Community forum

1. Community forum Connecticut’s Plan to Improve Public Education

2. Where does Connecticut currently stand?

3. Connecticut has the Nation’s Largest Achievement Gap Worst in the nation in 7 of 16 measures; among the bottom 10 in all 16. Source: National Center for Education Statistics, 2011

4. We are failing many students, especially low-income Hispanic and Latino Students. Low-income Hispanic and Latino 4th grade students in Connecticut perform two grade levels behind similar students in Maryland. • Source: National Center for Education Statistics, 2011

5. Connecticut’s High School Graduation Gap, Class of 2010 • Source: Connecticut State Department of Education

6. Where does Bridgeport currently stand?

7. The district faces the same achievement gap as four years ago. CMT and CAPT Combined Averages

8. 95% of Bridgeport elementary schools perform below the state average. Percentage of Students at Goal in 2011

9. Less than 25% of Bridgeport 3rd graders are reading at grade level Yearly change in at goal CMT reading scores

10. All three Bridgeport high schools perform well below state average. Change in Percentage of Students at Goal 2010-2011

11. Only half of Bridgeport students are graduating from high school. Data from Education Week: http://www.edweek.org/apps/gmap/

12. Bridgeport is the lowest performing school district among its urban peer districts in Connecticut. Peer Districts

13. We need better schools.

14. We know it is possible to close the gap. Schools with at least 75% low-income or minority students and one of those student groups outperforms the state average at or above goal on the CMT/CAPT Elementary Schools Black Rock School, Bridgeport Davis Street 21st Century Interdistrict Magnet School, New Haven Edith E. Mackrille School, West Haven Highville Charter School, Hamden Jefferson Elementary School, Norwalk Mead School, Ansonia Multicultural Magnet School, Bridgeport Nichols School, Stratford Park City Magnet School, Bridgeport Second Hill Lane School, Stratford University of Hartford Magnet School, Hartford Vogel-Wetmore School, Torrington Westover School, Stamford Worthington Hooker School, New Haven Middle Schools Achievement First Hartford Academy, Hartford Amistad Academy, New Haven High Horizons School, Bridgeport House of Arts, Letters and Science Academy, New Britain Jumoke Academy, Hartford Multicultural Magnet School, Bridgeport Park City Magnet School, Bridgeport Roton Middle School, Norwalk Worthington Hooker School, New Haven High Schools Amistad Academy, New Haven Sources: http://solutions1.emetric.net/cmtpublic/Index.aspx, 2011; http://solutions1.emetric.net/captpublic/Index.aspx, 2011 See http://www.conncan.org

15. How can we get there?

16. The Governor’s Education Reform Bill S.B. 24, An Act Concerning Educational Competitiveness

17. What’s in the Governor’s Bill? • Improved school and district accountability • State can take over and run worst performing schools through a “Commissioner’s Network” • Teacher tenure linked to performance • Principal evaluations linked to performance

18. Additional funding for Education Cost Sharing (ECS)program • ~$40M to lowest performing districts (including $4.4M to Bridgeport) • ~$5M of conditional performance-based funding

19. Increased funding for public schools of choice • Closes (but does not eliminate) gap in per-pupil funding between charters and other public schools • Facilitates opening of five new charter schools

20. Early Childhood Education • New funding for low-income children to attend preschool, performance tracking systems, and training programs

21. Our take: a step in the right direction, but there remains more to do • Strongest elements: School and district accountability and turnarounds, teacher and school leader quality • Promising elements: conditional funding and increased funding for charters and magnets • Areas for Improvement: fundamentally fixing school finance formula, ending last-in first-out, linking teacher pay to performance, fixing binding arbitration, eliminating unnecessary spending

22. Q & A

23. How can we get involved?

24. What does Excel Bridgeport do? “All children in Bridgeport will have the opportunity to attain a world-class education that prepares them for success in college, career, and life.” Excel works to: • Engage parents and students to build a sustainable change movement. • Serve as a knowledge-builder and thought leader for the community on education reform issues. • Use data and research to hold the district accountable for progress toward improved student achievement.

25. What can you do? • Sign the Pledge for Change by visiting our website. And then share it with your friends! • Connect with us online on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Sign up for our newsletter and read our reports to stay informed about education in Bridgeport. • Share your story! Give us a call, send us an email, or stop by the office and tell us how Bridgeport public education has affected you. • Donate your time and effort to help build our movement for change. Come to Excel Bridgeport’s events and Bridgeport Board of Education meetings.

26. What can you do? Two hearings on the Governor’s bill: Tuesday, February 21st, 1:15pm: • Teacher tenure, certification, evaluation, collective bargaining, retirement, recruitment, professional development • Vocational-technical school structure • Early childhood education Wednesday, February 22nd, 12:00pm: • ECS funding, schools of choice funding • Conditional funding, competitive grants • Accountability and low-performing schools