Demand Accountability

The Governor must install a strong reform-oriented leadership team that will include a reorganization of pre-K–12 educational leadership in Connecticut.

1 | Create a new Secretary of Education who will also serve as a member of the State Board of Education (SBOE). The Secretary shall report directly to the Governor and shall, with senior leadership reporting to him/her, be held responsible for results.

2 | Under the Secretary shall be the Commissioner of a reconstituted State Department of Education (SDE), a new Commissioner of Early Childhood Education and Care and the Commissioner of Higher Education.

3 | The new Commissioner of Early Childhood Education and Care shall direct the creation of a single early childhood agency to include early intervention, early care and early education functions now resident across state agencies, which will be reorganized into this new agency. The Commissioner will also serve as the chair of the Early Childhood Education Cabinet.

4 | Below the Commissioner of K–12 education, create two new offices whose heads will report directly to the Commissioner, and that will reorganize existing functions. One office shall lead school turnaround efforts and one shall supervise all educator preparation functions.

5 | Appoint strong and innovative leaders to the State Board of Education who are held accountable for narrowing the achievement gap. The SBOE should be resourced appropriately.

Why This Recommendation Is Necessary

Leadership matters at all levels, but the educational crisis facing Connecticut will require the next Governor to lead the agenda for dramatic improvement in student achievement. Connecticut operates its system of K–12 public education in a disjointed manner and without accountability to the Governor. In addition, responsibility for early childhood education and care programs is dispersed across four state agencies (SDE, the Department of Social Services, Department of Public Health and Department of Developmental Services). Responsibility for the preparation of teachers and principals is dispersed between the SDE and the Connecticut Department of Higher Education. There is inadequate strategic planning and coordination between these two state departments and Connecticut’s State Schools of Education, which are supervised by the State University system and the University of Connecticut.

Further, the State Board of Education needs strong members with a diverse range of experience, including leaders from the business and philanthropic sectors. The SBOE is not currently held accountable for narrowing the achievement gap. It has no professional staff support. In February, the new Governor may make seven State Board of Education appointments, including the chairperson. This provides a tremendous opportunity to assemble a Board that is willing to take bold actions to narrow the achievement gap.

Appointment of the new Secretary of Education and restructuring the educational management system, as recommended here, will ensure higher levels of accountability and leadership for student achievement.

Actions Required

• Create new Department of Early Childhood Education and Care
• The Commissioners of Early Childhood Education, K—12 and Higher Education shall report to the new Secretary of Education
• SBOE approval for new offices in SDE to reorganize existing functions to oversee school turnarounds and educator preparation

Public accountability through outside eyes.

There is a critical need for an entity outside of government to track reform progress, document and share best practices, and report regularly to the public. This entity shall be directed by a diverse group of leaders, including business and philanthropic leaders, parents and educators.

Why This Recommendation Is Necessary

Outside organizations can be critically important to help a state advance school reform and make meaningful progress to reduce achievement gaps. The SDE’s slow progress in addressing achievement gaps, despite more than 15 years of data, clearly shows that an inside-only strategy can benefit from public reporting and challenge on the reform progress.

Action Required

Data counts: Providing the data to inform and drive decisions.

Significantly improve data collection and analysis and public reporting to support Connecticut’s education accountability process and to address pre-K–12 achievement gaps and challenges.

Why This Recommendation Is Necessary

The state will be unable to accomplish many of the bold strategies for education reform in this plan without a well-functioning, responsive data system that captures individual student progress over time. Additional data reporting requirements were added by the General Assembly in 2010,⁴⁶ but funding for education data systems at both the state and local levels remains problematic. In addition, districts have requested thatthe state support a more uniform and efficient approach to data collection and analysis and reporting.⁴⁷

Actions Required