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In the News
May 18, 2012
Fairfield County Business Journal

With new federal data showing continued, middle-of-the-pack performance by Connecticut schools, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy found the middle ground among competing interests for a landmark education law.

For once, teachers were not front and center in the debate.

May 8, 2012
Wall Street Journal

HARTFORD—In a sweeping education deal with lawmakers and teacher unions here, Gov. Dannel Malloy gave ground on some of his farthest-reaching proposals but contended the compromise was still a historic overhaul of public-school policy in a state that has proved resistant to change.

May 8, 2012
Hartford Courant

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said Monday night that his administration and lawmakers had reached an agreement on "meaningful education reform" — an agreement that he said adds nearly $100 million in new education spending and will help the state regain its competitive edge.

May 8, 2012
CT News Junkie

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and Democratic legislative leaders celebrated what they called an “historic” agreement on a sweeping education reform proposal that believe will help Connecticut erase its largest-in-the-nation achievement gap.

At a 10 p.m. press conference, Malloy told a packed room of reformers and leaders of at least one of the state’s teacher unions that the bill the Senate is expected to take up later this evening is just a beginning.

May 7, 2012
The Hanging Shad

Say this for Gov. Dannel Malloy, love his policies or hate them, he has largely gotten what he wants in his first year and a half in office. He pushed through the largest tax increase in state history after inheriting a $3 billion-plus disaster of a state budget; he was able to wring desperately needed concessions out of the state employee unions (after first failing); he instituted the “First Five” job-creation program; and won hard-fought approval for the Jackson Labs economic development project..

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The results are in, and they’re good for kids in New Haven

Posted October 5, 2011 at 10:47am
 in

Earlier this month, the New Haven Board of Education announced the results of the first year of its teacher evaluation system. Folks around Connecticut and the nation are watching as the district becomes a model for evaluating teachers fairly while putting student achievement front and center.

The New Haven model has three core components. Teachers are evaluated based on (1) achievement and academic growth among their students, (2) observations by managers and administrators, and (3) measurements of professionalism, collegiality, and passion for being in the classroom. The system came together through collaborative deliberations by the school district, Mayor John DeStefano, and the New Haven Federation of Teachers. According to the New York Times, the “first year’s promising results show what can be done when the two sides commit to reform.”

So what happened? Almost 2,000 teachers were evaluated on a 1-to-5 scale, 1 representing the lowest score. Ultimately, 34 teachers retired or left New Haven schools without contesting poor ratings, and another 15 were given time to improve their ratings or face possible termination next year. Perhaps the most important takeaway from this pilot year was that 40 percent of those teachers that had been rated poorly earlier in the year were able to improve their numbers into the “fair” or “excellent” category by the end of the school calendar – showing that when districts combine accountability with the support and training that teachers want and need, true improvements can be gained. In a year when cities like New Haven faced significant budget crunches, particularly in education, the new evaluation system has allowed the district to make major strides to keep their best teachers in their classrooms.

We know that an excellent teacher in the classroom can change everything for a student. Now it’s time for state leaders to take the lessons learned from New Haven and give other districts the tools to make sure every student has access great teachers, like fair teacher and principal evaluation systems. New Haven’s model suggests to us that, with leadership at the state level, we can accomplish this goal.

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