Report Shows NB Students Slipping

By Robin Vinci at March 22, 2012 | 9:00 pm | Print

The gap between the education of New Britain students and those in districts with similar students education, income and occupation statistics, shows that New Britain students are falling further behind.

The Strategic School Profile for 2010-11 showed the main reason for the drop is less funding for New Britain in Education Cost Sharing grants.

Expenditures per student in New Britain is $12,936 compared to $14,956 to students in the district reference group (DRG).

Student support services and improvement of instruction and educational media services are some of the biggest areas New Britain students get less.

Sharon Beloin-Saavedra, school board president, questioned why those in the DRG are out performing the students in New Britain.

?If you want to know why the outcomes aren?t the same, it is because the inputs aren?t the same,? said Paul Carver, school board member. ?If we would be given another $17.6 million a year in our budget and were just funded at the same level of the other DRG schools ? the ECS funding is not equitable. There is no rhyme or reason to it and it all depends on if your legislative delegation is bringing home the bacon. Ours has failed.?

He added that if New Britain was funded at the state average, the City would get another $8 million a year.

?We have not been funded at the same level as the other schools in our DRG and it goes back to this crazy funding formula,? said Carver. ?Everyone wants to know what we can do. Well, why not equalize and then hold everyone to the same standard??

Ron Jakubowski, interim school superintendent, said the lack of funds results in things such as larger class size and a lower rate of administrators to teachers.?

?We watched this happen over 10 years,? said Jakubowski. ?Our district reference group is no longer New Haven, Hartford, Bridgeport and Waterbury. Our reference group is now smaller urban centers who are funded at a different level than those four. We watched a total flip-flop in funding and test scores.?

The strategic school profile also showed a number of other things about the New Britain School District. The homeless rate is 3.3 percent in New Britain compared to 0.7 percent in the DRG and 0.3 percent in the state.

Special Education expenditures are also higher than the DRG and the state.

Average class sizes in New Britain are three to seven students higher than other cities in the DRG.

?A sense of urgency exists here and always has. It exists within our principals also,? said Jakubowski. ?We make sure a sense of urgency is translated into every classroom. That is what this team is doing.?

According to the school district improvement plans and activities, ?Skill in program development and implementation has increased for all of the District?s central office and building administrators. Further skill development is ongoing not only for administrators, but for all staff in leadership positions including classroom teachers. New Britain?s newly formed District Data team is working from its theory of action to improve student learning.?

Key targets include data team structure, teachers providing high levels of support, teachers engaging students in a curriculum that is rigorous and teachers using various instructional strategies and materials.

?

.News Feature

Source: http://nbcityjournal.com/archives/4292

ufc 144 james jones james jones tony parker kevin hart aladdin black forest