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On April 16, 2015, CT News Junkie published an article by Elizabeth Regan on ConnCAN’s forum to discuss turnaround schools:
The forum, organized by the Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now, touted successful efforts to turn around struggling schools across the northeast. The educational coalition said the state’s own turnaround results through the fledgling Commissioner’s Network are mixed and that lawmakers must become involved in making changes to improve outcomes.
The Commissioner’s Network was enacted in 2012 to improve the state’s lowest performing schools by providing high-level interventions, resources, and additional funding. The program currently serves 16 schools that have volunteered to participate. However, more than half of those schools don’t fall within the state’s lowest performing categories, according to the coalition.
ConnCAN Chief Executive Officer Jennifer Alexander said lawmakers, with less than two months left in the session, must act soon on behalf of students in all low performing districts.
“To effectively turn around our lowest-performing schools, we need state policies and a process that allows direct and intensive intervention to provide schools with the autonomy, flexibility, and support needed to dramatically improve student outcomes,” Alexander said.