HARTFORD – The state is set to receive $25.7 million to close its achievement gap, the largest in the nation.

Gov. M. Jodi Rell  announced the news today in a press release. Rell stated that Connecticut will receive $25.7 million in federal stimulus funds aimed at closing the achievement gap by providing school districts with the resources to improve their lowest performing schools.

The state Department of Education will provide the School Improvement Grants (SIG) to eligible school districts in order for them to turn around their lowest achieving schools, particularly those who serve children living in poverty.

“Every Connecticut child should have the opportunity to excel in the classroom. We have some of the highest performing schools in the nation, and unfortunately, some of the lowest. These dollars will go a long way toward closing that achievement gap,”  Rell said.

The  grants will allow school districts to improve their curriculum, change administration and” in the most drastic cases, close down a school,” Rell said.

Earlier this year, the Rell adminisration created a committee to address the achievement gap and the state’s  education committee approve the Black and Latino Caucus proposal to help close the achievement gap. And a committee was also formed

The  $25.7 million, being distributed to states through the U.S. Department of Education, will be awarded to local school districts on a competitive basis. To apply, a school district must have a state-identified “persistently lowest achieving” school. Eligible districts are: Hartford, New Haven, New Britain, Bridgeport, Windham, Area Cooperative Educational Services (ACES) and Stamford Academy, a charter school. Districts may qualify for as much as $2 million per school and must apply for the funding by May 14.

State Education Commissioner Mark K. McQuillan said that “the money will further previous efforts and assist with restructuring efforts “ that can accelerate improvements and expand services to students who really need them the most.”

Connecticut’s application, which includes its list of persistently lowest achieving schools, as defined by the state, can be found here.

HARTFORD  — Connecticut Education Commissioner Mark McQuillan yesterday sounded the alarm after results of  the state’s wide education gap between whites and minorities.

According to a press release,  the state’s high school graduation rates for black and Hispanic students are alarmingly low, and he says urgent action is needed.

New figures for the class of 2009 show a 58 percent graduation rate for Hispanics, 66 percent for blacks and 87 percent for whites. Connecticut’s overall rate was 79 percent.

Officials say they began using a more accurate system of tracking graduate rates last year, and it showed the 2009 numbers were worst than those in previous years.

McQuillan is pushing several proposals, including offering student and family support programs and moving up to July 1, 2010, the effective date of a law change that will prohibit 16-year-olds from dropping out of school, even if they have parental permission.

An AP report is used in this article.

HARTFORD – The Hartford Board of Education’s efforts to reform its school system have caught national attention again. 

The board’s participation in Reform Governance in Action training was featured  in a report by the Wallace foundation and published as a supplement in Education Week earlier this month.  

On Thursday, Nov. 12, the district’s method of redesigning low-performing schools into high-achieving academies and learning centers with a focus on a career theme will be the subject of a major presentation at the annual Education Trust National Conference in Arlington, Va. Superintendent Steven J. Adamowski will lead the session, according to a press release yesterday.

Earlier this year, Hartford Public Schools were the focus of a special report on school reform that appeared on the PBS Newshour with Jim Lehrer. Shortly thereafter, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan cited Hartford in a speech as one of six districts in the country that were doing the most to turn around low-performing schools. 

Reform Governance in Action is a two-year program run by the Houston-based Center for Reform of School Systems, in which a group of hand-picked school boards and superintendents develop the policy tools to run their districts effectively and close the achievement gap. 

Participation in the program is by invitation only and most of the costs are absorbed by the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation. 

During their training, school boards and their superintendents meet every other month to develop a “theory of action” that determines the strategy that works best for them to improve learning. They then draft and approve policy changes that set the strategy in motion. 

The Education Week article noted that under Hartford’s theory of action, the district’s relationship with each school depends on the school’s performance. As the school meets targets, such as increasing its scores on standardized tests, their principals gain more autonomy over budget, personnel and curriculum. 

Ada Miranda, chair of the board of education, noted that the training has transformed the way the board does business. 

“We don’t want what has happened to be dropped,” she said. “So we are focused on sustainability.”