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.
Common Core
Posted inEducation
Teacher evaluations: Too much science, not enough art?
FAIRFIELD — As teacher Alison Taylor conducts a poetry lesson for her third-graders, veteran principal Jason Bluestein watches and listens closely, scratching notes into a spiral notebook – a process he will repeat again and again this year, more often than ever before.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Op-ed: Common Core: A terrible mistake
Terrible mistakes are being made by education reformers. A “one size fits all” approach to education is detrimental to children/students and robs teachers of their ability to be effective educators.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Op-ed: Connecticut deserves an open, transparent, accessible government
Are we well served by our current insular, inaccessible state government? No.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Op-ed: Common Core — an unproven ‘reform’ movement
I would strongly recommend that the legislators eliminate the Common Core State Standards and rescind any laws that promote “one-size-fits-all” curricula, high stakes testing, unprotected data storage and a regressive teacher evaluation process. In my opinion, the current “reform” initiative threatens all that is good in educational practice these days while only offering unfounded promises that its “reforms” will make any real difference in solving the politically untenable problem of poverty and inequitable educational opportunity in our society.
Posted inEducation
Common Core moves forward; Malloy sets up task force for implementation
Facing mounting criticism on the implementation of the Common Core State Standards in Connecticut’s public schools, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on Tuesday named members of a new task force to provide recommendations on how to ensure a successful rollout.
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Common Core debate heading to state Capitol complex Wednesday
Legislators will get to hear feedback on the rollout of the Common Core Curriculum Wednesday during a public hearing at the state Capitol complex. The noon event is the result of a move by Republican minority legislators to force the reluctant leaders of the Education Committee to hold a hearing on the bill that would put implementation of the state’s new academic standards on hold.
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Common Core: By the numbers
As school districts move ahead with implementing Common Core, here are some numbers provided to legislators Thursday on what the state is spending this year to help districts implement the new standards: $800,000 for 2,000 teacher “coaches” to be trained on the standards through workshops, online webinars and preparation for the new standardized tests aligned […]
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Op-ed: Common sense (and education reform)
Right now the voices of our “aristocracy” are drowning out the voices of experienced educators.
Posted inEducation
Teachers’ union calls Common Core rollout ‘botched,’ ‘mishandled’
“These goals which we want to achieve are falling out of reach and out of reality due to the implementation,” said Sheila Cohen, an elementary school teacher in Orange and the president of the 43,000-teacher Connecticut Education Association.
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Senate Minority leader calls for CT education chief to resign
Senate Minority Leader John McKinney is calling for Stefan Pryor, the governor’s education commissioner, to resign.
Posted inEducation
Feds: Connecticut can roll out education reforms next school year
The federal government has given Connecticut until next school year to begin testing every public school student on the new standardized tests aligned with the Common Core State Standards.
Posted inEducation
House GOP, teachers’ union want to revisit Common Core
With the 2014 General Assembly session one week away, House Republican lawmakers Wednesday called for a public review of the controversial Common Core education standards.
Posted inEducation
State to seek flexibility for rollout of teacher evaluations, Common Core
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy with his education commissioner, Stefan Pryor State officials are seeking flexibility in implementing the U.S. Department of Education’s accountability measures to avoid students being double-tested during the roll-out of the national Common Core State Standards. In announcing the move Wednesday, state officials said they will also seek flexibility on implementing new teacher […]