CONNECTICUT

sde.ct.gov

"We have a responsibility to our children to prepare them for the demands of the 21st century. We are looking forward to working with our colleagues from New England to develop effective models for change in our secondary schools to increase graduation rates and eliminate gaps in student performance. We believe that our collaboration through the New England Secondary School Consortium has the potential to lead to long-needed reforms that will bring our secondary schools into the 21st century and help our students compete successfully on the college campus and in the workplace. For Connecticut and the other members of the Consortium, this work will assure our region’s continued competitiveness in the international economy."

—Stefan Pryor

Connecticut Commissioner of Education

Secondary Initiatives

Designing secondary schools where all students can learn and achieve at high levels will require important and substantial changes in our current structures, practices, and assumptions. We must be committed to do all we can to enable every student to graduate from any high school in Connecticut, or anywhere in New England, with the skills and knowledge they need not only to succeed, but excel. The Connecticut Plan focuses on secondary school reforms that will increase student engagement and provide the rigorous content and high expectations that students need in the 21st century. This success will require varied and flexible educational opportunities, personal connections, academic challenges, targeted supports, and a customized course of studies tied to each student’s education and career goals.

Connecticut is excited to collaborate with the other member states. By bringing together commissioners of education, policy makers, business leaders, and state, regional, and national organizations and leaders to advance the common mission of secondary school reform—and achieve our shared educational goals—we will greatly increase the likelihood of success. Our common goals of adopting rigorous 21st century learning standards, establishing more accurate and relevant student assessments, and creating data systems that will promote comparability of student achievement and educational outcomes across state lines will significantly benefit all of New England’s students.

The Connecticut Plan

Connecticut has embarked on a major statewide reform of middle and high schools—The Connecticut Plan for Secondary School Reform—which focuses on four critical areas of teaching and learning: Engagement, 21st Century Skills, Rigorous Expectations, and Accountability. The plan will help schools provide supportive environments and systems that enable all students to graduate from high school having met the following prerequisites: development of a student success plan for grades 6–12; completion of a core curriculum; passing end-of-year course examinations; and completion of a culminating senior project demonstrating 21st century skills and content knowledge mapped to every individual student’s success plan.

The Connecticut Accountability for Learning Initiative

The Connecticut Accountability for Learning Initiative provides state support to districts and schools to help promote continuous school and district improvement. CALI is a comprehensive system that assists schools and districts with analyzing and using data to improve instruction, classroom management, and school culture. The initiative was strengthened with the passing of state accountability legislation in 2007.

Scientific Research-Based Intervention

Scientific Research-Based Intervention is the implementation model for Response to Intervention [link] in Connecticut. This includes a focus on evidence-based instruction, early intervention, ongoing monitoring of student progress, and data driven decision-making. SRBI emphasizes successful instruction for all students through high-quality core education practices, as well as targeted interventions for students experiencing learning, social-emotional, or behavioral difficulties.

Connecticut Statewide Longitudinal Data System

In 2005, Connecticut was awarded a grant from the U. S. Department of Education’s Institute for Education Sciences to fund the initial construction of a statewide longitudinal data system. In November 2009, the first phase of the data warehouse was released for testing, followed a few months later by the launch of the Connecticut Education Data and Research portal. The publicly accessible online portal provides longitudinal data in the form of District and School Snapshots, Data Tables, and Analysis Tools. A second grant awarded in August 2009 is being used to develop the system to connect students and teachers, and share data across agencies to evaluate the effectiveness of educational programs.

Connecticut Educator Certification System

In January 2009, the Connecticut State Department of Education migrated all of its historical certification records to the Connecticut Educator Certification System. As part of the data conversion, 206,556 educators were assigned a unique ten-digit Educator ID Number, replacing social security number as primary identifiers. In addition to tracking certification data, all applications and supporting documents are stored in the new system, greatly increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of the state’s certification process.

Department of Education Contact

BARBARA BEAUDIN

Connecticut Lead

barbara_beaudin@ct.gov