Clarifying Misconceptions About Governor Malloy’s Education Bill (SB 24)
With all of the coverage of Governor Malloy’s education bill, also known as SB 24, we’ve noticed that there are some misconceptions surrounding the content of the bill and what it actually proposes. Therefore, this is the first in a series of posts that seek to clarify some of the misconceptions and inaccuracies regarding interpretation of Governor Malloy’s Education Reform Bill (SB 24) that we’ve come across.
The Vice President of the National Council on Teacher Quality Weighs in on PEAC’s Recommendations and Needed Next Steps
Sandi Jacobs is Vice President of the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ). In January, NCTQ released its fifth annual State Teacher Policy Yearbook, a 52-volume report on the state laws, regulations and policies that shape teacher effectiveness. To download a copy of Connecticut’s report or a national overview report, go to: http://www.nctq.org/stpy11/reports.jsp
Over the last few years, the National Council on Teacher Quality’s (NCTQ) State Teacher Policy Yearbook has chronicled a sea change in teacher evaluation policy. Across the states we’ve seen real movement toward rethinking how to evaluate teacher performance, including by explicitly tying assessments of teacher effectiveness to student results. If the State Board in Connecticut adopts the recommendations of the Performance Evaluation Advisory Council (PEAC) this month, the state will become the eighteenth state in the nation to include student achievement as a significant criterion in teacher evaluations (in 12 of those states, student achievement is required to be the most significant factor in assessments of teacher performance).
Even as the PEAC recommendations are a step in the right direction, the key will be what steps Connecticut takes to ensure that these evaluation guidelines translate into more effective teachers in classrooms across the state.
Teacher and Administrator Preparation: Another SBE Opportunity
Did you know research has shown that teacher quality is the most important factor in the academic achievement of students? Or that in 2010, the CT State Department of Education identified an “urgent need” for effective school leaders in the state? Given the importance of teacher and school leader effectiveness, we think it’s time to explore the programs that prepare Connecticut's educators.
Powers of the SBE, Part 3: Student Achievement in Evaluations
The final State Board of Education superpower that we’ll look at for this week is the ability to require that student growth be given significant weight in teacher and principal evaluations.
Now let’s take a time-out to talk about what we mean when we say “student growth” because we know this phrase alarms some interested parties.
Powers of the SBE, Part 2: Framework for Intervention
In our last post, we discussed the State Board of Education’s authority to create a new 5-year plan for the state of Connecticut.
Another power that the Board should be using is the authority to build a system that monitors the performance of all of Connecticut’s districts and schools based on pre-determined academic indicators, identifies which schools and districts are consistently low-achieving, and requires state intervention for those schools and districts. We call this much-needed system a “framework for intervention.”
Powers of the SBE, Part 1: The 5-Year Plan
This week, let's talk about the top three existing authorities that the State Board of Education should be using to reform public education!
The State Board of Education has the statutory authority to prepare a comprehensive five-year education plan, complete with long- and short-term goals, cost analysis, benchmarks, and methods for achieving their goals and objectives.
Welcome!
Welcome to the Blog for the Connecticut Council for Education Reform! We at CCER want this to be a platform for you to keep abreast of important education issues and the "go to place" for education events, to expand your awareness of particular education topics, and to share the knowledge you already have! This space will provide you with: