CABE Journal - April 2014

Vol. 18, No.4 April 2014

w w w . c a b e . o r g

Connecticut Associationof Boards of Education Inc.81 Wolcott Hill RoadWethersfield, CT 06109-1242

PeriodicalPostage

PAIDHartford, CT

www.facebook.com/ConnecticutAssociationBoardsEducation

Top Common Core Myths and Facts

View fromthe Capitol

Patrice A. McCarthyDeputy Director and General Counsel, CABE

INSIDE THIS EDITION

Public Health 101 ................................ 4See You in Court .................................. 5The Policy Corner ............................... 6Photo highlights from Day on the Hill .................................. 8Guidelines for “Twitter” .................... 12The Power of Math and Common Core ................................. 13Spotlight on Lighthouse ..................... 15

See TOP page 13

CABE DAY ON THE HILL

Editor’s Note: The Top Common CoreMyths and Facts were distributed at apress conference held on March 12.Sponsors of the press conference wereCABE, CAPSS, CCER, CAS, ConnCAN,and CBIA.

The Common Core State Standardsestablish a consistent understanding ofwhat children need to know and be able todo in English Language Arts and Math-ematics in each grade, K-12 to be readyfor the challenges ahead. The standardsare the result of a state-led initiative toprovide students with robust, relevant,real-world learning experiences that arethe foundation for success in college andcareers.

Since the creation of these standards,

there has been miscommunication andconfusion over what the Common CoreStandards do and how they are beingimplemented in districts and schools.

We have prepared a list of the eightcommon myths surrounding the CommonCore Standards and facts to dispel thosemyths.

Myth #1: The Common Coreis a federal takeover of edu-cation.

Fact: The Common Core StateStandards were developed collaborativelyby teachers, administrators, and electedofficials from across the United Statesthrough a transparent, publicly inclusiveprocess that was originated, not by thefederal government, but by a bipartisangroup of governors1 (the NationalGovernors Association) and state schoolofficers2 (the Council of Chief StateSchool Officers).

Forty-five states independently andvoluntarily chose to adopt Common Core.Connecticut’s State Board of Educationvoted to adopt the Common Core StateStandards in 2010.3 Connecticut chose toinclude the adoption of the Common Corein its request for a waiver from theElementary and Secondary EducationAct.

Without this waiver, many moreschools in Connecticut would be consid-ered underperforming, putting additionalstress on our public education system.4

The standards have not been federally

imposed on the states. In fact, Texas,Virginia, Alaska, and Nebraska chose toset their own standards, and Minnesotachose to adopt only the Common Corereading standards.

These states will still receive the sameamount of federal aid5 that they wouldhave received had they adopted CommonCore. Any state that opts out of CommonCore today or in the future will not loseany future federal education funding.Furthermore, 90% of education funding6

comes from state and local sources.

Myth #2: The Common Coreis unconstitutional.

Fact: The Common Core StateStandards are not unconstitutional. As thename suggests, the Common Core StateStandards are first and foremost statestandards. Each state voluntarily adoptedthe standards and has the freedom to edit

The voices of board members andsuperintendents have been heard bylegislators at legislative breakfasts, Dayon the Hill, and during public hearings.

Committees have completed work onlegislation, and the action now moves tothe House and Senate.

Common Core Standards and educatorevaluation received much attention duringthe public hearing process. However,there is also a legislative initiative toprovide additional financial support forspecial education costs. Legislators areattempting to address the concernsexpressed by school districts regardingthe increasing financial burden at thelocal level.

In the final weeks of the 2014 Session,as legislators deal with a myriad of issues,it is imperative to reinforce yourmessages on the legislation mostimportant to school districts by callingand/or emailing your legislator.

NEWFollow CABE

on Twitter@CTAssocBdsofEd

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEERichard Murray .................................................. President, KillinglyAnn Gruenberg ................................. First Vice President, HamptonRobert Mitchell ................ VP for Government Relations, MontvilleElaine Whitney ........... VP for Professional Development, WestportJohn Prins ......................................... Secretary/Treasurer, BranfordLydia Tedone ............................................ Immediate Past PresidentDonald Harris ........................................................ Member at Large

AREA DIRECTORSSusan Hoffnagle ............................. Area 1 Co-Director, WinchesterMari-Ellen (Mimi) Valyo ............... Area 1 Co-Director, WinchesterDaniel Gentile ................................... Area 1 Co-Director, PlymouthJeffrey Currey ............................. Area 2 Co-Director, East HartfordSusan Karp ................................... Area 2 Co-Director, GlastonburyDonald Harris ................................. Area 2 Co-Director, BloomfieldLaura Bush ................................................. Area 3 Director, VernonDouglas Smith .................................. Area 4 Co-Director, PlainfieldAndrea Veilleux ................................ Area 6 Co-Director, StratfordElaine Whitney .................................. Area 6 Co-Director, WestportRoxane McKay ............................. Area 7 Co-Director, WallingfordJohn Prins ......................................... Area 7 Co-Director, BranfordLon Seidman ...........................................Area 8 Co-Director, EssexMichael Camilleri ............................ Area 8 Co-Director, CromwellAaron Daniels ........................................... Area 9 Director, Norwich

ASSOCIATESEileen Baker .............................................. Associate, Old SaybrookSharon Beloin-Saavedra .............................. Associate, New BritainGary Brochu .......................................................... Associate, BerlinRobert Guthrie .............................................. Associate, West HavenRobert Trefry ........... Associate, CT Technical High School System

COMMITTEE CHAIRSElizabeth Brown ......................... Chair, State Relations, WaterburyDonald Harris ......................... Chair, Federal Relations, BloomfieldBecky Tyrrell ...................................... Chair, Resolutions, Plainville

CITY REPRESENTATIVESJacqueline Kelleher ....................... City Representative, BridgeportMatthew Poland ................................ City Representative, HartfordCarlos Torre .................................. City Representative, New HavenPolly Rauh ........................................ City Representative, StamfordCharles Stango ............................... City Representative, Waterbury

STAFFRobert Rader ....................................................................... Executive DirectorPatrice McCarthy .................................. Deputy Director and General CounselBonnie Carney ............................................ Sr. Staff Associate for PublicationsNicholas Caruso ............................................ Sr. Staff Assoc. for Field Service and Coord. of TechnologySheila McKay ............................. Sr. Staff Associate for Government RelationsKelly Moyher ......................................................................... Sr. Staff AttorneyVincent Mustaro ..................................... Sr. Staff Associate for Policy ServiceLisa Steimer .............................. Sr. Staff Assoc. for Professional DevelopmentTeresa Costa .................................. Coordinator of Finance and AdministrationPamela Brooks ......................... Sr. Admin. Assoc. for Policy Ser. /Search Ser.Terry DeMars ............................................... Admin. Assoc. for Policy ServiceGail Heath ........................................ Admin. Assoc. for Government RelationsWilmarie Newton ........................................ Admin. Assoc. for Labor RelationsDenise Roberts .................................... Admin. Asst. for Membership ServicesCorliss Ucci .................................. Receptionist/Asst. to the Executive Director

The CABE Journal (ISSN 1092-1818) is published monthly except acombined issue for July/August as a member service of the Connecti-cut Association of Boards of Education, 81 Wolcott Hill Road,Wethersfield, CT 06109, (860) 571-7446. CABE membership duesinclude $30 per person for each individual who receives The CABEJournal. The subscription rate for nonmembers is $75. Associationmembership dues include a subscription for each board member,superintendent, assistant superintendent and business manager. Thecompanies and advertisements found in The CABE Journal are notnecessarily endorsed by CABE. “Periodicals Postage Paid at Hartford,CT.” POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The CABE Journal,CABE, 81 Wolcott Hill Road, Wethersfield, CT 06109-1242. Email:[email protected] can find the CABE Journal online at: www.cabe.org/userlogin.cfm?pp=84&userrequest=true&keyrequest=false&userpage=84

Richard Murray

2 The Journal – Connecticut Association of Boards of Education/April 2014

PRESIDENT COMMENTARY

CABE Board of Directors

Common Core StateStandards Journey

Vision: CABE is passionate about strengtheningpublic education through high-performing,

transformative local school board/superintendentleadership teams that inspire success for each child.

Mission: To assist local and regional boards of educationin providing high quality education for all

Connecticut children through effective leadership.

Please join us in welcomingDenise Roberts as our newAdministrative Assistant forMembership Services. Sincegraduating college in Decemberof 2012, Denise has devotedmuch time pursuing her desire tostart a career in the nonprofitfield. After a few years ofinterning and volunteering at

2014 Graduating Class of the CABELeadership Institute. Graduates were: l. tor. Kristin Campanelli (Berlin), CynthiaKobus (Berlin), Tyron Harris (EastHartford), Jeffrey Currey (East Hartford),Donald Harris (Bloomfield) a two-timegraduate, and Christopher Daur(Hamden). Not pictured but part of thegraduating class was Beth Campbell(Thomaston).

This month I thought I would write about my journeywith The Common Core State Standards (CCSS).Thanks to NSBA and CABE sponsored seminars andworkshops I began learning about the CCSS in 2008-09.My initial impressions were not necessarily positive. Iwas concerned about the political implications of theinvolvement of the National Governors Association, aswell as the increasing influence of for profit corpora-tions, many of whom are members of the EducationIndustry Investment Forum.

My concern also extended to Foundations such as theGates, Broad, and the Walton Family Foundations andtheir increasing, behind the scenes, influence on publiceducation. I also was not happy about the lack ofdiscussion and debate about the Standards impendingimplementation by State Boards of Education around thecountry. I also wondered if we would lose whatevercultural education we still teach to more of an educationbased on job skills knowledge. I still believe ourprimary charge is to produce good citizens. While some of my concerns still exist, the more Ilearned about the Standards the more I began to under-stand the benefits for Connecticut’s children and in factall of America’s public school children. I also began tolearn about the Common Core’s potential to givestudents the knowledge and skills they will need tosucceed by building on the strengths and lessons of theold state standards, not abolishing them. It is expectedthat the great numbers of students needing remedialwork when they enter college will decrease dramatically.

The Standards are expected to improve students’ability to communicate, collaborate, solve problems withcritical thinking skills, and to be self-directed. TheCommon Core State Standards also ask students todemonstrate a conceptual understanding of the content.

The ELA/Literacy standards look to have a balanceof literature and informational text for kindergartenthrough 5th grade. For 6th through 12th grades thestandards aim for greater literacy in science, socialstudies, and history. In other words, all teachers will beteachers of reading and writing.

I love what Doug Reeves wrote a couple of yearsago, “Teachers must be engaged intellectually so theyare not just delivering material to students, but addingcreativity, energy, and challenge to lessons based on theCommon Core”. He goes on to say, “the most competi-tive districts will be those that use the Common Core asa floor, not a ceiling”.

I still have concerns about the growing influence ofthe large foundations and the Education IndustryAssociation on the overall direction of public educationin this Country. I have no doubt that having higherstandards and higher expectations for all children in ourpublic schools is the right path. Too many of our

children are notcareer -and college-ready, as evidencedby the highremediation rates atinstitutions ofhigher learning.

Thank you toCABE for provid-ing board membersnumerous opportu-nities to learn aboutand understand theCommon Core State Standards and the implications of theStandards for local districts and the children we areelected to serve and educate.

Denise Roberts

CABE welcomesnew staff member!

People in the NewsDonald Harris, Bloomfield Board ofEducation member and CABE Area 2Co-Director and Elizabeth Brown,WaterburyBoard of Educa-tion member andCABE StateRelations Chair,

various nonprofits in Connecticutshe is excited to share her

experiences and grow as a CABE staff member. When youare in the CABE office, please feel free to stop by, say‘hello’ and introduce yourself to Denise.

Donald Harris

Elizabeth Brown

have both beenappointed to the

Governor’s Common Core TaskForce.

Robert Rader

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR COMMENTARY

The Journal – Connecticut Association of Boards of Education/April 2014 3

Silent Cal and What OurChildren Need Today

CABE AffiliateMembers

BUSINESS AFFILIATESDIAMOND MEMBER

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dba. Digital BackOfficeBerchem, Moses & Devlin

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SILVER MEMBERSAnthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield

Corporate Cost ControlMilliman, Inc.

Milone & MacBroom, Inc.Quisenberry Arcari Architects

The Segal Company

BRONZE PLUS MEMBERSBrown & Brown Insurance

Friar AssociatesGoldstein & Peck, P.C.

Guidepost Solutions, LLCLindburg & Ripple

Milliman, Inc.O & G Industries

The S/L/A/M CollaborativeTrane

UltiPlay Parks & PlaybroundsWhitsons School Nutrition

BRONZE MEMBERSChinni & Meuser LLC

Dattco Inc.Fuller & D’Angelo

Architects and PlannersKainen, Escalera & McHale, P.C.

The Lexington GroupMuschell & Simoncelli

Ovations Benefits Group

EDUCATIONALAFFILIATES

American School for the DeafArea Cooperative Educational Services

Capitol Region Education CouncilThe College Board

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and Grounds AssociationCooperative Educational Services

EASTCONNEDUCATION CONNECTION

LEARNUnified School District #1

Last September my wife, Megan, and Itook a trip with our history-loving friendsto the birthplace of Calvin Coolidge, our30th president. We try to make at leastone trip a year—our friends want to visitthe birthplace of all of our presidents.And, we’re glad to join them.

So, we went up to the beautiful state ofVermont to the town of Plymouth Notch,where Coolidge was born, sworn in aspresident because of the sudden collapseand death of Warren Harding and is the

site of hisgrave.What struckus all washow in thislittle town,all of thenecessitiesof life werewithin aquick 5minutewalk: hishome, his

father’s store, the one-room school,cheese factory and the blacksmith.

While Coolidge was president from1923-29, the era of the Roaring Twentiesand the beginnings of the Great Depres-sion, he is rarely discussed among thegiants of the early 20th Century. This wasprobably because he was, to quote fromhis National Parks Service, “[f]amous forhis honesty, thrift and taciturnity…‘Silent Cal restored confidence ingovernment after the Harding scandalsand symbolized stability during a periodof rapid, disorienting social change.”

The whole Calvin Coolidge Home-stead District is 130 acres in size. Itepitomizes late 18th Century NewEngland. It is not hard to imagine thisfuture president growing up with theYankee traits of hard work, self-relianceand a firm belief in the common man.

PersistanceOne of the quotes attributed to this

lawyer, who also served at various timesin the legislatures of both Vermont andMassachusetts, is that pictured on thispage. I was particularly interested in twoparts of it. The first was that,

“Nothing in the world can take theplace of PERSISTANCE… educationwill not; the world is full of educatedderelicts”

Looking at this 82 years later, it seemsto me that while persistence is a trait thatour children must learn as part of their21st Century skills, it is not an answer to

the ills of mankind by itself. It needs tobe matched by talent and education;without these, persistence runs intoEinstein’s much-quoted maxim: insanityis “doing the same thing over and overagain and expecting different results”.

While I would not have used the words“derelict” or “full of”, there is no questionthat the world has lots of individuals whodo not apply what they have learned.Making that connection between learningand he relevancy of what has been learnedhas always been a concern of publiceducation.

How can we ensure that the things weteach today are relevant to the world oftomorrow—a world where we cannot evenimagine the jobs that will exist?

In the ultra-competitive world ourchildren will inhabit, it is more importantthan ever to think about this issue. Ibelieve that the Common Core is aimed atbridging the divide between what islearned and how to apply it.

I looked at the comparisons that SDEdisseminated showing the differencesbetween CMTs and CAPT and what willbe required under SBAC. I could remem-ber how to do some of the work from myhigh school days, but when I got to theSBAC and had to apply this knowledge, itwas much more difficult.

What Children NeedI think that’s what children need: a

better focus on how to use the rulesthey’ve learned and creatively apply themto solve real problems.

It is not just a question of memoriza-tion of rules, though that is sometimeshelpful in spelling and in math. It isalso about seeing how the ruleswork in the real world. And, that isan area in which we might havebeen effective.

Silent Cal’s second statement thatI question is whether “‘Press On’has solved and always will solve theproblems of the human race.”

In today’s world, even in ournation and State, children are borninto different strata of society andhave different opportunities, notonly to learn, but also to apply theirlearning to the workplace and theirlives in general. Pressing onwithout the appropriate education inthis still-difficult economic situationis a recipe for both frustration andunhappiness. The fact that ourunemployment rates have gonedown is attributable, in part, to thosewho have just given up.

That does not mean that giving up is asolution that anyone would favor, but Ibelieve our schools have an obligation tohelp prepare students so that they have thenecessary skills to find quality jobs. It isone of many responsibilities.

Higher standards, increased graduationrates and better preparation for work,college and the responsibilities of being agood citizen of our towns, communities,states and the nation are the keys to agood future to the children of our Stateand our nation. While Common Coremay not be the whole answer, makingeducation more relevant to what ourchildren will need is always a good start.If implemented properly, it also will makelearning more relevant, and children – nomatter what their background or personalmotivation—learn better when they arelearning something they see as important.

Cowboy/comedian/philosopher WillRogers is reported to have said that “aspresident, Calvin Coolidge didn’t domuch of anything but at the time, that’swhat we needed to have done.”

Today, we must do more. Let’s worktogether to ensure that our children havepersistence, education and the knowledgeand wisdom of how to apply them all.


What will theConnecticut Online

Policy Service(C.O.P.S.)

provide YOURdistrict?

• A policy manualupdated withindays of a boardmeeting.

• Access to yourpolicy manual24/7 anywherewith Internet ca-pability.

• T i m e s a v i n glinks to legal and cross references.

• A search engine specifically designed for boardpolicy manuals.

• The ability to search other online districts forsimilar policies or language.

• A happier staff that will have less paper to dealwith.

If you would like additional information onCABE’s Connecticut Online Policy Service(C.O.P.S.), call Vincent Mustaro at 860-571-7446or email [email protected] for full details.

Let the CABE staff makeyour policy life easier.

Public Health 101: Capstones with a Social ConscienceCindi Billian SternBillian Stern Consulting, LLC for CT Public HealthAssociation Mentoring Organization Registry

In the fall of 2012, Chris Willems of New Haven’sMetropolitan Business Academy, became the firstteacher to teach Public Health 101: From DiseasePrevention to Disaster Preparedness, a course designedfor high school students. The high interest content,including topics like teen pregnancy and water scarcity,and its “blended” format, emphasizing online andexperiential learning, appealed to Mr. Willems.

When interviewed last spring, he was upbeat about thecourse, noting, “Students really enjoy digging deep intothese topics …like the EPA plastic ban in Connecticut.They like … getting involved in by first learning sciencebehind the [plastic] ban and then how to use thelegislative process to deal with it.”

Public Health courses are catching on in Connecticutand winning national praises. Newtown High Schooladopted the course in 2013, and in 2014, the U.S. Newsand World Report’s Annual Edition on Best Collegesnamed Public Health as a “… top degree that leads to ajob.” Connecticut’s high school version of the coursehelps prepare students for the undergraduate degree,which is leading to better job opportunities.

What is Public Health101 for high schools?

Public Health 101 was developed for EducationConnection by a team of public health professionals anddigital learning experts. Each of the eight units belowprepares students for careers and volunteerism in publichealth, while raising their awareness of the connectionbetween their personal health behaviors and thecommunity’s health with opportunities for experientiallearning and capstones.

• Unit 1: Protect, Prevent, Live Well: What isPublic Health?

• Unit 2: Looking for Answers in all the RightPlaces: Public Health Research

• Unit 3: Got to Get a Message to you: HealthCommunication

• Unit 4: Risky Business: Social and BehavioralHealth

• Unit 5: Catch Me If You Can: Disease Prevention

and Control• Unit 6: In a Not So Perfect World: Global Public

Health• Unit 7: Every Breath you take: Environmental

Health and Public Health Preparedness• Unit 8: Think Globally, Act Locally: Emerging

Issues in Public Health and Careers that Address Them

A key component of the course is a cadre of talentedpublic health professionals with degrees (Masters inPublic Health) that few high school educators hold. Thestate’s two public heath 101 teachers, Mr. Willems, andSusan McConnell of Newtown High, continue to besupported by classroom mentors from The ConnecticutPublic Health Association’s Mentoring OrganizationRegistry (CPHA MOR).

CPHA is the state affiliate of the American PublicHealth Association. CPHA board members started theMentoring Organization Registry (MOR) with sevenpublic health organizations that agreed to lend staff toschools to grow the future workforce.

Today there are 34 MOR members including theAmerican Cancer Society, Yale School of Public Health,University of Connecticut and Southern ConnecticutState University MPH programs, the CT Department ofPublic Health, and 11 local and regional health depart-ments. They provide experiential learning for teachersand students in all eight counties.

MOR member and health communications consultantfrom Yale, Linda Bergonzi-King, worked withNewtown’s Public Health 101 teacher, SusanMcConnell, who immersed her students in a challenging

project just weeks into the course, the World HealthOrganization’s Hand Washing video contest. Bergonzi-King volunteered to guide the teacher and class in thisearly project, being careful to allow the students to createthe message and the video.

Students began by researching the extent of diseasecaused by poor hand washing, then imbedded writtenfacts into the video. They demonstrated cultural con-sciousness by counting to 20 in different languages whilewashing their hands. Public Health Wash Your Handswon them first place in their age group in thisinternational contest. Susan McConnell has beenimpressed with student gains, noting, “…their culturalawareness has really been heightened because of thisclass and they have learned …that they CAN make adifference.”

April 7-13, 2014 National Public Health Week is atime when the MOR makes a special effort to engageConnecticut schools in public health activities. Our goalis to reach 1,000 students through guest speakers at highschools and our Day at the Capitol, where students learnabout key issues from experts in public and environmen-tal health and about the process of advocacy.

The CPHA MOR has provided educators and studentsfrom over 70 CT schools with presenters, online materi-als and workshops on integrating public health intoestablished courses such as biology, sociology, healthand environmental sciences.

For internship manuals, resources and informationvisit CPHA MOR or contact [email protected] or [email protected]

CABESearch Services

is recruiting for

For more information contact, CABE Search Services,860-539-7594

Jacqueline V. Jacoby, Senior Search ConsultantPaul Gagliarducci • Associate ConsultantMary Broderick - Associate Consultant

Bob King • Associate Consultant

P.O. Box 290252, Wethersfield, CT 06129-0252www.cabe.org/support

Equal Opportunity Employers

For an update or more information onvacancies go to our website:

www.cabe.org

NOW Available from CABE!

Understanding theConnecticut Freedom of

Information Act andAccess to Public Meetings

and Records -Fourth Edition

Written by:Mark J. Sommaruga, Esq.Pullman & Comley, LLC

to order the FOIA book go to theCABE Online Bookstore at

www.cabe.org/page.cfm?p=749

SouthingtonPublic Schools

Superintendent of Schools6,500 PK-12 Students

WindhamPublic Schools

Superintendent of Schools3,200 PK-12 Students

Newtown High SchoolPrincipal

1,716 Students in Grades 9-12

See You in Court – The Nutmeg Board of Education

The Nutmeg Boards Deals with a grievance filed by Tom TeacherThomas B. Mooney, Esq.Shipman & Goodwin


A Practical Guideto Connecticut

School Lawby Thomas B. Mooney, Esq.

Shipman & Goodwin

The Guide comes with a CD which provideshyperlinks to many cases and statutes

and will permit word searchesas a supplement to the Index.

New to the Seventh Edition:Bullying, Background Checks,

Child Abuse Reporting, Discrimination Issues,Educational Reform, FERPA,

Freedom of Information,State Aid for Educationand much, much more

The 7th edition is now available from CABE.Call and order your copy TODAY at 860.571.7446 or 800.317.0033

Seventh Edition

The Nutmeg Board of Educationmakes many mistakes. The latest imbro-glio created by the board will be reportedhere each issue, followed by an explana-tion of what the board should have done.Though not intended as legal advice,these situations may help board membersavoid common problems.

On the rare evenings that he is not outon Board business, Bob Bombast, veteranmember of the Nutmeg Board of Educa-tion, keeps a close eye on his 1,000Facebook friends. Bob was surprised oneevening to read on Tom Teacher’sFacebook page that his principal haddenied his request for personal leave toserve as a chaperone in a neighboringschool district for his fifth-grade son’strip to Nature’s Classroom.

On his “wall,” Tom snidely questionedMr. Principal’s competence, and hevowed to file a grievance to get “justice,”i.e. three days off with pay. Bob wasintrigued.

Bob called Tom right up at home,“Tom, I was surprised to read your postsabout your request for personal leave.

Have you filed your grievance yet?”Tom was pleased to hear from a Board

member, and he unloaded on Bob withvitriol about Peter Principal’s mismanage-ment. He explained that other teacherswere being granted leave for all sorts ofthings, but when he asked for three daysof personal leave, Mr. Principal slammedthe lid of the cookie jar down on hisfingers.

Bob wasn’t so sure that Tom’s analogywas apt, but he did question Mr.Principal’s decision. He was especiallymoved when Tom told him that he wasrecently divorced, and his doing Nature’sClassroom with his son would be a greatway for the two to bond. At the end ofthe call, Bob assured Tom that he wouldget a full and fair hearing from the Board.

Sure enough, the next day Mr. Super-intendent notified the members of theNutmeg Board of Education throughconfidential memorandum of the griev-ance hearing concerning Tom Teacher.

There, Mr. Superintendent describedthe facts underlying the grievance, and hetold the Board members that Tom hadrejected his offer at Level Two to let Tomtake the time off without pay.

“. . . boards of education must act asimpartial judges when making deci-sions on eligibility for school privi-leges (residency cases) or makingdecisions in nonrenewal or termina-tion hearings concerning teachers.”

The hearing itself was uneventful.Tom sat quietly, wearing a tie for the firsttime in years, as Bruno, staff representa-tive for the Nutmeg Union of Teachers,argued that Mr. Superintendent hadviolated the contract by arbitrarily andcapriciously denying Tom his contractualright to personal leave “for matters thatcannot be scheduled with reasonableconve-nienceoutside thework day.”

“I askyou!”Brunothundered.“Howcould TomrescheduleNature’sClass-room? Tom has the right to personalleave. Period. I rest my case!”

After Tom and Bruno left the room,the Board began to deliberate. Bobstarted right in on Mr. Superintendent . . .

“How could you do that to poor Tom?He and his son are hurting from the recentdivorce, and he should be able to be achaperone for Nature’s Classroom!”

Fellow Board member Mal Contentraised an eyebrow. “Bob, how did youknow about Tom’s divorce? I didn’t hearanything about that at the hearing!”

Bob shrugged his shoulders. “I mayhave talked to Tom a little, but so what?”

Mal jumped on that. “Mr. Chairper-son, it is obvious that Bob is biased andshould not participate in this grievancehearing. I move that Bob not be allowedto participate in this grievance hearing.”

Should Bob recuse himself? Can heparticipate despite his talking to Tom?

Bob’s actions were certainly over thetop, but there is no legal basis for exclud-ing him from the hearing.

Sometimes board members must beimpartial. For example, when boardmembers hear student disciplinarymatters, the affected students have a dueprocess right to have an impartial deci-sion-maker.

Similarly, boards of education must actas impartial judges when making deci-sions on eligibility for school privileges(residency cases) or making decisions innonrenewal or termination hearingsconcerning teachers.

In each of these cases, as a matter ofdue process, board members must decidethe case independently of the superinten-dent, and they must decide the matterimpartially based on the evidencepresented at the hearing.

By contrast, grievance hearings are anextension of the collective bargainingprocess. Due process and good faithbargaining are two very different con-cepts, and when hearing grievances,boards of education need not act asimpartial judges.

Some boards of education do notunderstand this fact, and they conduct

grievance hearings like court proceedings.Some even exclude the superintendent(and his/her lawyer, if any) during theirdeliberations. Boards should never dothat.

The superintendent acts in collectivebargaining matters as the agent of theboard of education, and the board hasevery right to talk to its agent, especially

if it isconsider-ingreversingormodify-ing actionthesuperin-tendentprevi-ouslytook.

Clear communication with the superinten-dent is also important because grievancedecisions set precedent for interpretingthe contract.

Here, for example, a decision in favorof Tom here would make it betweendifficult and impossible for administratorsto deny future requests for personal leave.Therefore, boards of education have theright and responsibility to consult withtheir superintendent and other administra-tors before making grievance decisions.

In any event, it is clear that Boboverstepped here. The superintendent isresponsible for administering the contract.Board members should let the superinten-dent do his or her job, and they should nottalk privately with teachers about griev-ances that the Board will be hearing.

Bob’s secret conversation with Tommay have encouraged Tom to hang toughand to reject Mr. Superintendent’s offer atLevel Two to permit him to take unpaiddays to serve as a chaperone for Nature’sClassroom.

Grievance hearings also raise issuesunder the Freedom of Information Act.The grievance itself is a record subject topublic disclosure.

However, grievance responses are notpublic until the grievance is resolved,because interim responses are consideredcollective bargaining strategy.

Similarly, a grievance hearing is apublic meeting. A Board-level grievancehearing should be posted, and the hearingcan be held in executive session only ifthere is an applicable executive sessionprivilege, such as discussion of ateacher’s employment (provided that theteacher does not require that the discus-sion be held in open session).

However, once the hearing is over theBoard may adjourn its public meeting, butcontinue to talk about how to resolve thegrievance. Such deliberations arecollective bargaining strategy discussionsthat the Board can conduct privately.

Attorney Thomas B. Mooney is a part-ner in the Hartford law firm of Shipman &Goodwin who works frequently withboards of education. Mooney is a regularcontributor to the CABE Journal.


Vincent A. Mustaro, Senior Staff Associate for Policy Service, CABE

The Policy CornerCABE-Meeting

CABE-Meeting is a user-friendly, web-basedservice specificallydesigned to assist theboard, superintendentand central office staff inpreparing for and runningboard of educationmeetings.

An exciting featuredesigned for use bycommittees, in addtion toboards of education, wasrecently added to CABE-Meeting. Now all yourboard work andcommittee information isconveniently located inone place!

For more information,or to schedule a

demonstration for yourboard, call

Lisa Steimer at800-317-0033 or 860-571-7446

or email [email protected]

“CABE meeting has beena terrific investment forthe Region #18 Schools. We have saved money byeliminating the need forpaper packets as well asthe cost of mailing thosepackets. As an addedbenefit, we now have theability to allow boardmembers to follow alongin “real time” with ourmonthly educationpresentations. This tool isa must have in today’sdigital world.”

Ian NeviaserSuperintendent,

Region 18 Public Schools

Policy Direction Needed to Improve CivilityThe topic of civility has gained

notoriety at the present time, partiallydue to highly publicized news storiesabout related issues such as bullying,workplace violence and harassment,contentious political campaigns andthe actions of governmental organiza-tions. The media and popular cultureseem to exemplify the angry argumentas the mode of communication.

School BoardsBoards of education and school

districts are bucking the increasinglycommon “in-your-face” model of deal-ing with conflict. These days, morepeople at public meetings are display-ing more aggressive behavior than inthe past.

The problem appears to be gettingworse. Recent studies indicated thatincivility is a major problem inAmerica today and an increase in thegrowth of incivility at work. Incivilityof some kind in school districts hasbecome more common.

Civility can be defined simply ascivilized conduct; especially courtesy,politeness, or simply a polite act orexpression. It may also be defined asthe extent to which individuals speakand act in ways that demonstrate a car-ing for the welfare of others, as well asthe welfare of the culture they share incommon.

Therefore, civility can be associatedwith qualities that are valued as thevirtues and manners of individualswhich include tolerance, self-restraint,mutual respect, commitment to otherpeople, social concern, involvementand responsibility.

It also relates to professionalism,ethics, leadership, compassion, em-pathy, civicness, etiquette and deco-rum. In short, civility can be seen as anexpansive term open to subjective in-terpretation.

Within the setting of a school sys-tem, incivility can be defined as anyself-centered behavior that is impolite,boorish or shows a disregard to therights of others, whether they be stu-dents, staff, parents or communitymembers. It has been also referred toas bullying, emotional abuse or mob-bing. Uncivil conduct includes, but isnot limited to, the following:

• directing vulgar, obscene or pro-fane gestures or words at anotherindividual;

• taunting, jeering, inciting othersto taunt or jeer at an individual;

• raising one’s voice at another

individual, repeatedly interruptinganother individual who is speakingat an appropriate time and place;

• imposing personal demands at timesor in settings where they conflictwith assigned duties and cannot bereasonably met;

• using personal epithets, gesturing ina manner that puts another in fearfor his/her personal safety;

• invading the personal space of anindividual after being directed tomove away, physically blocking anindividual’s exit from a room orlocation;

• remaining in a classroom or schoolarea after a teacher or administratorin authority has directed one toleave;

• violating the privacy of another in-dividual’s belongings (except forlawful searches conducted byschool officials); or

• other similar disruptive conduct.Uncivil conduct does not include the

expression of controversial or differingviewpoints that may be offensive to somepersons, provided (1) the ideas are pre-sented in a respectful manner and at atime and place that are appropriate, and(2) such expression does not materiallydisrupt, and may not be reasonably antici-pated to disrupt, the educational and/ormeeting process. Such differing view-points are permitted within the freedom ofexpression guaranteed by the FirstAmendment.

School DistrictsSchool systems need to care about

encouraging civility in district schoolsand in the manner in which those withinthe educational community interact witheach other. Incivility impacts organiza-tional integrity, employee satisfaction,and student outcomes. Incivility has thepotential to influence all aspects of theschool campus, including satisfaction andproductivity among board of educationmembers, faculty, staff and students.

Numerous studies have reviewed theeffects of incivility on worker satisfaction,organizational integrity, and productivity.Incivility can be linked to decreased jobperformance and satisfaction. A safe, civilenvironment is essential to high board,student and staff achievement, to the freeexchange of ideas central to a qualityeducational process, and to the develop-ment of youth as thoughtful participants inour democracy.

Conversely, uncivil conduct, like otherforms of disruptive behavior, interferes

with a board’s ability to fulfill its ap-propriate leadership role and with astudent’s ability to learn and a school’sability to educate its students.

Clear expectations of civil conductand problem-solving must be main-tained throughout the school district.The board of education should set anexample in its deliberations at its meet-ings and refuse to condone uncivil con-duct at board meetings, on schoolgrounds or at school-sponsored activ-ities, whether by board members, staff,students, parents, volunteers or othervisitors to the district.

Civility codes codified in board by-laws and policies provide ground rulesfor communication among board mem-bers, teachers, parents and students.Benjamin Franklin stated, “Be civil toall, sociable to many, familiar with few,friend to one, enemy to none.”

Board PoliciesPolicies pertaining to the issue of

civility can provide direction for boardof education actions, students and forcommunity-school district interactions.Boards members in particular, shouldmodel civil thoughtful behavior.

The purposes of such policies are topromote a work and learning environ-ment that is safe, productive and nur-turing for all board members, staff andstudents, which encourage the free flowof ideas without fear or intimidation.

Students are provided with appropri-ate models for respectful problem-solving by such policies. Such policiescan also reduce the potential triggersfor violent conduct, such as fear, anger,frustration and alienation.

New policies pertaining to the topicof civility have been developed. Theseinclude bylaw #9273, “Civility Code”(Board of Education Bylaw), policy#1316.2,”Civility” (CommunityRelations) and policy #5145.53,” Ci-vility” (Students). Policy #1316,“Conduct on School Property” alsopertains to this topic. These are allavailable from CABE’s Policy Depart-ment upon request.

“. . . . Be civil to all,sociable to many,familiar with few,

friend to one,enemy to none.”- Benjamin Franklin


The art of makingpeople smile.

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Delta Dental. We’re committed to promoting oral health for all your employees.Call 1-860-633-9200 or visit www.deltadentalct.com.

In CT, Delta Dental Insurance Company writes dental coverage on an insured basis and Delta Dental of New Jersey administers self-funded dental benefit programs.

“. . . . Be civil to all, sociableto many, familiar with few,friend to one, enemy tonone.”

- Benjamin Franklin


Highlights from

CABE’sDay on the Hill

CABE’sDay on the Hill

Alliance Districts Meeting

Governor Dannel Malloy addressed the group andthen took questions from the audience. CABE Vice President for Government Relations

Robert Mitchell encouraged participants to getmore involved in CABE.

CABE Executive Director RobertRader welcomed everyone toCABE’s Day on the Hill.

CABE President Richard Murray (Killingly), Patrice McCarthy, DeputyDirector and General Counsel and Sheila McKay, Senior Staff Associatefor Government Relations, discussed legislation that is of interest toschool boards.

Senator Beth Bye (Co-Chair,Appropriations Committee) talkedabout some of the legislation thatis before the AppropriationsCommittee and encouragedstudents and board members tobecome involved in legislationbefore the Committee.

Representative Andy Fleischmann(Co-Chair Education Committee)discussed some of the legislationthat is before the EducationCommittee. He also took questionsfrom audience members.

Representative Toni Boucher talkedabout some of the bills beingconsidered by the EducationCommittee. She also took questionsfrom the audience.

CABE’s Day on the Hill held at the Bushnell in Hartford was attended by school board members,superintendents, students along with their teachers, as well as other education leaders.

Alliance districts meet in the afternoon of CABE’s Day on the Hill. Morgan Barth,State Department of Education, met with the group for a discussion of issues andconcerns.


Highlights from

CABE’sDay on the HillStudent Participation

Students and Leah Clark from the Academy of Aerospaceand Engineering, CREC.

Students, Jennifer Kordek (teacher) and CABE Secre-tary/Treasurer John Prins from the Branford PublicSchools.

Students, advisor, and Superintendent Kevin Casefrom the Canton Public Schools.

Students and advisor from the Granby PublicSchools.

Student, John Burns, board member andSuperintendent Kevin Farr from the KillinglyPublic Schools.

Students and Paul Coppola(teacher) from theMadison Public Schools.

Students and Susan Rosenstein (teacher)from the East Granby Public Schools.

CABE Vice President for GovernmentRelations Robert Mitchell (Montville) andstudent.

CABE Area 4 Director Doug Smith (Plainfield)accompanied students at Day on the Hill.

Students and board members from PlainvillePublic Schools.

CABE Immediate Past President Lydia Tedone(Simsbury) accompanied students to Day onthe Hill.

CABE City Represen-tative Charles Stango(Waterbury) withstudents andteachers William Riceand Linda RiddickBaron at CABE’s Dayon the Hill.

Students and advisor from theStratford Public Schools.


CABE’sDay on the HillStudent Participation

Student session was held in the afternoon of CABE’s Day on the Hill. l. to r., LydiaTedone (Simsbury), Representative Noreen Kokoroda, Representative Brian Sears,and a student from Simsbury.

Students gather around for a lively discussion of issues that are important to them.

A student from Madison asks a questionduring the session at the Bushnell.

A small group discussion after the session with CABE President Richard Murray, ImmediatePast President Lydia Tedone and students from the CREC Academy of Aerospace andEngineering.

Governor Malloy shakes hands with studentsat CABE’s Day on the Hill.


CABE: working for YOUIndividualized Workshops • Professional Development Opportunities

Legal Services • Policy Services • Representing You Statewide and Nationally

Below are the highlights of activities thatthe CABE staff has undertaken on yourbehalf over the last month. We did this:

➤ By promotingpublic education:

• Attended Hartford Area LegislativeBreakfast.

• Attended legal seminar presented byShipman & Goodwin.

• Answered questions about the currentlegal issues facing boards of education.“HOT” topics this month were: Schoolsecurity, reasons for executive session,agenda/motion specificity, board va-cancy, and nepotism.

• Discussed the role of boards of educa-tion and legislative issues with CentralConnecticut State University superin-tendent preparation and University ofNew Haven teacher preparationclasses.

➤ By providing servicesto meet members needs:

• Facilitated a workshop on the Superin-tendent Search process for the PortlandBoard of Education.

• Completed, as part of the Custom Up-date Service packets of new and/or re-vised policies for Ansonia, NewFairfield, Stafford, Boards of Educa-tion.

• Completed and mailed the third editionof the Policy Update Service publica-tion. The topics covered included timedevoted to physical education, elec-tronic reading devices, impact of theSupreme Court decision pertaining tothe Defense of Marriage Act, pregnantand parenting students and one-to-onetablet programs.

➤ By representing Connecti-cut school boards on thestate or national level:

• Attended meetings of the ConnecticutCommission for Education Technology.

• Met with the editorial boards of theHartford Courant and The New Lon-don Day.

• Participated in meeting of theWhatWillOurChildrenLose Coalition.

• Hosted and participated in Child Emer-gency Preparedness Committee meet-ings.

• Attended LEAD CT Partners’ meetings.• Hosted and facilitated meetings of the

CABE/CAPSS Governance Commit-tee, updating and strengthening the

Governance Statement and the TeamAssessment document.

• Co-sponsored and participated in theParent-Teacher-Community Forum onthe Common Core State Standards inNorwich.

• Hosted Day on the Hill.• Met with Big Six (CABE, CAPSS,

CAS, CCER, CBIA and ConnCAN)Coalition on various issues of commonconcern.

• Spoke at Big Six press conference onCommon Core State Standards

• Attended CAPSS Board of Directorsmeeting.

• Participated in Connecticut Society ofAssociation Executives program onBusiness Development Strategies.

• Participated in CAPSS InternationalEducation Committee meeting.

• Participated in a preparatory evaluationvisit on behalf of the New England As-sociation of Schools and Colleges to theJFK German-American School in Ber-lin.

• Participated in the CAPSS PersonalizedLearning Committee meeting.

• Participated in the MORE Special Edu-cation Task Force meeting.

• Met with numerous legislators to dis-cuss education issues

• Participated in NSBA Council ofSchool Attorneys Executive Committeeconference call.

➤ By ensuring membersreceive the most up-to-datecommunications:

• Met with UConn graduate students ontheir Capstone Project, concerning ob-stacles to board member participationin CABE Advocacy opportunities.

• Attended retirement from Hamden re-ception for Fran Rabinowitz, now In-terim Superintendent in Bridgeport.

• As part of the development of newpolicy manuals utilizing the CustomPolicy Service, materials were preparedfor Griswold, North Haven, Region12, Stratford, Wethersfield,Woodbridge and Union Boards ofEducation.

• Tracking current proposed legislationfor policy implications.

➤ By providing opportunitiesfor members to learn howto better govern their dis-tricts:

• Presented a roles and responsibilitiesworkshops for the Trumbull and Nor-

folk Boards of Education.• Presented a board evaluation workshop

for the Canterbury Board of Educa-tion.

• Met with State Department of Educa-tion officials on CABE’s role in pro-viding professional development toSchool Governance Councils.

• Facilitated a retreat with the SouthWindsor Board of Education.

• Provided policy information to 33 dis-tricts, one out-of-state school boards as-sociations, through 44 answered re-quests for information or sample poli-cies, on 35 topics. Further, districts con-tinue to access CABE’s online CorePolicy Reference Manual and/or onlinemanuals posted by CABE for policysamples. The topics of greatest inter-est pertain to graduation requirements,

CABE Appointments

volunteers, student dismissal precau-tions, safety, use of restraint and seclu-sion and homeschooling.

➤ By helping school boards toincrease student achieve-ment:

• Held a Lighthouse planning meetingwith the Vernon Board of Education.

• Attended Connecticut Council for Edu-cational Reform (CCER) Best PracticesForum.

• Sent out two issues of Policy Highlightsvia email listserv covering topics thataffect student achievement. This in-cluded food service programs, reten-tion, adult education and GED testingand sex education.

Editor’s Note: Below are board membersand CABE staff who have volunteeredto represent school boards on state com-mittees, task forces and other groupsdealing with education issues.• Eileen Baker, Old Saybrook, serves

on the CT Interscholastic AthleticConference (CIAC) Board of Direc-tors.

• Gary Brochu, Berlin, serves on theCT School Nurse Advisory Council.

• Nick Caruso, Sr. Staff Associate forField Services and Coordinator ofTechnology, CABE, serves on the CTCommission for Educational Tech-nology.

• Ron Goldstein, Colchester, serves onthe Red Tape Committee (MandateReduction).

• Ann Gruenberg, Hampton, serves ona subcommittee of the PerformanceEvaluation Advisory Committee(PEAC); and Group Mental HealthTask Force with DCF.

• Joyce Hall, former board memberEnfield, serves on the Public-PrivatePartnership Workgroup in conjunc-tion with the CT Early ChildhoodEducation Cabinet and the new Of-fice of Early Childhood

• Donald Harris, Bloomfield, serveson the LEAD CABE/CAPSS Gover-nance Committee, and the Distin-guished Educator Work Group.

• Cal Heminway, former board mem-ber of Granby, serves on the Teacherof the Year Council.

• Susan Karp, Glastonbury, serves onthe Group Mental Health Task Forcewith DCF.

• David Kennedy, former board mem-ber Stratford, serves on the Achieve-ment Gap Task Force.

• Patrice McCarthy, Deputy Directorand General Counsel, CABE, Perfor-

mance Evaluation Advisory Commit-tee (PEAC), LEAD CABE/CAPSSGovernance Committee, LEAD Part-ners, Uniform Regional School Calen-dar Task Force, Capital Region Educa-tion Council (CREC) Board of Direc-tors, School Governance Council Ad-visory Committee, Group MentalHealth Task Force with DCF, andConnecticut Coalition for Justice inEducation Funding (CCJEF) SteeringCommittee.

• Sheila McKay, Sr. Staff Associate forGovernment Relations, CABE, serveson the CT School Indoor EnvironmentResource Team.

• Richard Murray, Killingly, serves ona subcommittee of the PerformanceEvaluation Advisory Committee(PEAC); LEAD CABE/CAPSS Gov-ernance Committee, and represents theKillingly Board of Education on theConnecticut Coalition for Justice inEducation Funding Steering Commit-tee.

• Robert Rader, Executive Director,CABE, serves on the PerformanceEvaluation Advisory Committee(PEAC), Educator Preparation Advi-sory Council (EPAC), LEAD CABE/CAPSS Governance Committee, P-20Council, LEAD, Partners, Group Men-tal Health Task Force with DCF, andSchool Governance Council AdvisoryCommittee.

• Lydia Tedone, Simsbury, serves onthe P-20 Council, Distinguished Edu-cator Work Group and on the Teacherof the Year Selection Committee.

• Elaine Whitney, Westport, serves onthe CT Advisory Commission for In-tergovernmental Relations (ACIR);and on a subcommittee of the Perfor-mance Evaluation Advisory Commit-tee (PEAC).

CABE BUILDS LEADERS!“You don’t need to be in a

leadership position to be a leader.”Jill Thompson


CABE and Baldwin Media: Partners in Managing Communications

The Media Messagefrom Codie Landsman, Baldwin Media Marketing, LLC

Guidelines for “Twitter”

Massachusetts study showssnow days don’t

hinder achievementGayle SimidianResearch Analyst

School snow days don’t affect studentachievement, according to a HarvardUniversity study.

Responding to a request from theMassachusetts Department of Education,Joshua Goodman, an assistant professorof public policy at Harvard’s KennedySchool, tried to isolate the effect of snowdays on scores on end-of-year state examscalled Massachusetts Comprehensive

Assessment System(MCAS) for grades 3-10.He contacted all Mas-sachusetts school dis-tricts by email or phoneto get seven years ofsnow day information,from 2003 to 2010. Henoted that closures typi-cally are made up afterspring MCAS exams.While school closures

don’t affect MCAS

CABEAdvocacy

EffortsTestimony

CABE President Richard Murray (Killingly) tes-tified at the Legislative Office Building beforethe Appropriations Committee.

CABE Vice President for Government RelationsRobert Mitchell (Montville) testifying before theEducation Committee.

Becky Tyrrell (Plainville) talking with Superin-tendent Kathy Greider (Farmington) at theCREC Legislative Breakfast.

CREC Executive Director Bruce Douglas talkswith Rep. David Baram and Donald Walsh(CREC).

Rep. Doug McCrory, CABE Executive Director Robert Rader, CABEPresident Richard Murray (Killingly) and CABE Area 2 Co-Direc-tor Donald Harris (Bloomfield) at Legislative Breakfast.

CREC LegislativeBreakfast

schools are open during inclementweather and some students are absent.“Closures have no impact,” Goodmanreported. “Absences do.”

In fact, absences can explain as muchas 20 percent of the achievement gapbetween poor students and non-poorstudents.

“Moderately bad weather impactsabsences and achievement,” he found.“Extremely bad weather impacts closuresbut not achievement.”

He hypothesized that districtsanticipate and have plans to addresslearning losses due to snow days, but notstudent absences. “With slack time in theschedule, the time lost to closure can beregained.

Student absences, however, forceteachers to expend time getting studentson the same page as their classmates.”

To view the report, go to http://goo.gl/EDwQYr.

Reprinted with permission from “OnBoard” published by the New YorkSchool Boards Association, February2014.

We want tomeet your

needs!

scores, Goodman foundmath scores drop when

Social media is an ever-evolving andsometimes useful tool for successfullygetting your message across from manydifferent platforms – whether you’re aneducator, parent, student, or business.But as with anything new, there oftencome questions.

So where to begin? There are somany different social media outlets andnew ones seem to be popping up everyday. Most of us have got Facebookdown pat – we’re aware of the conceptof “likes” and friend requests, sharingposts and tagging other users.

But what about Twitter? It seemsmore people are a bit confused aboutthis one, so I thought I would take theopportunity to share some information.

Twitter is a social media tool inwhich you primarily gauge your reachand effectiveness through “retweets,”“followers,” and “favorites.” Providedare some basic guidelines to get youstarted with your Twitter account.1. You send information via “tweets”

and these messages can only be 140characters long, so make sure to getyour point across quickly andconcisely.

2. Make sure to utilize hashtags!(#ThisIsAHashtag) Hashtags areused before relevant key words tocategorize different topics, forexample, #Education, #Advocacy,

#Students. But don’t overwhelm yourposts with hashtags … This lookstacky and is almost the equivalent ofa bad salesperson trying to sellsomething.

3. One of the most important guidelinesto remember is consistency. There isnothing like leaving days or weeksbetween your posts to ruin yourcredibility. The most reputableaccounts are tweeting multiple timesa day.

4. If people follow you, follow themback! Gaining followers also in-creases your credibility and allowsyour messages to reach a wideraudience.

5. Make sure to follow relevant ac-counts. If these are large-scaleaccounts, such as news stations orpublic figures, make sure that theyare verified – you will see a little bluecircle with a white check-mark to theright of the username. Oftentimes,they are, but beware of fake accounts.

6. Images, images, images! Just likeFacebook, images really grab theuser’s attention.

7. Reply to @ messages – which iswhen someone types @ before yourusername to tag you. This means theyare mentioning you in a post, ortrying to connect with you directly.The more you reply, the more

engaged you will be.8. Retweet your information. This is

an especially useful tool because itkeeps content in its original form,which keeps your message intact.It’s a useful way for your contentto travel, and to share tweetscreated by others.

9. Attach links to relevant content/articles.

10. Allow and respond to directmessages – these are privatemessages that do not appearpublicly on Twitter. It is good wayto have longer conversations if youneed to.

11. Don’t be afraid to HAVE FUN!!For example, tweet#HappyMothersDay on theholiday. These kind of hashtags areoften trending world-wide… Sothink of how many people have thepotential of seeing your post. Youcan tweet fun catchphrases like#HappyFriday or#ThrowbackThursday, too.

12. It only gets easier with practice…so start now! Just make sure, asyou would with any form ofcommunication, that you checkyour tweet for content and tonebefore you send it!

The CABE Journal isnow provided both elec-tronically and papercopy via U.S. mail.Please contact Cory Ucci(860-571-7446 [email protected]) to lether know which way youprefer to receive theCABE Journal in the fu-ture. If you do nothing,you will continue to re-ceive the CABE Journalboth electronically andvia U.S. mail. Thank youfor your cooperation.


Top Common Core Myths and Facts(continued from page 1)and modify the standards to meet theparticular needs and outcomes of theirindividual state.

In Connecticut each school district isrequired to adopt its own curriculum thatis aligned with the standards. This meansthat local districts, not state or federalofficials, make decisions about whatcontent is taught and how it’s taught.

Myth #3: Teachers do notsupport the Common Core.

Fact: Across the country and here inConnecticut, the majority of teacherssupport the Common Core State Stan-dards. A recent Harrison Group survey7 of279 Connecticut teachers found that“nearly three in four (73 percent) Englishlanguage arts, science, and/or socialstudies teachers in Connecticut areenthusiastic about the implementation ofthe Common Core State Standards in theirclassroom.” These results are consistentwith national findings that—although theyanticipate that Common Core implemen-tation will be difficult—teachers generallyagree that it will make a positive differ-ence for most students.8

Myth #4: The Common CoreState Standards are too hardfor our students.

Fact: Today, standardized tests acrossthe country are holding students todifferent and inconsistent standards. Ourkids need greater consistency of expecta-tions if they are going to be ready tocompete in our increasingly mobile andglobal society. The Common Core StateStandards raise expectations for allstudents to the same high level, andstudies9 have shown students will achieveat higher levels when higher expectationsare set for them.10 The reality is that thelower education standards we had set forour students prior to Common Core havenot prepared them for college or careers.

Today, 1 in 5 freshmen11 need to takeremediation courses before being allowedto enroll in regular college courses. TheCommon Core standards are internation-ally benchmarked and will enable U.S.students to better compete in the globalmarketplace.12

Myth #5: Standardized test-ing is bad for students andbad for the education system.

Fact: Standardized tests certainly arenot the only way that students learningshould be measured. However, standard-ized tests are one important method bywhich school systems can determine theextent to which children know and areable to do what is expected of them. TheCommon Core standards, and the testsaligned with those standards, emphasizecritical thinking and analytical skills, asopposed to rote learning. They allowstudents and teachers to dive deeply intocontent and are designed to avoid low-level instruction and test-based learning.The new tests provide an important,independent, objective measure that tellsus how each of our kids are doing, everyyear. If a child falls behind, assessmentscan provide information that teachers andprincipals can use to make adjustments ininstruction and curriculum in order tobetter meet students’ learning needs.

Standardized test results help driveimprovements to our education system atlarge. Assessment information helps focusand drive critical conversations13 aboutthe effectiveness of curriculum, peda-gogy, and state and district policies. Weneed to constantly evaluate our system ofeducation so that we can keep all kids onthe path to success.

Myth #6: Common Coreleads to over-testing of ourchildren.

Fact: The standardized tests that arealigned to the Common Core are not

additional testing of students, but ratherwill replace the current state standardizedtest. Studies have shown that very littleinstructional time is spent on preparingand taking tests, approximately 1.3 –1.7%14.

Myth #7: Common Core isthe brainchild of corporationsin order to privatize educa-tion.

Fact: The Common Core StateStandards were developed by stategovernors and education chiefs, and werewritten by educators and educationexperts. They are supported by thebusiness community15 because businessleaders understand the value of havingchildren learn the critical skills they needfor 21st Century jobs. Common Corestandards emphasize analytical thinking,enabling students to be more competitivein the international workforce.

Myth #8: Common CoreState Standards dictate whattexts teachers will use forinstructions.

Fact: The Common Core StateStandards define what students in eachgrade need to know and be able to do;they do not define what teachers shouldteach or how students should learn. Inother words, although the standards doestablish expectations of content masteryand skills, they do not tell teachers thatthey must teach them in a specific way.The standards preserve what the Ameri-can Federation of Teachers calls the“freedom for curriculum choice,”16 aslocal teachers, principals, superintendents,and school boards continue to makedecisions about curriculum and how theirschool systems operate.

Footnotes can be found on the com-plete article which is posted on the CABEwebsite @ www.cabe.org/page.cfm?p=900.

Educators and parents have longknown the importance of early literacy topreschoolers’ later academic success.What they may not know is that theirmath skills are equally important.

A major study shows that youngchildren’s math abilities are far morepredictive of their academic achievementthroughout their school years than theirsocial or emotional behaviors, neither ofwhich, it turns outs, has much effect onlater achievement. Math also has a slightedge on literacy in its long-term influence.

The research team, led byNorthwest-ern University’s Greg Dun-can, analyzed six studies including datafor more than 35,000 preschoolers. Theteam found that knowledge of numbershad the most impact on students’ aca-demic achievement through age 14,followed closely by early reading andlanguage skills.

Math-related skills do not just predictlater math performance, but readingachievement, too. Moreover, earlymastery has a lasting impact. Duncanfound that students who struggled withmath in elementary school were less likelyto graduate from high school and far lesslikely to attend college later on, by 13 and29 percentage points, respectively.

Mathematical development in factstarts in infancy. Psychologists such asAlison Gopnik at the University ofCalifornia, Berkeley, are showing thatbabies are natural statisticians who usedata to make sense of the world. In onestudy, 2-year-olds were able to inferprobabilities — for example, the likeli-hood a toy will light up — and revisepredictions based on new information.Other studies have identified babies asyoung as 8 months showing a basicunderstanding of random sampling.

Math should be centralDespite the importance of early

numeracy, the math conversation ineducation policy circles tends to focus oncourse-taking in high school. To date, 23states and the District of Columbia haveestablished graduation requirements thatalign with college- and career-readiness,including three to four years of math atleast through Algebra II.

These policies enjoy wide publicsupport, as well. According to a survey byAchieve, Inc., nearly nine in 10 voterssupport having college and careergraduation requirements for all students.

There are good reasons for thissupport. A large body of research —including studies from NSBA’s Center forPublic Education — points to high-levelhigh school math as a strong predictor ofsuccess in college and the workplace —in addition to making better citizens asmeasured by voting, volunteering, andhealthier lifestyles.

But we’re also learning that attentionto math skills can’t start too early. If we’reserious about improving all students’chances for success after graduation, wereally need to grant mathematics a central

The Power of Math and Common CorePatte BarthDirector, NSBA Center for Public Education

spot in comprehensive education policiescovering pre-k through high schoolstudents.

Common Core applicationsThe Common Core State Standards

(CCSS) could be a good place to start.The CCSS are intended to be internation-ally competitive, and have college- andcareer-readiness in mathematics andEnglish language arts as their ultimategoal.

Starting with that end in mind, theCCSS map backwards to establish grade-level benchmarks all the way down tokindergarten. This means that the mathskills children learn in the earliest gradesare designed to set them on the pathtoward success after high school.

The CCSS are now the standards ofrecord in 46 states and the District ofColumbia. But the widespread adoption

of CCSS does not make them immune todebate. Some of the objections arepolitical: Opinions vary over whether weeven should have national standards,voluntary or otherwise. But the CCSS alsohave prompted some controversy abouttheir educational content, particularly inmath.

The CCSS differ from most state mathstandards in important ways. One, theydefine specific mathematical practices forstudents at all levels. These practicesinclude the ability to make sense ofproblems and persevere in solving them;construct viable arguments using math-ematics; reason abstractly and quantita-tively; and use appropriate tools strategi-cally.

The CCSS also place more emphasis ondata, probability, and statistics than U.S.students typically receive, and it beginsearly. Kindergartners, for example, will be

asked to classify objects such as organ-isms with wings and without wings, sortthem, and compare the numbers. By thirdgrade, students will be organizing andgraphing their data to scale.

Throughout elementary school, there isalso more attention to algebraic thinkingso students will be ready for the demandsof algebra in high school. And there areclearer expectations for learning fractions,a topic that U.S. students have struggledwith for decades.

Common Core criticsMost of the criticism is aimed at the

CCSS’ treatment of high school math.Ze’eve Wurman, a high-tech industryexecutive and former official in the U.S.Department of Education, and SandraStotsky of the University of Arkansasreviewed the CCSS for the Pioneer Insti-

See THE POWER page 14


The Power of Math and Common Core

(continued from page 13)tute, a libertarian think tank.

In their view, the math standards arenot on a par with those of high-achievingnations, mostly because Algebra 1 contentwas deferred to ninth grade. Lookingthrough the lens of four-year collegeadmissions offices, they also were con-cerned that the standards do not preciselyfollow the algebra-dominated collegeprep curriculum.

W. Stephen Wilson, a mathematician atJohns Hopkins University, picks up onthis line of thinking. Regarding the CCSSemphasis on data, Wilson wrote that “sta-tistics and probability [are] probably ir-relevant for college preparation.”

Their proponents, however, point outthat the CCSS are intended to preparestudents for a range of postsecondary op-tions, including but not exclusively forfour-year colleges.

The Educational Policy ImprovementCenter at the University of Oregon con-ducted a survey of higher education facul-ty who had reviewed the CCSS for howwell they aligned to the skills needed tosucceed in both general education andcareer-focused courses.

Unlike Wurman, Stotsky, and Wilson,the instructors — representing both two-and four-year institutions — found a greatdeal to admire, particularly in the stan-dards for mathematical practices.

William Schmidt of Michigan StateUniversity is the leading expert on TIMSS

— The International Math and ScienceStudy of fourth- and eighth-graders —and was the first person to alert the U.S.on its problems with a math curriculumthat is “a mile wide and an inch deep.” Hehas found that CCSS math standards“closely mirror those of the world’shighest-achieving nations.” He especiallycommended the CCSS for being focusedand bringing badly needed coherence tohow our students will learn math.

The debate no doubt will continue andwon’t be settled until the CCSS have hada chance to be fully implemented. As edu-cational consultants Jay McTighe andGrant Wiggins have written, “The stand-ards come to life through the assess-ments.” The two state consortia develop-ing CCSS assessments have begun to re-lease sample items (see sidebar for a mathexample) that tangibly show what studentswill be expected to know and do. Schmidtcautions: “The key ingredient in the im-plementation of standards is whetherdistricts, schools, and, most importantly,teachers, deliver the content to students ina way that is consistent with thosestandards.”

Obviously, school districts have a lotto do to prepare. Elementary teachers inparticular have traditionally been lesscomfortable with math than with othersubjects. They will need content-rich,ongoing professional development tolearn the new math standards and engag-ing ways to teach them. And don’t forget

the little ones. Districts should reach outto the pre-k providers in their communi-ties to align their math programs so thatkindergartners are ready when they arrive.As research shows, one of the best thingswe can do to prepare young people for asuccessful life is give to them a good,

early start in math.Reprinted with permission from

“American School Board Journal”,January 2013. Copyright 2013 NationalSchool Boards Association. All rightsreserved.

By the Numbers

Before and AfterBoth items below test 5th graders’ knowledge of how to writeexpressions, but demand different skills.

Before the Common Core:There are a total of y students in Mr.Smith’s classroom. Which of thefollowing represents the number ofstudents in the classroom when 3students are absent?

Virginia SOL released items, grade 5 math, 2010

After the Comon Core:Write an expression that records thecalculations described below, but donot evaluate.

Add 2 and 4 and multiply the sumby 3. Next, add 5 to that productand then double the results.

Illustrative mathematics, retrieved April 16, 2012Source: Center for Public Education

What’s the difference?The first requires one step to solve.

The second requires several steps to solve. Italso has multiple correct responses as follows:

2(5+3(2+4))

or (5+3(2+4))2 or 2(3(2+4)+5) or (3(2+4+5)2or 2((2+4)3+5) or ((2+4)3+5)2or (5+3(2+4))+(5+3(2+4))


CABE recently held a webinar on The Affordable Care Act and Collective Bargaining inConnecticut's Schools. Presenters were: Attorney Richard Mills, Shipman & Goodwin, andJoseph Spurgeon, MHA, Senior Health Benefits Consultant, Milliman. The webinar can befound on the CABE website at www.cabe.org/page.cfm?p=354.

Spotlight from LighthouseThe Board of Education’s Role in Student Achievement

The future of our state, our country,and our society depends on how well ourschools provide the highest qualityeducation for our children who willbecome our future.

“A child is a person who is going tocarry on what you have started. He isgoing to sit where you are sitting, andwhen you are gone; attend to thosethings, which you think are important. . .. . The fate of humanity is in his hands. Soit might be well to pay him some atten-tion.” – Abraham Lincoln

School districts that perform the task

of providing high quality instructionhave a well-conceived, coordinated planfor assuring the success of its students.The district’s Board of Education plays avital role in that success. The CABELighthouse team, with support from theConnecticut State Department ofEducation, has been providing trainingfor interested Connecticut Boards ofEducation for the past five years. Thisprogram emphasizes the importance ofan effective BOE/superintendent teamthat works together toward high achieve-ment for all students in the district.

Lighthouse training, based onresearch, emphasizes the critical impor-tance of seven specific conditions found

to be present in highly successful schooldistricts. Research also has looked at thefive roles the Board of Education mustperform in the educational process.

1. The Board sets the expectation forhigh achievement for all staff andstudents. Through its policies,agendas, and actions on issuesbrought before it, the Board ofEducation delivers its message as towhat is important in the district. It isincumbent on the board to commu-nicate its expectations throughevery action taken.

2. The Board holds the districtaccountable for meeting its goalsfor high achievement. The boardhas the responsibility to provideoversight for delivery of programsthat foster the highest levels ofachievement for all students in thedistrict. In its function as board ofdirectors for the school district, theboard must hold the district ac-countable for what is expected. Inthis way, the board providesstewardship for the tax dollarsprovided to achieve studentacademic and personal success. Tohold the district accountable, theboard must require data to assessthe viability and effectiveness of allinitiatives. What gets measured getsdone!

3. The Board provides the resourcesnecessary for achieving thedistrict’s goals. To hold administra-tors, staff, and students accountablefor any achievement, program oraction, the Board of Education mustprovide the resources necessary fora reasonable expectation that theirpolicies and decisions are imple-mented at a high level. While thedistrict must be held accountable fordelivery of services, the board isaccountable for providing theresources and environment requiredfor success as dictated by the board.This is referred to as “ReciprocalAccountability”.

4. The Boardpromotes thepublic will forperformance atthe highestlevels. A clearlycommunicated and coordinatedplan for student success depends ona commitment by the community tothe importance of educating allchildren in the district to the highestlevels possible. This must be acommunity value and it is the roleof the Board of Education topromote that value and garnersupport for the efforts of thedistrict. In this regard, the boardmust become the cheerleader for thesuccess of the district.

5. The Board learns together what itneeds to know to make the bestdecisions relative to high achieve-ment for all staff and students. Forthe board to make solid, rationaldecisions based on research thatprovides evidence of successfulprogramming, the board must learntogether to gather the knowledgenecessary to make the decisions(program and policy) to promotehigh achievement for all students.The board must depend on thesuperintendent and other adminis-trators to provide them with theappropriate material and documen-tation to support recommendedprograms and policy, but themembers of the board must committhemselves to evolving and ongoingacquisition of knowledge about thedistrict and its systems.

The Lighthouse program providesboards with an interactive process forfocusing energies on the essential roles ofthe Board of Education in the attainmentof district goals.

In subsequent issues, we will explorethe seven conditions for success thatresearch has shown exist to a strongdegree in successful school districts.

Warren LogeeCABE Lighthouse Consultant

Eight Characteristics ofan Effective School Board

1. Effective school boards commit to avision of high expectations forstudent achievement and qualityinstruction and define clear goalstoward that vision

2. Effective school boards have strongshared beliefs and values aboutwhat is possible for students andtheir ability to learn, and of thesystem and its ability to teach allchildren at high levels.

3. Effective school boards areaccountability driven, spending lesstime on operational issues and moretime focused on policies to improvestudent achievement.

4. Effective school boards have acollaborative relationship with staffand the community and establish astrong communications structure toinform and engage both internal andexternal stakeholders in setting andachieving district goals.

5. Effective boards are data savvy;they embrace and monitor data,even when the information isnegative, and use it to drivecontinuous improvement.

6. Effective school boards align andsustain resources, such asprofessional development, to meetdistrict goals.

7. Effective school boards lead as aunited team with thesuperintendent, each from theirrespective roles, with strongcollaboration and mutual trust.

8. Effective school boards take part inteam development and training,sometimes with theirsuperintendents, to build sharedknowledge, values andcommitments for their improvementefforts.

A Dozen Danger SignsWhile this paper did not specifically

focus on characteristics of ineffectiveschool boards, it may be helpful toreview some of the descriptions ofineffective boards mentioned in theresearch:1. Only vaguely aware of school

improvement initiatives, andseldom able to describe actionsbeing taken to improve studentlearning

2. Focused on external pressures asthe main reasons for lack of studentsuccess, such as poverty, lack ofparental support, societal factors,or lack of motivation

3. Offer negative comments aboutstudents and teachers

4. Micro-manage day-to-dayoperations

5. Disregard the agenda process andthe chain of command.

6. Left out the information flow; little

communication between board andsuperintendent

7. Quick to describe a lack of parentinterest in education or barriers tocommunity outreach

8. Looked at data from a “blaming”perspective, describing teachers,students and families as majorcauses for low performance.

9. Little understanding orcoordination on staff developmentfor teachers

10. Slow to define a vision11. Did not hire a superintendent who

agreed with their vision12. Little professional development

together as a board.See more at: www.centerforpublic

education.org/Main-Menu/Public-education/Eight-characteristics-of-effective-school-boards/Eight-characteristics-of-effective-school-boards.html#sthash.MR7Altiv.O4oH2Yof.dpuf


Documents

CABE Journal - April 2014