Come together with your fellow educators and make a child’s holiday brighter by participating in the Holiday Bear Project, sponsored by CEA’s charitable organization, the Connecticut Education Foundation (CEF). The program matches needy public school students with sponsors who purchase gifts for the children who would otherwise receive none. The Holiday Bear Project has grown…
DetailsOver-testing students is a real thing across the U.S., according to Scott Norton, strategic initiative director for Standards, Assessment and Accountability at the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), who discussed the purpose of state and local assessment programs at Tuesday’s meeting of the new state Mastery Examination Committee. Norton called states “smart” that…
DetailsTeachers have been calling attention to the problem of overtesting in public schools for years, and this weekend the Obama administration finally responded by releasing a plan to reduce testing, saying no more than two percent of classroom instruction time should be spent on tests. In a fact sheet on the new Testing Action Plan…
DetailsMany schools talk with students about bullying during the month of October, which is known as National Bullying Prevention Month, but not all techniques for combating bullying are equally effective. CEA’s Human and Civil Rights Commission brought an anti-bullying expert to present to CEA members a few years ago, and he had some research-based advice…
DetailsWhen English teacher Molly Pollak retired after 40 years teaching middle and high school her former students compiled a book filled with 75 heartfelt letters. The letters spanned her entire teaching career yet, reading through them, Pollack realized the letters shared common themes that reflected what she had prioritized in her classroom. What was Pollak’s…
DetailsThis week is America’s Safe Schools Week, and NEA has compiled a variety of resources for educators. Check out the links below to help students and parents learn about and advocate for school safety, bullying prevention, reducing violence, improving discipline, and increasing student attendance. Ready, a public service campaign from The Federal Emergency Management Agency,…
DetailsStudents who read for pleasure are likely to do significantly better in school than other students, but some schools’ overemphasis on testing and following prescribed curricula are endangering children’s opportunities to learn to love reading. A Massachusetts teacher who witnessed how students’ newfound love for a book was quashed when they were told it wasn’t…
DetailsThanksgiving is a time for sharing stories and history for many families, and this year NPR’s StoryCorps wants to help students capture some of those stories. StoryCorps is working with teachers and middle and high school students across the country to preserve the voices and stories of an entire generation. Open to everyone, The Great Thanksgiving…
DetailsImagine having the time to collaborate with colleagues to design lesson plans and being able to try the lessons out while receiving feedback from fellow educators. In Japan this method of improving teaching, known as lesson study, is common practice, and now some schools in the U.S. are experimenting with it as well. In lesson…
DetailsOn what many called “perfect” weather for a marathon—cool, dry, and sunny—an estimated 16,000 people ran in the Eversource Hartford Marathon today, as well as several shorter races, while tens of thousands of people cheered them on throughout the course. More than two dozen teachers ran on Team CEF to raise money for the Connecticut…
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