ConnCAN's Education News Roundup

November 8, 2007

ConnCAN in the News

In Praise of Schools That Work
By Rick Green, The Hartford Courant, November 6, 2007

Good schools are where more children are learning more - not just the schools where the top achievers already attend.

It's time that we paid more attention to rewarding the achievement at Charter Oak, and others, such as New Beginnings Charter School in Bridgeport, Holmes School in New Britain and East School in Torrington..

"There are only seven other schools in the state that made a bigger jump," said Marc Porter McGee of ConnCan, a business-funded reform group.

Focusing on performance gains, instead of schools with just high test scores, will show us where the real learning is occurring, McGee said. Interestingly, among the top 10 elementary schools, seven are traditional public schools.

The list reveals a striking diversity, which means that it's not about where these schools are, but what goes on inside.

"A great school is a great school, regardless of the demographics," McGee said. "It's not about just moving kids along. It's about making more progress every year."

Report: Achievement gap closing in some Stamford, Norwalk schools
By Alexandra Fenwick, The Stamford Advocate, November 5, 2007

Last month, the Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now, a New Haven group, released its 2007 report, which rates the progress of elementary, middle and high schools in five categories.

Kendall in Norwalk increased its percentage of Hispanic students scoring within goal range to 63 percent, up from 56 percent last year. At Marvin, it was 58 percent. Kendall Principal Tony Ditrio said he likes accountability but it should be fair.

"I don't mind being judged by those (tests), I just want someone to take into account that traditionally some groups don't do as well as others," he said. "That's where the rubber meets the road and that's why ConnCAN is so important to us. Connecticut is mostly white and affluent and cities that are poor. Those rich communities don't have the issues we deal with. They look at NCLB and it's no big deal. They don't even get scored for half of the subgroups because they don't have enough kids."

No Child Left Behind does not measure subgroups, such as black, Hispanic or low-income students, if fewer than 40 such students are in a school.

"The most important indicator is growth of students' scores in schools," said Marc Porter Magee, ConnCAN director of communications and research. "If you look at a snapshot, schools like Wilton or Greenwich are at the top, but they're not necessarily adding more value. Their students come in at 90 percent and maybe go up to 91 percent. But when you look at a cohort of students, the same class from year to year, some schools are making huge gains year to year and being overlooked."

News Articles

Ohio Goes After Charter Schools That Are Failing
By Sam Dillon, The New York Times, November 8, 2007

Ohio became a test tube for the nation’s charter school movement during a decade of Republican rule here, when a wide-open authorization system and plenty of government seed money led to the schools’ explosive proliferation.

But their record has been spotty. This year, the state’s school report card gave more than half of Ohio’s 328 charter schools a D or an F.

Charter school advocates worry that Mr. Dann’s crackdown may prove popular with Democratic and independent voters nationwide. Ohio’s labor leaders enthusiastically applaud it.

“If chronically lousy charters aren’t closed, the charter movement will continue under assault from its opponents,” said Todd Ziebarth, a policy analyst at the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.

Free online materials could save schools billions
By Greg Toppo, USA Today, November 7, 2007

Since March, Dixon Deutsch and his students have been quietly experimenting with a little website that could one day rock the foundation of how schools do business.

A K-2 teacher at Achievement First Bushwick Elementary Charter School in Brooklyn, N.Y., Deutsch, 28, has been using Free-Reading.net, a reading instruction program that allows him to download, copy and share lessons with colleagues.

But perhaps the most significant development is at the most elementary level. Last fall, a Florida textbook adoption committee approved Free-Reading, a remediation program for primary-school children that's believed to be the first free, open-source reading program for K-12 public schools. It's awaiting approval by Eric Smith, the state's incoming education commissioner, who could approve it by mid-December.

Florida is one of the top five textbook markets in the USA, so its move could lead to the development of other free materials that might someday challenge the dominance of a handful of big educational publishers.

"This is an important and perhaps powerful initiative," says Adam Newman of Eduventures, an education research and consulting firm in Boston. "Those adoption lists are sort of hallowed ground, so to be approved for one of those is a breakthrough."

Schools chief opens door to coffee talk
By Kate Ramunni, The Connecticut Post, November 6, 2007

Superintendent MaryAnne Mascolo took over the helm of the Seymour Public Schools this year after former Supt. Tom Petruny retired. One of her priorities is to increase communication between administrators and parents, she said.

The meetings, which also feature coffee, muffins and Danish, are held alternately in the mornings and evenings to accommodate parents' schedules, Mascolo said. The December meeting will be held Dec. 8, from 9 to 11 a.m.

Parents are welcome to talk about anything on their minds, she said, though she does ask that if it is something that will need to be researched that she be notified about it before the meeting.

Teamwork among teachers aims to improve learning
By Rachael Scarborough King, The New Haven Register, November 5, 2007

A model for reorganizing the teaching process has educators in two local towns excited about teachers working together to close achievement gaps.

In the North Branford and Guilford school districts, administrators and board of education members have spent a lot of time lately talking about the concept of "professional learning communities."

According to the experts, the system will bring teachers out of their individual classrooms and have them working in groups to instill focus on learning rather than teaching.