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In the News

New panel tackles gap in learning

March 9, 2010
New Haven Register

By Elizabeth Benton

Gov. M. Jodi Rell has formed a new commission aimed at closing the achievement gap between minority and low-income students and their white and higher-income peers.

The 11-member commission draws heavily from the business and philanthropic fields, and is led by Greenwich businessman and children’s book author Steven J. Simmons.

School's shake-up is embraced by the President

March 6, 2010
New York Times

By Steven Greenhouse and Sam Dillon 

A Rhode Island school board’s decision to fire the entire faculty of a poorly performing school, and President Obama’s endorsement of the action, has stirred a storm of reaction nationwide, with teachers condemning it as an insult and conservatives hailing it as a watershed moment of school accountability.

Three Bridgeport schools recognized as 'success stories'

March 6, 2010
Bridgeport News

 Three of Bridgeport public schools — Hall School, High Horizons Magnet School and Multicultural Magnet School — have been selected as 2010 ConnCAN “Success Story” schools.

ConnCan is the Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now, a statewide education reform advocacy organization.

 

Each year, ConnCAN recognizes schools around the state that are leading the way in raising student achievement and helping to close Connecticut’s achievement gap.

Starting the race over

March 5, 2010
Connecticut Mirror

By Robert Frahm

Hoping for a second chance at millions of dollars in federal stimulus money for school reform, state lawmakers enlisted the help Thursday of education groups whose views are often at odds.

Connecticut starting over in school funding Race to the Top

March 5, 2010
Hartford Courant

By Grace Merritt

An unlikely group of bedfellows, including teachers union leaders, legislators and charter school advocates, said Thursday that they'll work together in the next few months to improve Connecticut's chances to succeed in the second round of funding under the federal Race to the Top grant competition.

The announcement, made at the Legislative Office Building, came just two hours after the Obama administration said it had rejected the state's application for $192 million in the competition for federal school-reform stimulus money.

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Media Room

Working with the Connecticut press corps.

If you’re writing a story about education in Connecticut, we’d be happy to work with you on deadline. Get in touch with ConnCAN Communications Director Karen Rutzick: 

Office: 203-772-4017 ext. 19
Cell: 202-406-0456
Twitter: @krutzick
 

Press Releases

 

March 10, 2010

Less than a week after Connecticut was rejected from Round 1 of Race to the Top, lawmakers introduced a suite of trailblazing legislation that would make Connecticut competitive in the second round of the Race.

H.B. 5493, “An act concerning strategic planning in state education policy and charter school funding” would eliminate the use of the annual state appropriation process to fund charter schools and adopt a “money follows the child” funding mechanism instead phased in over several years.

February 22, 2010

A new analysis released today by the Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now (ConnCAN), reveals that Connecticut left 120 blanks in its Round 1 Race to the Top application, underscoring the need for lawmakers to pass reforms to improve the state’s standing before Round 2.

Download ConnCAN’s new analysis, “Race to the Top Round 1: Leaving it Blank.”

January 19, 2010

On the same day that Connecticut’s education commissioner is submitting the state’s Round 1 application for the federal government’s $4 billion “Race to the Top,” the Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now (ConnCAN) launched a campaign urging public officials to make the reforms necessary for Connecticut to be truly competitive.

December 21, 2009

The Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now (ConnCAN) today released its 2009-2010 School Report Cards, assigning letter grades to over 1,000 Connecticut public schools and 160 school districts based on their students‚ academic performance in four categories.

Click here to view the School Report Cards.

Using the data from the School Report Cards, ConnCAN also released the Top 10 Connecticut public schools in 14 categories.

November 23, 2009

The Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now (ConnCAN) and education research firm Public Impact today released a groundbreaking report tracing the flow of funds through Connecticut’s public schools and offering a more rational system that will close that state’s yawning achievement gap.

November 12, 2009

Trinity College, the Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now (ConnCAN), and Achieve Hartford! today launched the second year of SmartChoices Hartford, www.smartchoiceshartford.org, a one-of-a-kind website designed to help parents in Greater Hartford choose which school they would like their children to attend.

October 15, 2009

Alex Johnston, Chief Executive Officer of the Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now (ConnCAN), a New Haven-based education reform advocacy group, has been appointed by Mayor John DeStefano, Jr. to serve on the New Haven Board of Education.

Johnston will fill the vacancy of Dr. Brian Perkins, finishing out the remainder of Dr. Perkin’s term ending September 15, 2010. Upon reappointment, Johnston will then serve a four-year term. Johnston’s first board activity will be a Strategic Planning Meeting on Oct. 17.

October 14, 2009

The U.S. Department of Education released its biennial “National Assessment of Educational Progress” for math on Wednesday, and Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now (ConnCAN) analysis shows that Connecticut’s achievement gap between poor students and their wealthier peers remains the largest in the country, though it decreased slightly from 2007.

Click here to download 2009 state achievement gap rankings.

July 29, 2009

In the state with the nation’s largest achievement gap, Connecticut’s 2009 test score results reveal minimal closure of that gap.

Click here to download our four-page PDF with full test-score analysis.

Three major findings came out of Wednesday’s release of the 2009 Connecticut Mastery Test for elementary and middle school students and the Connecticut Academic Performance Test for high school students:

June 16, 2009

The Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now (ConnCAN) today released its third annual comparison of official high school graduation rates calculated by the Connecticut State Department of Education and independent rates calculated by Education Week’s Diplomas Count project, finding gaps of up to 39 percent between the two.

Click here to download our district-by-district comparison of high school graduation rates.

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