2012-2013 Choice Application Process Launching

Parent Participation in Climate/Satisfaction Survey Remains Low 

Overall, slightly more educators, parents, and students participated this year in the District's annual survey about school climate and satisfaction, but this general increase was accompanied by a decline in parents' responses on average- and by strikingly low levels of parent response in most Hartford schools.

Overall participation in the survey rose from 2010 to 2011 by 2 points, to 41 percent, driven by a large increase in student participation, from 49 to 62 percent.  Teacher and staff participation dropped from 74 to 68 percent.

The proportion of parent responses dropped five points from 28 percent in 2010 to 23 percent in 2011 - with 16 of the 47 Hartford schools posting below 10 percent of parents responding.  In another 10 schools, the proportion of parent responses to the survey was between 11 and 22 percent, which means 36 of the 47 Hartford schools had a parent response rate lower than the District average of 23%.

Why Focus on Parent Response?  

Because school climate and culture is critical to student achievement, accurately assessing the climate of Hartford schools is key.  Of the parents who responded, more than 90 percent expressed satisfaction with their school leadership, the challenging nature of the curriculum, and the quality of teachers.  While this information is positive, the amount of insight that can be gleaned from it is limited with so few parents responding.

The following chart indicates the participation levels for staff and teachers, students, and parents, respectively, and highlights parents satisfaction levels in three areas:  

The lack of parent participation highlights the importance of each school assessing its parent involvement strategies and finding new ways to connect and engage with parents.  Given the ambitious goals for early childhood literacy, middle school effectiveness, and college and career readiness, better engagement of families should be a key objective for the District as a whole and for individual schools. 

Click here for the school climate presentation given to the Hartford Board of Education.

Bee There October 21st for a Honey of a Time: The Community Spelling Bee  

Check out the Fifth Annual Achieve Hartford! Community Spelling Bee Friday, October 21, 2011, from 7-9 p.m.   

As the public service announcement from Mega-Education says, "Bee there for a honey of a good time!," at the Theater of the Performing Arts, The Learning Corridor, 359 Washington Street.

If you and your colleagues - or you and your students - have not registered a team, it's time to . . . bee about the bizzzness of this competition.    

To learn more, please see the information on the Achieve Hartford! website.

How many Hartford students were involved in disciplinary incidents that led to suspension last year?

Following the state definition for serious incidents, (including physical fighting and drug and alcohol use), the number of serious incidents dropped from 4,795 to 3,826 between the 2008-2009 and 2010-2011 school years.  The numbers of students sanctioned with in- and out-of-school suspensions dropped from 13,419 in 2008-2009 to 8,933 last year).  The discipline data, as well as the state classifications, can be examined here.