Several bills before the legislature would ban out-of-school suspension for children younger than 8. These proposals recognize that young children with problem behavior are often in need of help, that being excluded from school sets them up for academic failure, and that a culture of exclusionary discipline harms every child in a school.
Connecticut State Department of Education
Posted inEducation
Number of Connecticut kindergarten suspensions rising
The number of kindergarten students suspended from school for misbehaving is on the rise, the Connecticut Department of Education reported Wednesday. Minority children make up three-quarters of the suspensions, the department said, and charter school students are suspended twice as often as those in the public school districts where they are located.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
SBAC test is part of corporate plan to discredit Connecticut public schools
The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium test is part a profit-motivated scheme to undermine public education and advance unregulated for-profit schools. The state should not make it so difficult for parents to opt out of this testing program.
Posted inNews
Op-Ed: SBAC test is part of corporate plan to discredit Connecticut public schools
The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium test is part a profit-motivated scheme to undermine public education and advance unregulated for-profit schools. The state should not make it so difficult for parents to opt out of this testing program.
Posted inEducation
Help wanted: CT commissioner with education background
The panel searching for the state’s next education commissioner wants someone who has a long background and an advanced degree in education – qualifications the last commissioner did not have and which one of the state’s teachers’ unions called for during the campaign.
Posted inEducation
Special Report: Education, Diversity and Change in Fairfield County
Fairfield County, a region marked by sharp disparities in income and in urban and suburban life, faces particular challenges in assuring all its residents a quality education. Today, a special report, “Education, Diversity and Change in Fairfield County,” explores the issue through in-depth policy reporting, interactive maps and charts, photo galleries and opinion pieces written by teachers from the Connecticut Writing Project at Fairfield University.
Posted inEducation
Education commissioner leaving first week of January
Commissioner Stefan Pryor, the leader of the state Department of Education who helped craft controversial legislation during his tenure, will leave office the first week of January. Pryor announced in August his intention to leave the post if Gov. Dannel P. Malloy won re-election.
Posted inEducation
State wants to rate schools on more than just test scores
State Department of Education officials said Wednesday they plan to seek federal approval to grade the state’s 1,150 public schools using more than just test scores. The state agency wants to use student attendance rates as a criteria in the required school ratings in its next application for a waiver from the punitive requirements of the […]
Posted inEducation
After scandal, state to tighten rules on charter schools
In the wake of recent controversies, state education officials have announced plans to start requiring that charter schools operate more like other public schools—“transparently,” with clear standards to meet.
Posted inNews
Connecticut advocates lobby Congress to tackle sexual crimes on campus
WASHINGTON – Should the University of Connecticut and other colleges in the state and across the nation be forced to report all incidents of sexual assaults on their campuses to law enforcement authorities? That’s one of the questions under debate as Congress tackles the thorny issue of sexual violence in the nation’s schools.