Working together with lawmakers in the General Assembly, the State Department of Education (SDE) and our partners in the Connecticut Education Association (CEA), we have agreed to language regarding the survey’s intent. All parties involved have settled on a single, common interpretation of the law passed in 2012 requiring the new survey for active K-3 educators.
Click here to read the “non-disclosure” page of the survey with the agreed-upon language.
Member K-3 teachers who feel their school or district administration veer from the intent of this agreement should notify their local union president immediately.
In addition, we wanted to provide members with answers to common questions regarding the survey:
- The State Department of Education (SDE) receives individual data for the purpose of creating aggregate data for schools and districts as well for an “attendance” record of those taking the survey;
- Local districts only receive aggregate data for the grade, the school, and the district;
- Individual teachers receive their results immediately after completing the survey;
- Teachers are obligated to meet with local district staff responsible for creating professional development (PD) regarding their survey results– individual PD may not be warranted, but district-wide PD is; &
- Use of survey results to determine if PD is necessary in the K-3 reading instruction area is a locally-based decision.
In our September 2014 “back to school” letter to member educators we advised that a practice survey is available here at our website’s “Professional Development” page. There members can also access additional information from the Connecticut Foundations of Reading (CFOR).
Click here for our “Professional Development” page.
Members with additional questions or concerns are also welcome to contact AFT Connecticut Professional Development Coordinator Carole Clifford.
Click here to send email to Carole.
We thank members for their patience as we have worked to address shared concerns with this new aspect of public education policy in Connecticut. Our successful efforts to smooth out this process show that when we approach problems with collaborative solutions we can make much needed improvements.
Melodie Peters
President, AFT Connecticut
Steve McKeever
First Vice-President, AFT Connecticut
Patti Fusco
Pre-K-12 Jurisdictional Vice-President, AFT Connecticut
