Get Informed

How to Make Sure Your Child Isn't Left Behind

This guidebook is designed to empower parents to take control of their children’s educational opportunities and to work to close Connecticut’s over-sized achievement gap. The guidebook has two primary goals: 1) To inform parents about their rights under NCLB, and 2) To show parents how to use the tools and resources available under NCLB to become effective advocates for their children.

Great Schools for All

Drawing on the lessons learned from great public schools across Connecticut, the insights and experiences of parents and community leaders tackling this challenge, and the latest research on proven policies for raising student achievement from around the country, ConnCAN presents five big ideas for closing the nation’s largest achievement gap in this report.

The Achievement Gap

The “achievement gap" is the most pressing education issue facing the United States today and arguably the biggest social and economic problem of any kind facing Connecticut. While every state has an achievement gap, Connecticut is the worst in the nation.

The High Cost of Low-Performing Schools

Connecticut’s achievement gap has consequences. While we may never be able to quantify the terrible effects of the gap on students’ hopes and dreams, researchers have measured the costs that illiteracy, low graduation rates, and a poor grasp of basic skills impose on our communities, our state, and our country.