On April 6, I attended a public meeting by the Connecticut State Board of Education (SBE), in which members of the SBE vigorously debated the merit of further delays to implementation of real teacher evaluations in Connecticut. They were discussing the Performance Evaluation Advisory Council’s (PEAC) recommendation to permit school districts to go yet another year without incorporating the results of the state mastery test as one of multiple measures in a teacher’s evaluation. I applaud the SBE for pushing back on PEAC’s recommendation and drawing a real line in the sand.
State Board of Education
Posted inEducation
Student suspensions can add to a downward spiral, data suggest
Students need to be at school to learn, but new state data show that many children expelled or suspended because they act out are among those likely to miss the most school and perform less well academically. “”Suspensions and expulsions may exacerbate academic deterioration,” reads a presentation prepared for the State Board of Education.
Posted inEducation
Union steps up lobbying despite movement on teacher evaluation
Despite indications the state will delay linking student test scores to teacher evaluations for another year and will scale back how heavily those scores must be weighed, the state’s largest teachers’ union is stepping up its lobbying efforts.
Posted inEducation
Are students better off in charter schools? State says it’s unsure
Amid the ferocious debate about whether Connecticut students are better off in charter schools, the State Department of Education has released the results of its first-ever research on the subject. It provides little clarity, however.
Posted inEducation
State education officials anticipate more school districts will merge
With enrollment declining in many schools across the state, several members of the State Board of Education predict they will soon see more requests from local districts to combine into a regional school district. On Wednesday, the board got just such a request.
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 inNews
Op-Ed: Plan for more charter schools flawed in many ways
The state education department commissioner’s proposal last week to hand over more public education resources to privately managed charter schools deserves an ‘F’ as both ‘incomplete’ and tone deaf
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Plan for more charter schools flawed in many ways
The state education department commissioner’s proposal last week to hand over more public education resources to privately managed charter schools deserves an ‘F’ as both ‘incomplete’ and tone deaf
Posted inEducation
State education board wants to open eight new charter schools
The State Board of Education is asking the state for $21 million to fund eight new charter schools to open over the next two school years. The request would add hundreds of seats in charter schools throughout Connecticut.
Posted inNews
State panel moves to expand Commissioner’s Network
The State Board of Education’s Legislation and Bylaws Committee is recommending expanding the number of schools a district can have in the Commissioner’s Network. The network is a group of 18 low-achieving schools that have been given additional funding to launch certain changes, such as a longer school day or additional reading instruction. The committee wants the state […]
Posted inEducation, Politics
Malloy celebrates Pryor, but makes gesture to union critics
NEW BRITAIN – By turns wistful and upbeat, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and Education Commissioner Stefan Pryor put a positive spin Thursday on Pryor’s announcement he will leave the Malloy administration, a departure sought by unions important to the governor’s re-election. He later named a leader of a teachers’ union to the State Board of Education.
Posted inEducation
Up next: Charter group that battled NYC mayor targets Connecticut
A charter school advocacy group founded by Wall Street players that recently took on New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio — and won — is now taking on Bridgeport’s locally elected school board’s opposition to the state potentially opening two new charter school in their urban district.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Op-ed: Thank you, State Board of Education, for approving 4 new charters
Approving all four schools was the right thing to do – educationally, fiscally, and morally.
Posted inEducation
Connecticut’s charter school enrollment set to surge
More students than ever are about to have the chance to enroll in a charter school in Connecticut.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Op-ed: Flawed at the core
Connecticut should create new national standards, in an open and transparent way, written by those who know how to teach, with the goal of developing students’ minds and promoting their achievement as complex thinkers and motivated learners.
