The CABE Journal - November 2020

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www.cabe.org

Vol. 24, No. 11

November, 2020

2021 CT Teacher and Paraeducator of the Year Named

State Board of Education Meets Sheila McKay

Sr. Staff Associate for Government Relations, CABE

At the October monthly meeting of the State Board of Education (SBE) topics discussed included:

Lisa Steimer

Sr. Staff Associate for Professional Development and Communications, CABE

Bob: As you know, board members and superintendents are under great emotional strain from the difficulties of opening school and all that entails in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. You spoke to a joint group back at the beginning of April. What have you seen since? Scott: One of the things we did in late spring was we surveyed building leaders and we had just over a thousand building leaders that answered the question of what their emotional state was during the Spring and, as can be expected, 95+ % of the comments were negative in terms of their emotional state. By far the thing that jumped off the page was this: the level

On October 9, Governor Lamont and Education Commissioner Cardona announced the 2021 Connecticut Teacher of the Year and the 2021 Anne Marie Murphy Paraeducator of the Year. For the first time ever both come from the same school, Poquonock School in Windsor. Rochelle Brown, a kindergarten teacher, was named the 2021 Connecticut Teacher of the Year and Maria Sau was named the 2021 Connecticut Anne Marie Murphy Paraeducator of the Year. Windsor Board Chair and CABE Area 2 Co-Director Leonard Lockhart shared that “the mission of Windsor Public Schools is ‘to develop the genius in every child and create life-long learners.’ The honorees exemplify the excellence displayed every day in Windsor and we are humbled and honored with their historic recognition.” Ms. Brown is now the Connecticut representative for the 2021 National Teacher of the Year. As the Anne Marie Murphy Paraeducator of the Year, Ms. Sau will represent paraprofessionals in forums and committees that influence education policy and raise public awareness of the successes as well as the challenges faced in our schools. In March 2013, the Connecticut

See Q&A page 10

See EDUCATORS NAMED page 2

Diverse Educator Workforce

See STATE BOARD page 7

Q & A with Yale’s Dr. Marc Brackett and Scott Levy Robert Rader

Executive Director, CABE

On September 14, CABE Executive Director Robert Rader interviewed the Director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence Dr. Marc Brackett and Executive Director Scott Levy. Bob: You have been very busy since you spoke at the CABE/CAPSS Convention almost two years ago. At that time, you spoke about making Connecticut the first emotionally intelligent state. What did you mean by that and how are we doing? Marc: I think we can clarify that the state takes social-emotional learning seriously for education. We start there. We can go to police officers and hospital workers later on but our Center’s goal is to try to make sure every school takes seriously social-emotional learning for leaders, teachers, students, and families. We feel really proud of the work that we’ve done in collaboration with groups like CABE and CAPSS, the State Department of Education, the teachers’ unions, and the list goes on. So our approach, RULER, is in about 250 of Connecticut’s schools. This new online course that we

have created is for teachers and other educators in times of very difficult stress and uncertainty. We’re proud to say that it’s going to be available for free for every school, every school staff member across the state.

inside

The Connecticut State Department of Education’s (SDE) Dr. Shauna Tucker, Chief Talent Officer and Chris Todd, Bureau Chief, presented on their continuing work to diversify the State’s educator workforce. Connecticut is not growing enough of its own teachers. In 2016, the SBE pledged to increase the number of minority educators from 8.3 percent (18 percent nationwide) to 10 percent by 2021, 1,000 educators in five years. In comparison, last year there was an increase to 9.6 percent from 8.9 percent, the previous year. A multifaceted approach is being employed to help educators make their way into the profession. Programs in place include: •G etting the message to eighth graders to think about becoming teachers; • Th e Educators Rising Academy expanding to 10 school districts to encourage high school students to become teachers; •R ELAY, a program that runs within districts to raise up school staff to teachers; • Troops to Teachers and the alternative route to certification program. In a press release from Governor Lamont on the expansion of the Educator Rising Academy, he stated that “60 percent of teachers work within 20 miles of where they attended high school.” All the more reason to invest in the ‘grow your own’ model.

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Equipping Students for Remote and Blended Learning

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Book Review:

How to Be An Anti-Racist

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Supporting Letter to the Editor: Enhancements Employees with East Hartford made to Children During Chair Addresses C.O.P.S. the Pandemic Systemic Racism Online Program


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