What’s considered the biggest shift ever in the structure and substance of Connecticut public education—intense and focused change in the state’s most challenged school districts—is yielding early success.
“Our students, teachers, and communities have made extraordinary efforts as they’ve led improvement initiatives and met new requirements connected with Public Act 12-116, sweeping education legislation enacted in June, 2012,” said CEA President Sheila Cohen. The legislation created 30 Alliance School Districts and targeted them with new resources and programs.
“These districts have the most persistent challenges, so their early success is nothing less than remarkable. As the state’s largest teacher organization, we are pleased to celebrate that success with our new TV ad,” said Cohen.
Themed, Success in the Works, the ad highlights remarkable teachers, enthusiastic students and supportive communities contributing to success. It begins with a simple red apple—a traditional icon for education. The apple opens to reveal colorful gears, representing exciting changes at the core of our schools such as more learning time, more personal attention, and early interventions. The action plays out in a warm animated style as the apple is passed from student to teacher to parent to community, demonstrating the many people involved in school success.
But tradition ends with the icon because the new TV ad uses non-traditional, cutting-edge animation to tell a success story. It also celebrates some powerful gears for school improvement such as high expectations, remarkable teachers, early interventions, more learning time, and more personal attention.
Cohen continued, “Teaching is the single most important in-school influence on student learning, and our teachers have been relentless in their focus on student growth in a culture that respects every student’s potential. The TV ad gives us an opportunity to give a well-deserved shout out to our teachers as well as students and communities—all doing their part to insist that schools reach even higher to ensure a bright future for all.”
Educators are molding success by shaping initiatives such as collaboration on best practices, a focus on K-3 literacy, curricular changes, behavioral interventions, social services involvement, family engagement, school climate enhancements, teacher/administrator partnerships on teacher evaluation, professional learning systems, and adjustments to scheduling and use of school and instructional time.
Cohen added, “Teachers must have the ability to teach creatively and effectively, and their strong voice and participation in designing school change must be respected. There is more work to be done in our Alliance Districts, and critical investments and teacher-led decision making will be pivotal.”
Cohen continued, “We need to give our educators opportunity, time, and resources to collaborate and help make adjustments on critical topics.” Cohen concluded, “CEA and its members welcome every chance to develop effective policies and approaches working with students, parents, and communities to ensure the best possible implementation of school change.”
Watch the ad below or here.
