Reviewers at the federal education department found the way Connecticut measures the performance of its public schools lacking and its plans to begin tracking the achievement of English learners vague. State officials must now decide whether they want to revise or defend Connecticut’s plan for complying with federal law before U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos officially considers whether to approve or reject it.
Every Student Succeeds Act
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Providing exceptional education to all students requires more accountability, not less
The release of Connecticut’s teacher evaluation results in a school-funding trial has revealed that only 1 percent of teachers were evaluated as either “below standard” or “developing.” Recently, a CT Mirror story covered a discussion among members of the Connecticut Performance Evaluation Advisory Council (PEAC) about whether and how to amend the teacher evaluation process. In that story, Connecticut unions represented that the inclusion of a state assessment in the evaluation process is unfair to teachers. But, as a former teacher, principal, and superintendent, and a father of six Connecticut children—it strikes me as somewhat obvious that, quite to the contrary, these results indicate a strong, existing bias in favor of protecting teachers from data.
Posted inEducation
CT facing at least one funding cut in new federal education law
Funding under the new law is a mixed bag for Connecticut, but one change will cost the state millions of dollars that currently help low-achieving schools hire highly qualified teachers and provide professional development.
Posted inPolitics
Education bill and gun control dominate on Capitol Hill
A new federal education law replacing No Child Left Behind and a stepped-up campaign to bar those on terrorist watch lists from purchasing firearms dominated the discussion on Capitol Hill this week.
Posted inPolitics
Rare bipartisan votes advance education, transportation bills
With the unanimous support of the Connecticut delegation, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a landmark education bill, and both houses of Congress approved a five-year transportation bill that will send billions of dollars to the state.
Posted inEducation
House overwhelmingly votes to replace No Child Left Behind
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House of Representatives approved a new federal education bill Wednesday that would replace No Child Left Behind and turn back much authority over K-12 educational policy back to the states.