ConnCAN in the News
State's scores stable as others rise
By, Maria Garriga, New Haven Register, September 26, 2007
Connecticut students, whose scores this year on a national test administered by the National Assessment for Educational Progress left national averages in the dust, but improved little over state children who took the test in 2005.
The Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now, an education research and advocacy group, concluded NAEP results showed Connecticut's achievement gap has grown although it was already the widest in the nation. Research Director Marc Porter Magee said the gap in reading between poor and "non-poor" fourth-graders grew from 3.3 to 3.8 grade levels, and in math from 2.6 to 3 grade levels. In eighth grade, the achievement gap in reading grew from 2.9 to 3. In math, however, the achievement gap among eighth-graders shrank from 3.7 to 3.6.
Mayor Takes On School Critics
By Paul Bass, New Haven Independent, September 24, 2007
Who should meet with whom? That's one unresolved question in a testy exchange of letters between local education reformers and the mayor and schools superintendent.
The exchange is the latest chapter in ongoing tensions growing out of criticism of the city's school system by a New Haven-based advocacy group called Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now (ConnCAN). Mayor DeStefano accuses the group of being basically a front for charter schools. The group calls itself a constructive independent voice for closing the achievement gap through better-performing schools of all kinds.
Is ConnCAN failing to offer constructive criticism? Or can the school system's leaders not accept constructive criticism?
News Articles
Schoolkids Post Modest Gains In National Test; NAEP Scores Are Up Since '05, But Persistent Gaps Fuel Fight Over No Child Left Behind
By John Hechinger, The Wall Street Journal, September 26, 2007
Yesterday, the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, administered by the U.S. Department of Education, showed an increase in math and reading achievement among U.S. fourth- and eighth-graders from 2005 to 2007.
Supporters of No Child Left Behind immediately hailed the results as showing the success of the law, which is up for renewal this year and aims to bring students from all backgrounds up to minimum education standards. But despite improving performance among most racial groups, the lagging performance of minority students, often called the "achievement gap," persisted from past years. In addition, despite some improvement in math scores since No Child Left Behind took effect in 2002, reading results among eighth-graders have actually declined since then. Those results give ammunition to those who want to change the federal education law.
Jack Jennings, president of the Center on Education Policy, a nonpartisan think tank in Washington, pointed out that NAEP scores have been improving for more than 15 years. In a fact sure to be cited by opponents of No Child Left Behind, Mr. Jennings noted that gains were sharper immediately before the law took effect than afterward. "That finding is going to be one of the most explosive," he said.
New Haven Launching 4 New Magnets
By Allan Appel, The New Haven Independent, September 26, 2007
The Board of Ed received word late Tuesday that it has received a three-year $6-7 million grant to help create one new magnet school and convert three other schools to magnets.
One of those, Ross/Woodward, is going to have the classics as a theme. The two other schools, Beecher and John Daniels, will have museum studies and international learning and Spanish language for all students, respectively, as themes. The grant will also help to underwrite the creation of a new school, the University of New Haven Science and Engineering High School,
Math Scores Rise, but Reading Is Mixed
By, Sam Dillon, The New York Times, September 26, 2007
America’s public school students are doing significantly better in math since the federal No Child Left Behind law took effect in 2002, but gains in reading achievement have been marginal, with performance declining among eighth graders, according to results of nationwide reading and math tests released Tuesday.
The results also showed that the nation had made only incremental progress in narrowing historic gaps in achievement between white and minority students, a fundamental goal of the federal law.
Legislators considering bill that would mandate later school start date
By, Robin Walluk, The Wilton Bulletin, September 24, 2007
“In recent years state guidelines regarding the school year have been blurred beyond recognition to allow the mandatory 180 days, interrupted by everything from professional development days to the prospect for bad weather, and it’s gotten to the point where more direction is needed,” said Mr. Gaffey in a press release. “I’d like the school calendar to be adjusted and integrated to have uniformity statewide.”
“In light of the many serious issues facing education today, I am surprised to learn that the Connecticut General Assembly would take time to focus on mandating a start date for schools,” Dr. Richards said. “I would respectfully submit that their time would be better spent on addressing issues such as the growing shortage of teachers, the need to prepare students for life in a rapidly changing world and the school facilities challenges in the state of Connecticut.”
Legislators representing Wilton don’t agree with Mr. Gaffey’s assessment.
Cross Country: Mass. Testing
By, Guy Darst, The Wall Street Journal, September 22, 2007
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick’s biggest surprise is a planned overhaul of what is probably the nation's best public school system -- a reform effort he calls his "Readiness Project." He has asked for reports on 66 proposals ranging from making school days longer to dropping tuition in community colleges. The fear is that he's about to emasculate testing requirements put in place more than a decade ago.
Back in the 1992-93 school year, the Bay State instituted rigorous testing requirements, including exams 10th-graders must pass in order to graduate from high school. Massachusetts students usually do well on the exams of the National Assessment of Educational Progress. But fourth-graders and eighth-graders in the past two years came in first, or statistically tied for first, in both English and mathematics on the NAEP. No state had ever done that.
The anti-testers, however, aren't happy. "In states throughout the country, student assessment is done with multiple measures including course work, projects, in-depth study and grades, along with standardized test scores," two of them wrote earlier this year. Gov. [Deval Patrick] insists he supports MCAS as one measure of achievement. In announcing his "Readiness Project" in June, he said, "Being ready means public education that is about the whole child, not just success on a single standardized test." That's the kind of language that can be code for junking standardized tests.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Monday, September 24, 2007
News Articles
Officials call for more regional efforts
By, Genevieve Reilly, Connecticut Post, September 19, 2007
TRUMBULL - Most of the mayors and first selectmen agreed that regional cooperation between their communities could play a role in equalizing the educational opportunities between urban and suburban schools.
The bigger responsibility for educational equity, however, said Trumbull First Selectman Raymond G. Baldwin Jr., lies with the state. "Each town not only competes economically, but also for education dollars from the state," he said, and that needs to be corrected by the state General Assembly.
Corda Outlines Systemic Effort to Improve Schools
By Teresa Errico, Norwalk Citizen News, September 20, 2007
Superintendent of Schools Salvatore Corda on Tuesday outlined for the Board of Education the efforts being made to improve student performance district-wide.
Corda reviewed the seven plans set up for the district, along with the Board of Education's goals, that focus on the instruction core of the school system and the interaction between the teachers and students.
All three of the city's high schools, all four of its middle schools and five of its 12 elementary schools have been identified as "in need of improvement" under the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, based on student performance on the 2007 Connecticut Mastery Test and Connecticut Academic Performance Test. The district also is in need of improvement, according to a state Department of Education report released Aug. 30.
To help the district improve, each of the schools and the central office will be participating in a quality review program guided by the Cambridge Education Group, Corda said.
Public input sought on state school funds
By Bill McDonald, Connecticut Post, September 20, 2007
MILFORD — The Milford Education Funding Committee, studying ways to get more state aid, wants to involve the public through an education forum in November.
"The public should have an idea what's involved," said Joan Politi, chairwoman of the committee formed by the Board of Aldermen. "We hope to have an education forum with the PTA's help in November."
Politi noted Milford is expecting $10.3 million in ESC funding for the 2007-08 fiscal year, which was $430,000 more than received the previous fiscal year.
"That's 4 percent," she said. "We still don't feel it's meeting our needs. We're going to try to advocate for more."
Education and Schools Are a Focus for Edwards
By Julie Bosman, The New York Times, September 22, 2007
DES MOINES - Speaking at Brody Middle School here, the Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards outlined a plan that he said would evaluate students more effectively, reduce class sizes and reward teachers who work in high-poverty schools with up to $15,000 in incentive pay, initiatives similar to those championed by education officials in New York City and elsewhere.
He also called for universal preschool, the creation of a national university that would become a “West Point for teachers” and an initiative that uses what he described as “education SWAT teams” to sweep in and rebuild failing schools.
Diversity dilemma Parents, RISE committee disagree over influence of race on options
By, Andrew Shaw, The Greenwich Time, September 23, 2007
As Greenwich considers adding magnet programs they hope will scatter children of different races across the district, some white parents have spoken out against underperforming, non-English speaking students coming to their child's school and taking attention away from their child.
Supporters of the Board of Education's task force, which is examining racial imbalance, say that the comments of those parents are actually bigoted remarks veiled in the language of requests to preserve a neighborhood school system the state says is racially segregated.
As of Oct. 1, 2006, 168 minority students attended Hamilton Avenue and 119 attended New Lebanon, compared to Old Greenwich, which had 19 minority students last year, according to the most recent data available.
Officials call for more regional efforts
By, Genevieve Reilly, Connecticut Post, September 19, 2007
TRUMBULL - Most of the mayors and first selectmen agreed that regional cooperation between their communities could play a role in equalizing the educational opportunities between urban and suburban schools.
The bigger responsibility for educational equity, however, said Trumbull First Selectman Raymond G. Baldwin Jr., lies with the state. "Each town not only competes economically, but also for education dollars from the state," he said, and that needs to be corrected by the state General Assembly.
Corda Outlines Systemic Effort to Improve Schools
By Teresa Errico, Norwalk Citizen News, September 20, 2007
Superintendent of Schools Salvatore Corda on Tuesday outlined for the Board of Education the efforts being made to improve student performance district-wide.
Corda reviewed the seven plans set up for the district, along with the Board of Education's goals, that focus on the instruction core of the school system and the interaction between the teachers and students.
All three of the city's high schools, all four of its middle schools and five of its 12 elementary schools have been identified as "in need of improvement" under the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, based on student performance on the 2007 Connecticut Mastery Test and Connecticut Academic Performance Test. The district also is in need of improvement, according to a state Department of Education report released Aug. 30.
To help the district improve, each of the schools and the central office will be participating in a quality review program guided by the Cambridge Education Group, Corda said.
Public input sought on state school funds
By Bill McDonald, Connecticut Post, September 20, 2007
MILFORD — The Milford Education Funding Committee, studying ways to get more state aid, wants to involve the public through an education forum in November.
"The public should have an idea what's involved," said Joan Politi, chairwoman of the committee formed by the Board of Aldermen. "We hope to have an education forum with the PTA's help in November."
Politi noted Milford is expecting $10.3 million in ESC funding for the 2007-08 fiscal year, which was $430,000 more than received the previous fiscal year.
"That's 4 percent," she said. "We still don't feel it's meeting our needs. We're going to try to advocate for more."
Education and Schools Are a Focus for Edwards
By Julie Bosman, The New York Times, September 22, 2007
DES MOINES - Speaking at Brody Middle School here, the Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards outlined a plan that he said would evaluate students more effectively, reduce class sizes and reward teachers who work in high-poverty schools with up to $15,000 in incentive pay, initiatives similar to those championed by education officials in New York City and elsewhere.
He also called for universal preschool, the creation of a national university that would become a “West Point for teachers” and an initiative that uses what he described as “education SWAT teams” to sweep in and rebuild failing schools.
Diversity dilemma Parents, RISE committee disagree over influence of race on options
By, Andrew Shaw, The Greenwich Time, September 23, 2007
As Greenwich considers adding magnet programs they hope will scatter children of different races across the district, some white parents have spoken out against underperforming, non-English speaking students coming to their child's school and taking attention away from their child.
Supporters of the Board of Education's task force, which is examining racial imbalance, say that the comments of those parents are actually bigoted remarks veiled in the language of requests to preserve a neighborhood school system the state says is racially segregated.
As of Oct. 1, 2006, 168 minority students attended Hamilton Avenue and 119 attended New Lebanon, compared to Old Greenwich, which had 19 minority students last year, according to the most recent data available.
Friday, September 21, 2007
News Articles
City's schools enter top 5 for Broad prize
By Peter Urban, The Connecticut Post, September 19, 2007
Bridgeport was one of five finalists for the 2007 Broad Prize for Urban Education, a national competition to reward urban school districts that demonstrate the greatest overall performance and improvement in student achievement.
As a finalist, the city's schools will receive $125,000 from the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation that will go to high school seniors for college scholarships. Bridgeport was also a finalist last year and divided the $125,000 prize among 14 deserving students, Ramos said.
The city's schools also narrowed the achievement gap between Hispanic students and the state average for white students in reading and math at all grade levels. Bridgeport was also recognized for engaging the local business community in the education process.
Magnet schools rank as top option
By Andrew Shaw, The Greenwich Time, September 19, 2007
The Board of Education's task force ranked adding two magnet programs as the most viable solution to fixing racial imbalance, space use and declining enrollment, according to an unofficial poll of members yesterday.
In the unofficial hand count, 19 members voted that adding two magnet programs -- likely at New Lebanon and Glenville Schools -- would be the best option. Ten other members voted it the second best option.
The board will make a decision on what action they want to take on Oct. 25 at their regular meeting, held at 7 p.m. at Parkway School. The first phase of any plan would not begin to be implemented until the next budget cycle.
Support Grows for Teacher Bonuses: More Schools Offer Performance Pay as House Debates Issue
By Michael Alison Chandler, Washington Post, September 18, 2007
A movement gaining momentum in Congress and some school systems in the Washington region and beyond would boost pay for exceptional teachers in high-poverty schools, a departure from salary schedules based on seniority and professional degrees that have kept pay in lockstep for decades.
In the District, a five-year, $14 million federal grant is fueling a pilot program to reward teachers and principals in a dozen high-poverty public schools each year that achieve the strongest gains in test scores and share successful strategies with others. Details are being worked out by the city school system, the local teachers union and a partner organization, New Leaders for New Schools.
Alabama Plan Brings Out Cry of Resegregation
By Sam Dillon, The New York Times, September 17, 2007
After white parents in this racially mixed city complained about school overcrowding, school authorities set out to draw up a sweeping rezoning plan. The results: all but a handful of the hundreds of students required to move this fall were black — and many were sent to virtually all-black, low-performing schools.
Black parents have been battling the rezoning for weeks, calling it resegregation. And in a new twist for an integration fight, they are wielding an unusual weapon: the federal No Child Left Behind law, which gives students in schools deemed failing the right to move to better ones.
The schools superintendent and board president, both white, said in an interview that the rezoning, which redrew boundaries of school attendance zones, was a color-blind effort to reorganize the 10,000-student district around community schools and relieve overcrowding. By optimizing use of the city’s 19 school buildings, the district saved taxpayers millions, officials said. They also acknowledged another goal: to draw more whites back into Tuscaloosa’s schools by making them attractive to parents of 1,500 children attending private academies founded after court-ordered desegregation began.
Tuscaloosa’s rezoning dispute, civil rights lawyers say, is one of the first in which the No Child Left Behind law has become central, sending the district into uncharted territory over whether a reassignment plan can trump the law’s prohibition on moving students into low-performing schools. A spokesman, Chad Colby, said the federal Education Department would not comment.
City's schools enter top 5 for Broad prize
By Peter Urban, The Connecticut Post, September 19, 2007
Bridgeport was one of five finalists for the 2007 Broad Prize for Urban Education, a national competition to reward urban school districts that demonstrate the greatest overall performance and improvement in student achievement.
As a finalist, the city's schools will receive $125,000 from the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation that will go to high school seniors for college scholarships. Bridgeport was also a finalist last year and divided the $125,000 prize among 14 deserving students, Ramos said.
The city's schools also narrowed the achievement gap between Hispanic students and the state average for white students in reading and math at all grade levels. Bridgeport was also recognized for engaging the local business community in the education process.
Magnet schools rank as top option
By Andrew Shaw, The Greenwich Time, September 19, 2007
The Board of Education's task force ranked adding two magnet programs as the most viable solution to fixing racial imbalance, space use and declining enrollment, according to an unofficial poll of members yesterday.
In the unofficial hand count, 19 members voted that adding two magnet programs -- likely at New Lebanon and Glenville Schools -- would be the best option. Ten other members voted it the second best option.
The board will make a decision on what action they want to take on Oct. 25 at their regular meeting, held at 7 p.m. at Parkway School. The first phase of any plan would not begin to be implemented until the next budget cycle.
Support Grows for Teacher Bonuses: More Schools Offer Performance Pay as House Debates Issue
By Michael Alison Chandler, Washington Post, September 18, 2007
A movement gaining momentum in Congress and some school systems in the Washington region and beyond would boost pay for exceptional teachers in high-poverty schools, a departure from salary schedules based on seniority and professional degrees that have kept pay in lockstep for decades.
In the District, a five-year, $14 million federal grant is fueling a pilot program to reward teachers and principals in a dozen high-poverty public schools each year that achieve the strongest gains in test scores and share successful strategies with others. Details are being worked out by the city school system, the local teachers union and a partner organization, New Leaders for New Schools.
Alabama Plan Brings Out Cry of Resegregation
By Sam Dillon, The New York Times, September 17, 2007
After white parents in this racially mixed city complained about school overcrowding, school authorities set out to draw up a sweeping rezoning plan. The results: all but a handful of the hundreds of students required to move this fall were black — and many were sent to virtually all-black, low-performing schools.
Black parents have been battling the rezoning for weeks, calling it resegregation. And in a new twist for an integration fight, they are wielding an unusual weapon: the federal No Child Left Behind law, which gives students in schools deemed failing the right to move to better ones.
The schools superintendent and board president, both white, said in an interview that the rezoning, which redrew boundaries of school attendance zones, was a color-blind effort to reorganize the 10,000-student district around community schools and relieve overcrowding. By optimizing use of the city’s 19 school buildings, the district saved taxpayers millions, officials said. They also acknowledged another goal: to draw more whites back into Tuscaloosa’s schools by making them attractive to parents of 1,500 children attending private academies founded after court-ordered desegregation began.
Tuscaloosa’s rezoning dispute, civil rights lawyers say, is one of the first in which the No Child Left Behind law has become central, sending the district into uncharted territory over whether a reassignment plan can trump the law’s prohibition on moving students into low-performing schools. A spokesman, Chad Colby, said the federal Education Department would not comment.
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