Aiming for success and achieving success were the dual themes at two education meetings that attracted the attention of Governor Dannel P. Malloy today. In Hartford, educators from the state’s 11 Network Schools, schools with the most stubborn academic and social challenges, shared with the governor details of their school improvement plans and their progress…
DetailsWest Hartford teachers and music teachers from around the state have a great reason to celebrate today. One of their own, John Mastroianni, Director of Bands at Hall High School, has been named the 2014 Connecticut Teacher of the Year. During the ceremony announcing the honor at Hall High School this morning, Mastroianni said, “I’ve…
DetailsShould parents fear new technology connected with student records? Do teachers and parents know everything they need to know about the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)? What safeguards are being used to protect the amount of data being stored about individuals in our public schools? These are questions that deserve your time and…
DetailsYour evaluation is important to you and your profession, and CEA is here to help you through the ups and downs, challenges, and issues that may arise. That’s why we’ve established a new CEA Hotline for you to call regarding questions, concerns, or issues about your district’s new teacher evaluation process and how it’s affecting…
DetailsIt’s likely that the federal shutdown won’t have a severe impact on Connecticut public education if—and it’s a big if—the shutdown lasts what the state’s top education official calls “a short number of weeks” or less. At today’s meeting of the State Board of Education, the federal shutdown was a focus since the State Department…
DetailsSeveral government-run education websites are offline, and U.S. Department of Education Twitter accounts posted messages early today saying the accounts won’t be updated during the shutdown — but what effect will the shutdown have on students and schools? According to POLITICO, as long as the shutdown is resolved quickly, the effects should be minimal. “A longer…
DetailsSAT results were released today, and Connecticut’s scores remained flat, as they did on average for the entire country. (Scores for individual Connecticut schools can be found here.) This has led to some doom and gloom responses from news outlets like The Atlantic, which titled its article on the subject, “This Year’s SAT Scores Are…
DetailsThe Atlantic invited a variety of voices to weigh in recently on the value of homework, and they provide some interesting reading. Karl Taro Greenfeld decided to do his eighth-grade daughter’s homework for a week to find out what she’s doing for up to five hours every night. Whenever I bring up the homework issue…
DetailsIt’s a simple but important message—don’t text and drive. And it’s the center of a new distracted driving campaign that kicked off today at TheaterWorks in Hartford, aimed at educating teens about the dangers of texting and driving. Governor Malloy proclaimed today no texting and driving day in Connecticut, telling teens to “put down the…
DetailsNever have teachers been required to deal with so much change simultaneously—from new teacher evaluation to Common Core State Standards—but they can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that retired teachers have their backs. That was the message from CEA Vice President Jeff Leake to more than 200 retired teachers at the September CEA Retired…
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