolve the issue themselves. The Hartford school board last month asked the […]

Despite the reams of test scores, enrollment figures, attendance records and other data it collects on public schools, Connecticut falls woefully short in trying to make sense of it all, a noted state economist says. Lawmakers are writing legislation to design a new statewide data collection system to meet requirements of the federal Race to […]

A key legislative committee Thursday approved several major education bills designed to reshape Connecticut’s public schools and improve the state’s chances to win millions of dollars in federal school reform money. The General Assembly’s Appropriations Committee approved bills that would expand high school graduation requirements, remove enrollment limits on charter schools, link teacher evaluations to […]

In Norwich, as in other cash-strapped public school districts, spring is the mean season. Trying to balance its budget, the district has decided to cut out middle school sports, foreign language classes and an instrumental music program. It will end some after-school bus routes. Officials are considering closing an elementary school. And nearly a quarter […]