Raising their voices today before an advisory committee to the state Board of Education and speaking up at a legislative public hearing on Monday, teachers are making it clear that the student assessments that count in their evaluations are not a subject that should be “kicked down the road” indefinitely by Connecticut policymakers. CEA President…
Details“This bill is essentially a hostile takeover of Network Schools—it’s incredibly anti-democratic,” CEA Director of Policy, Research, and Reform Donald Williams told legislators yesterday, saying that CEA strongly opposes Senate Bill 5551. While debate on a CEA proposed bill to undo the link between SBAC and teachers’ evaluations received the lion’s share of testimony at…
Details“Nowhere in research does it say that the results of a single standardized test score measure the effectiveness of a teacher,” CEA President Sheila Cohen told legislators this evening. Cohen and Executive Director Mark Waxenberg expressed teachers’ support for SB 380 An Act Concerning the Exclusion of Student Performance Results on the Mastery Examination from Teacher…
Details“Connecticut is among a small minority of states that have yet to enact legislation pertaining to the protection and use of student data, leaving our children and families inadequately protected,” Jenn Jacobsen, director of the Connecticut Alliance for Privacy in Education (CAPE), told legislators this week. Jacobsen and other CAPE members testified at a public…
DetailsIt can be shockingly easy for an upstanding educator to face unfounded accusations that require an investigation by the Department of Children and Families (DCF). As the law now stands, even when educators are cleared of all wrongdoing they still face the stigma of being labeled “alleged perpetrators.” CEA attorney Chris Hankins spoke out on behalf of…
DetailsSitting elbow to elbow, knee to knee, with books in hand, nearly 300 students filled the hallways at Franklin Elementary School in Stratford today to celebrate Read Across America Day, with their very own Read Across Franklin event. The first-floor hallways—with bulletin boards colorfully decorated with Horton, Hop on Pop, the Cat in the Hat,…
DetailsSpring holidays, vacations, and spring weather will soon be upon us. Check out these highlighted deals and discounts from NEA Members Benefits. NEA Click & Save “Buy-lights” for March 2016 NEA Click & Save, the online discount buying service for NEA members, highlights select retailers and merchants each month. Check out these featured “Buy-lights” for…
DetailsSetting out on March 5, teams of 12 to 16 dogs and their mushers will cover more than 1,150 miles from Anchorage to Nome in 10 to 17 days. Follow the trek with these lessons and activities. Resources for: Grades K-5 Grades 6-8 Grades 9-12
DetailsThe State of Connecticut today took a very small step to cut back on student testing by eliminating the English Language Arts (ELA) performance task section of the SBAC exam. While this move reduces testing time for third through eighth graders by an hour to an hour and a half, it does nothing to address…
DetailsCEA Executive Director Mark Waxenberg today urged legislators not to surrender their authority to a state agency—the state Department of Education. Testifying before the legislature’s Education Committee, Waxenberg said that provisions in Senate Bill 175 concerning parents’ right to opt their children out of state testing and the implementation of a school accountability system represent…
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