Issue and Policy Briefs

PB#1: 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.

IB #1: The Achievement Gap

The “achievement gap”—the persistent and significant disparity between the academic achievement of low-income and minority children and their white, middle-class peers—is the most pressing education issue facing the United States today and arguably the biggest social and economic problem of any kind facing Connecticut.

IB #2: 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.

IB #3: Standards and Accountability

Standards and accountability have been at the center of education reform efforts in the United States for twenty years. States have taken responsibility for articulating what they expect students will know; for testing students to ensure that those expectations are met; and for holding schools and districts accountable for results.

IB #4: No Child Left Behind

In Connecticut and across the nation, no education reform has generated as much hope or controversy as the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2002. Signed into law in January 2002 amidst bipartisan fanfare, No Child Left Behind combined a significant increase in federal Title I funding with a series of provisions designed to ensure greater accountability for results.

IB #5: Public Charter Schools

Charter schools are public schools of choice, free from many of the bureaucratic regulations that traditional public schools face and held accountable for results. Generally, independent groups receive a “charter” from a local school district or state to open and operate a public school; most charter schools are funded by the local district or state on a per-pupil basis, and they admit students through a public