ERIC ED535275: The 2011 ConnCAN Annual Report: Until It's Done

2011·11 MB·English

by  ERIC

THE 2011 CONNCAN ANNUAL REPORT
85 Willow Street 203 772 4017 phone www.conncan.org
New Haven, Connecticut 06511 203 404 7761 fax [email protected]
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Revolutionary social movements take time. And every meaningful civil rights
movement in human history, from the abolition of slavery to women’s suffrage,
had its moments of despair.
For those of us who believe that Connecticut’s public education system is in need
of major repair, 2011 was a tough year. Despite the best efforts and bold inten-
tions of ConnCAN and other like-minded individuals and organizations, the sta-
tus quo ultimately prevailed.
CONTENTS
And the status quo is unacceptable. Connecticut has maintained its worst-in-
the-nation achievement gap for years. And while we have seen major increases
in both education spending and the number of full-time public school employees
since 2003, student enrollment and achievement have remained flat. An esti-
mated 9,000 students in Connecticut’s Class of 2011 did not graduate – nearly
INTRODUCTION 05
enough to fill UConn’s Gampel Pavilion, home of the Huskies basketball teams.
LETTER FROM THE CEO 06 We have a serious problem on our hands, and we did not come close to fixing it
in 2011.
MISSION 08
During our 2011 campaign, “Get Smart Connecticut,” we produced and distrib-
VISION 10
uted valuable original research to Connecticut citizens, shored up legislative al-
PRINCIPLES & MODEL 12 lies, and compelled the media to put a spotlight on Connecticut’s broken public
education system. Our goals were ambitious, and we pushed relentlessly for a
CONNECTICUT BY THE NUMBERS 14
breakthrough until the very last day of the legislative session. But in the end, as
we said to our advocates in our final campaign report, “we got bupkis.” Our only
CONNCAN BY THE NUMBERS 18
major win on behalf of Connecticut’s students in 2011 was stopping a bill that
TIMELINE 22 would have severely jeopardized any chance of ever having rigorous teacher eval-
uations in Connecticut. A victory to be sure, but not a significant step forward.
SPOTLIGHT ON ADVOCACY CAPTAINS 26
ConnCAN’s mission is to lead a movement that will improve educational out-
2012 CAMPAIGN PREVIEW 28
comes for Connecticut's kids. And one disappointing year will not distract, dis-
THE CONNCAN TEAM 30 courage or dissuade us from that mission. We have no intention of giving up. It
always seems impossible until it is done.
LEADERSHIP 34
CONTRIBUTORS 36 We believe in the power of advocates, teachers, school administrators, superin-
tendents, lawmakers, parents and families, and, most of all, students. We must
FINANCIALS 38 work together to fundamentally improve our public education system, and we
cannot wait, become weary, or give up. Now is the time to go all in.
CONCLUSION 42
ADD YOUR VOICE THE END ConnCAN is in it until it’s done – until each and every Connecticut student has
access to great public schools.
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Charles F. Kettering once said, “One fails forward to success.” As
we look at the education reform movement in Connecticut, we see
the truth in that adage. In past years, specific setbacks have led to
significant victories for the students of Connecticut.
EDUCATION REFORM IS MORE THAN JUST AN ISSUE, IT IS A MOVEMENT.
WE ALL RECOGNIZE THAT 2011 CANNOT BE LABELED A VICTORY. WE WILL NOT SOLVE ALL THAT AILS OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS IMMEDIATELY.
LAST YEAR, THERE WERE NO GAINS FOR CONNECTICUT’S YOUTH. BUT WE MUST CONTINUE THE FIGHT FORWARD, BUILDING ON OUR
THE COALITION OF THE STATUS QUO BLOCKED REAL PROGRESS. VICTORIES, LEARNING FROM OUR FAILURES, AND DEMONSTRATING AN
AGAIN, WE SAW THE INTERESTS OF THE ADULTS IN THE ROOM UNWAVERING COMMITMENT TO DOING WHAT IS RIGHT AND WHAT IS BEST
TRUMP THE NEEDS OF THE KIDS WE ARE CHARGED WITH SERVING. FOR OUR PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS.
So we use the past year to fail forward to success. We learn from our are getting louder and stronger. And the coalition of the status quo is
experiences. We use short-term failures to motivate future activities. truly concerned about our continued movement forward to education
And we redouble our efforts to do everything and anything to ensure reform success.
that all of Connecticut’s students have access to great public schools.
We began 2012 with high hopes, as Governor Dannel P. Malloy
We know what success must look like when it comes to education pledged his commitment to make this year the “Year for Education
reform. That vision is what has guided our work for the past eight years, Reform.” We have made significant steps forward already this year,
and what shaped our goals for 2012. Building from the experiences from educator evaluation to improving low-performing schools to
of the previous year, this year we are focused on ensuring that all improving funding for our schools of choice. Let there be no mistake,
children have excellent educators leading their classrooms and that though, we still have much to do.
all students are fairly funded, regardless of the public school they
choose to attend. Thank you for standing with us on behalf of all of Connecticut’s public
school students. Together, we will continue to advocate for what is
In years past, we have seen ConnCAN go it alone, forced to fight solo best for our kids. Together, we will continue to break the restraints of
on many of the issues that matter most for Connecticut’s children. the status quo. Together, we will continue our forward progress for
Today, we are part of a large and growing coalition committed to real reform and for success for all kids.
meaningful reform and measurable student achievement. Whether
advocate or educator, parent or policy maker, the voices for reform – PATRICK RICCARDS
7/23/2012
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OUR MISSION:
We dream big at ConnCAN. We expect a lot of ourselves, and for a
good reason – our vision for the state of Connecticut is ambitious:
Every Connecticut child, regardless of race, ethnicity or class, should
have access to great public schools.
It seems like a simple dream, and one that is indisputably worthwhile.
And yet, as of 2011, we still weren’t delivering on the promise of an
excellent public education for every Connecticut child.
CONNCAN IS LEADING A MOVEMENT
Each year, we hold ourselves publicly accountable to a set of bold and
specific goals that, if achieved, will get us closer to making this dream
TO IMPROVE EDUCATIONAL a reality.
OUTCOMES FOR CONNECTICUT’S KIDS.
BUT WHAT WILL SUCCESS LOOK LIKE?
HOW WILL WE KNOW WHEN WE’VE GOTTEN THERE?
OUR VISION
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These measures of success are not modest by any means.
It will take hard work, passion, and determination from ConnCAN and our base
of advocates and partners. But until it’s done, and every kid has access
to great public schools, we will not give up.
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AND MODEL
Education policy is set by state legislatures, and
g etting policy right can transform the way we
educate our children. To make a lasting impact,
ConnCAN advances the structural changes that al-
low programmatic success to take root and flour-
ish. In doing so, we advance three fundamental,
interconnected principles that work together to re- THE MARRIAGE OF RESEARCH AND ADVOCACY
ward success, reduce failure, and raise the quality
of everything in between. Through the synchronized use of research and
advocacy, ConnCAN has become an expert player
CHOICE in the state-level policy arena. Each year, we lead
results-oriented advocacy campaigns that help
More and more Connecticut parents are looking concerned citizens speak out and change the way
to high-achieving public schools of choice to give we educate our children.
their children the best possible education. Giving
parents greater choice among public schools, and To make sure policy change will work to help all of
giving educators greater autonomy to respond to Connecticut’s kids, ConnCAN grounds its advocacy
their students’ needs, can unlock the potential of in comprehensive research. The first stage of our
public education to deliver sustained improvement work is analyzing Connecticut’s public education
for students over time. system and learning about what’s working here and
elsewhere to improve student outcomes. Next, we
ACCOUNTABLITY assess the legislative landscape and set goals for
maximum impact in the context of a given year.
All aspects of our education system must be fo-
cused on student outcomes. During the past 20 Then we put our research to use by sharing it with
years, Connecticut has developed state standards parents and families, concerned citizens, educa-
and implemented assessment systems. Now we tion leaders, and policymakers. By disseminating
need to use the information collected by these sys- our data and analysis, ConnCAN helps to define
tems to expand public awareness of school perfor- the problems in our public education system and
mance, ground teacher and administrator evalua- provides policy insights to begin building a solution.
tions in student results, and close chronically failing
schools. To develop our policy proposals, we draw from the
wisdom of local, regional, and national partners and
FLEXIBILITY adapt successful models to our Connecticut con-
text. Finally, we build a chorus of voices calling for
Schools and districts that are delivering high-qual- these changes, mobilizing our base of more than
ity results for all students identify barriers to stu- 30,000 advocates, supporting local grassroots ad-
dent success and promptly work to eliminate them. vocates, and convening a broad coalition of stake-
We believe that state policy should play an impor- holders to speak out on behalf of Connecticut’s kids.
tant role in giving local leaders and educators the
freedom and flexibility they need to create, inno-
vate, and adapt to deliver results for their students.
CONNECTICUT
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RT 2011 FOURTH GRADERS
IN CONNECTICUT BEHIND
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ARE MORE THAN THEIR NON-ELL PEERS IN READING5
THE PROBLEM THAT NEEDS TO BE FIXED
GRADE
ELL FOURTH
4LEVELS
GRADERS
ONLY 1/3 IN CONNECTICUT
BEHIND
ARE NEARLY
OF CONNECITUCUT’S LOW-INCOME, AFRICAN-AMERICAN, AND HISPANIC THEIR NON-ELL PEERS IN MATH6
THIRD GRADE STUDENTS PERFORMED AT GRADE LEVEL IN READING
COMPARED TO 70 PERCENT OF WHITE AND NON-LOW INCOME THIRD GRADERS1
GRADE
OUR LOW-INCOME
STUDENTS AND 3LEVELS
STUDENTS OF COLOR
STUDIES SHOW THAT STUDENTS WHO DO NOT LEARN TO READ AT GRADE LEVEL
CONSISTENTLY BEHIND
BY THE END OF THIRD GRADE MAY NEVER CATCH UP AND ARE MORE LIKELY TO
PERFORM THEIR WHITE AND NON-LOW-
2
DROP OUT
INCOME PEERS7
GRADE
HISPANIC FOURTH
LOW-INCOME STUDENTS IN CONNECTICUT GRADE STUDENTS 2LEVELS
IN CONNECTICUT
BEHIND
SCORED WORSE
PERFORM
SIMILAR STUDENTS IN MARYLAND8
THAN SIMILAR STUDENTS IN 33 OTHER STATES3
ARE
EVEN OUR
DROPOUTS FROM THE CLASS OF 2008 WILL LOSE MORE THAN
FALLING
HIGHEST-PERFORMING
$1.4 BILLION
BEHIND
STUDENTS
IN LIFETIME EARNINGS BECAUSE THEY LACK A HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA4 THOSE IN OTHER STATES AND NATIONS9
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$84 MILLION
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A YEAR ON COLLEGE REMEDIATION BECAUSE STUDENTS
ARRIVE UNABLE TO DO COLLEGE-LEVEL WORK11
24.7
PERCENTAGE
POINTS
BETWEEN
HISPANIC & WHITE NEARLY ONE IN FIVE
STUDENTS
CONNECTICUT STUDENTS
20.0 DOES NOT
PERCENTAGE COMPLETE
POINTS
HIGH
BETWEEN SCHOOL
AFRICAN-AMERICAN
IN FOUR YEARS13
& WHITE STUDENTS
BY 2018 BUT RIGHT NOW ONLY
THE
65% 36%
HIGH SCHOOL
OF CONNECTICUT JOBS OF OUR HIGH SCHOOL
WILL REQUIRE AT LEAST GRADUATES COMPLETE GRADUATION
A BACHELOR’S DEGREE AN UNDERGRADUATE
RATE GAP12
DEGREE WITHIN 6 YEARS10
1493
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1094
1064
2,092 PEOPLE ADDED
TO CONTACT DATABASE
NUMBER OF E-ADVOCACY
ACTIONS TAKEN IN 2011
3,662
NUMBER OF E-ADVOCACY
ACTIONS TAKEN IN 2010
1,416 TWITTER FOLLOWERS 404
FACEBOOK FANS
INDIVIDUAL DONATIONS
2008–2011
285
263
210 197
118
110
65
60
2008 2009 2010 2011