ConnCan revised some of this data after this article was published although the results are very similar.
ConnCan is a non-profit organization devoted to helping the schools of Connecticut achieve the goal of the law “No Child Left Behind.� One of the services that ConnCan provides is a ranking of all public schools in terms of their status in reaching the goal of this law, as well as a measure of year-to-year progress (gains) in reaching the goal of this law. For the year ending in 2006, the New Canaan public school system was ranked first in achieving the goal of NCLB with 92% students having achieved this goal at the Middle School level. New Canaan was closely followed by Darien, Westport, Sherman, Wilton, Redding, Willington, Simsbury, Ridgefield, and Litchfield – all southwestern Connecticut systems except for Willington.
With all of the attacks on the Woodstock public school system coming from representatives of the Woodstock Academy, CPS, and the so-called “coalition.org�, I was curious to learn how ConnCan ranks the Woodstock public school system among the 169 towns of Connecticut. The Academy does not disclose information to the State or ConnCan because of it’s ‘private’ status.
The Woodstock preK-8 system is ranked 24th in the state in terms of its overall performance. ConnCan provides a simple grade (A down to F) for the performance of each school in Connecticut. Woodstock received an A- for students within goal at the Middle School with 85% (62% state average) of its students within goal for the 2005-2006 school year (12nd out of 134 middle schools for which information was available). Woodstock also received an A- for gains from the preceding school year because achievement of goal rose by 7% (10th out of 134).
The Woodstock Elementary School received a B- with 69% achieving goal (60% is the state average) ranking 71st out of 169 elementary schools (169 towns). It also received a C+ for gains over the preceding year.
The Pomfret preK-8 system was slightly ahead of Woodstock with an overall ranking of 14th in the state, also receiving an A- because 88% of its students had achieved goal (11th out of 157 middle schools). They also showed gains of 8% over the previous year (7th out of 134 reporting) for which they received an A. The Pomfret Elementary School received a B for achievement and a C for gains over the previous year.
All of this data is also given for Killingly, Brooklyn, Putnam, and Thompson (Eastford was missing). For middle school performances Killingly received a C+ for achievement and a C for gains, Brooklyn a C- and a C, Putnam a C- and a C-, and Thompson a D+ (140th out of 157) and a C- (101 out of 134), respectively.
School systems like Bridgeport, New Haven, Waterbury, and Hartford were in the bottom 10 systems in the state.
In terms of spending per pupil for the entire public school system, only “2004� figures were given – Woodstock $8036, Pomfret not given, Killingly $9399, Brooklyn $9261, Putnam $11134, and Thompson $8701.
As for High School performances in the area, Thompson was ranked 86th, Killingly was ranked 107th, and Putnam was ranked 108th out of 120 high schools. The only public information available about Woodstock Academy comes from CAP testing of 10th graders listed at the State Department of Education. The percentage of its students meeting goal for NCLB in the 2004-05 year for reading was 55.7%, for writing 64.7%, for math 51.1% and for science 57.4% – each ranging from 4% to 13% above state average. Senior SAT scores were average compared to the state-wide average.
“Mission
To close Connecticut’s academic achievement gap, the largest gap between rich and poor students of any public school system in the nation. We will not rest until every child in our state, regardless of race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status, has access to a great public school.
Who We Are
A statewide outreach, education, and research organization with an active member network of parents, teachers, students, and business and community leaders across Connecticut. ConnCAN is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
What We Believe
• The achievement gap is the most urgent social and economic problem facing Connecticut. The time for change is now.
• All children, regardless of their background, can achieve at a high level when given access to a great public school.
• Securing “Great Schools for All� will require reforming the way our public schools work by raising standards, giving school leaders greater freedom to innovate, and providing parents with more public school choices.
• Every child wins when parents can choose among public schools where principals and teachers come together to pursue a shared vision of excellence while being held accountable for results.�
What We Do
Empower parents to make informed choices and to hold their public officials accountable for results by providing easy-to-use information on the performance of their public schools and a platform to make their voices heard.
Board of Directors and Board of Advisors
Paul Allaire. Former Chairman and CEO, Xerox Corporation. Former Chairman, Ford Foundation. Trustee Emeritus of Carnegie-Mellon University.
Lorraine M. Aronson. Vice President and CFO, University of Connecticut. Director, Hartford Education Foundation. Former Connecticut Deputy Commissioner of Education.
Dr. Philip E. Austin. President, University of Connecticut. Board Member, MetroHartford Regional Economic Alliance. Member, Governor’s Council on Economic Competitiveness and Technology.
Timothy Bannon. Special Counsel, Purdue Pharma.
Andy Boas – Member, Board of Directors. Principal, Carl Marks Management, LLC. Director, Bridgeport Public Education Fund.
Cory Booker. Mayor, Newark, NJ. Senior Fellow, Rutgers School of Public Policy and Planning. Member, Board of Directors of the Black Alliance for Educational Options.
Christopher P. Bruhl. President and CEO, The Business Council of Fairfield County (SACIA). Director, Connecticut Public Broadcasting Corporation.
Dr. William J. Cibes, Jr. Former Chancellor, Connecticut State University System. Former Deputy Speaker and Chairman of the Finance Committee, Connecticut General Assembly. Former Secretary, Office of Policy and Management.
Joyce Critelli. Co-Chairwoman, Children’s Agency of Norwalk. Trustee, Norwalk Community College. Trustee, Critelli Family Foundation.
History
Inspired by the breakthrough success of a number of Connecticut’s urban public schools in dramatically raising student achievement, ConnCAN was established in fall 2004 with the goal of providing every child in our state, regardless of race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status, with a great public school.
In its initial year of operations, led by its executive director and first employee, Alex Johnston, ConnCAN worked with parents throughout the state to understand the challenges facing Connecticut’s public schools and with a number of innovative school leaders to better understand how to replicate their success.
By reading this article and the one above, I get the impression that there is a group of very active people in town that are just messin with the system – Wetzel, Rapose, Powers, Rosendahl, etc. They are pursuing their abberrant needs by trashing the town and the BOE without regard to the facts…in fact they make up their own facts and fantasies to support their positions.
Having read ConnCan’s methodology I can conclude that the school system is on the right track in spite of their low funding (6th lowest in the state). The BOE, the school administration, and the teachers must be doing a great job.
Looking at Wetzel, Livernois, and Masiello’s position in 1999, it appears that Wetzel and Livernois realized they couldn’t be ‘winners’ advocating for the interest of the Town. The Academy saw an opportunity to remove them from the opposition by putting them on their Board of Trustees. I wonder if they have tried to do the same with Joe Breen?
Gus Masiello was probably more of an advocate for reduced spending including at the Academy. He is likely rolling over in his grave as he looks down or up at the current composition of the Board of Trustees of the Academy.
The position of Wetzel with regard to the Academy and the K-8 system is incompatible with my understanding of the mission of CPS. What do you have to say about that Mr. Klusek?
[...] You may recall that a previous article on the high ranking of the K-8 school systems in Pomfret and Woodstock ranked 11th and 22nd in the statewide among 157 public middle schools in terms of meeting the goals of NCLB (no child left behind), but surrounding towns fared less well. [...]
[...] We recently reported the rankings of the Woodstock middle and elementary schools among all public schools throughout the State of Connecticut posted at ConnCan’s website href=”http://www.conncan.org/action_center/great_schools/default.asp”>ConnCan is a non-profit organization devoted to helping the schools of Connecticut achieve the goal of the law “No Child Left Behind.â€? Woodstock public schools fared comparatively well in reaching goal of the NCLB law in that the Woodstock K-8 system is ranked 24th in the state in terms of its overall performance. ConnCan provides a simple grade (A down to F) for the performance of each public school in Connecticut. Woodstock received an A- for students reaching goal at the Middle School with 85% (62% state average) of its students within goal for the 2005-2006 school year (22nd out of 157 middle schools; see rest of this article). [...]