Posted inCT Viewpoints

Post NCLB: Connecticut must reject the Common Core

With the end of No Child Left Behind, states will have the flexibility to continue with the controversial Common Core State Standards or not. This is Connecticut’s opportunity to put a good education in place for our students by rejecting the Common Core. The whole approach of the Common Core contradicts the philosophically and academically-sound Connecticut State Standards approach.

Posted inCT Viewpoints

A healthy sign: more teachers and parents are opposing the Common Core

It takes a lot to oppose the Common Core State Standards when they are said to offer reform, rigor, high academic standards approved by states and matched by other high-powered nations, a guarantee to close the achievement gap and college and career readiness! What red-blooded American could say no to this promise? You might think […]

Posted inCT Viewpoints

SBAC scores: The beginning of the end

So what did we learn from the release of the SBAC scores? What did we learn after spending more than $2 million of state money and countless millions at the district levels to get these scores? Not much. We did learn that the achievement gap has not been in any way affected by implementation of the Common Core. We also learned that SBAC scores tell us nothing about students’ real competencies.

Posted inCT Viewpoints

Smarter Balanced test is validation for CT’s hardest-working teachers

I respectfully disagree with the Ann Policelli Cronin’s recently published opinion, “SBAC: Failing most Connecticut children in more ways than one.” I am currently a high school English Language Arts teacher, and I take issue when people who are no longer in the classroom teaching students each day “advise” the rest of us on what to do for kids. I take issue with administrators and consultants constantly seeking to stay relevant by disrupting the educational process in classrooms, with an approach that is long past its prime. The truth is that our students do not measure up, and neither do many teachers, frankly. It’s a nationwide epidemic. Ms. Cronin reports that Connecticut students have some of the highest NAEP scores in the country, but she’s ignoring the real story: namely, that Connecticut is not really servicing all students equitably.