State Education Deputy Commissioner

To Conduct Public Forum At Newtown High School

George Coleman, the deputy commissioner of education for the State of Connecticut, will host a public forum at Newtown High School on Thursday, February 14, from 6:30 to 8:30 pm.

(Please note this is a change in speakers. Commissioner of Education Mark McQuillan was originally slated to give the presentation in Newtown.)

The forum is part of a statewide “Listening Tour” being presented by members of the Connecticut State Department of Education. The February 14 presentation is the final of eight planned presentations at schools across the state.

The State Board of Education has adopted a broad outline of legislative recommendations for secondary school reform and has authorized the public participation process to refine and shape its final proposal to the Connecticut General Assembly.

The proposal is based on the recommendations of the State Board of Education’s Ad Hoc Committee on Secondary School Redesign and recommends new state requirements for high school graduation, including: an increase in minimum diploma credits to 24; a core curriculum of required courses; the embedding of 21st Century learning skills such as communication and teamwork skills into model curricula; state-administered end-of-course examinations; locally administered end-of-course performance tasks; student success plans with career path options; and a senior year demonstration project.

Mr Coleman will discuss proposed changes to the state’s high school graduation requirements. It will cover the context underlying the ad hoc committee’s recommendation, the data supporting the need for statewide action, a proposed framework of the steps needed to effect secondary school reform, and an outline of the implementation of steps needed to bring the reform proposal to the Legislature by December 2008.

The session will include a question and answer period, to gauge public interest in, and take input on, the secondary school reform proposal.

Input from parents, students, educators, board members, and business and community leaders will help to inform the commissioner and state board as they make final recommendations to the legislature. It is anticipated that the board will first ask the General Assembly in its 2008 session to fund a feasibility study to determine the costs — both to the state and to local and regional school districts — for the new graduation requirements. It is expected that the board will make its recommendations including cost considerations to the 2009 session of the General Assembly. If the proposal is enacted by the legislature and signed by the governor, the new requirements would affect public school students entering high school in 2011 and graduating in 2015.

For additional information, contact the State Department of Education at 860-713-6543.