Save the Date: November 3rd and 4th
Building Capacity and Establishing Sustainable Supports Summit

Registration information will be forthcoming.

November 3rd (1a: 8:30 - 11:30a.m. or  1b: 12:30 - 3:30p.m.)
&
November 4th (2a: 8:30 -11:30a.m. or 2b: 12:30 -3:30p.m.)

The Building Capacity and Establishing Sustainable Supports Summit includes two ½ day sessions that will bring together District Teams to include but not limited to; Special Education Director/preK Special Education & Early Childhood Coordinator/Transition Coordinator/Asst. Superintendent -  for planning on how to increase capacity building and establish sustainable supports through their established goals while avoiding common mistakes with one time/supplemental funding.

The Bureau of Special Education in conjunction with many partners, are offering an opportunity for District Teams to gather together and discuss, develop and plan for managing increased resources and opportunities.  Speakers will address budgeting, infrastructure, effective use of resources, specific strategies, and tips on avoiding common errors. 

The District Team will identify a team leader (Note: all team members must register individually on the virtual platform).  The team will gather together in a central location within the District, and through the virtual platform will join the Summit, in order to examine how to braid resources and build a functional plan with a management timeline.  This planning is necessary for success as well as to avoid common mistakes that lead to not expending all the resources available.

The District Team can expect to come away with a plan that establishes a structured way to expend resources and ideas for sustained support opportunities for learning while creating LEA launch pads for recovery and improved outcomes for all students including those with disabilities.

For more information, please contact:
Thomas S. Boudreau
Education Consultant
Connecticut State Department of Education
Bureau of Special Education
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

June 15, 2021

Critical Race Theory (CRT) and education have recently attracted considerable local and national attention. Here at the State Education Resource Center (SERC), we feel an important duty to add our perspective, as an agency that supports schools in developing effective and equitable classroom practices. In addition, as the state of Connecticut put its trust in us to lead the coordination and development of a prominent new course of studies under Connecticut Public Act 19-12: An Act Concerning the Inclusion of Black and Latino Studies in the Public School Curriculum, the local discussion about CRT has directly included SERC.

SERC’s vision is “Equity, Excellence, Education,” and under our mission we serve as a catalyst for educational equity through providing resources and information. Over the last two decades, we have intentionally dedicated ourselves to understanding why racial gaps have been so persistent even when factoring in all other drivers of educational inequities. Through our research, Critical Race Theory emerged as a foundational framework to understand structural racism.

CRT is a theory, not a curriculum taught to students. As with other theories, it guides educators in their practice to serve all students. We learned that CRT: 1. strives to advance a social justice framework; 2. explains how race and racism are organized and operate; 3. aims to redress social inequalities; 4. is typically interdisciplinary and embraces multifaceted disciplines and/or research methods; 5. tends to be organized around core questions that reach into several disciplines; 6. draws upon paradigms of intersectionality; and 7. recognizes that race and racism work with and through gender, ethnicity, class, and sexuality as systems of power.

Through all of this research; exhaustive interviews; years of close collaboration with educators, students, and families; and often painful reflection on our own knowledge base and personal experiences, we have developed the most accurate interpretation we could about the role of racism in our schools and our society. As a professional learning educational organization, we are able to provide educators and students access to the results of our extensive learning, for them to discover, reflect, critically interrogate, critically interrupt, and add their own insights, for truly understanding the intersection of race and racism is both a personal and collective effort. We believe educators, students, and families are up to the challenge; they have been partners with us on this journey all along.

We know how confusing and disruptive some of these concepts can seem—because we felt it too. But it became impossible to ignore the legacy of racism and its impact on our educational system.  We could not discount students’ lived experience with race and because of their race. These are their stories, and they have gone untold for so long. We are committed to staying on this journey of advocacy and support as students and educators share their experiences and build their capacity to help make things better for our communities.

Our current national discourse reminds us that conversations about race and racism are not easy. Our collective memories hold centuries of history that we must acknowledge. However, we should use this moment as an opportunity to commit ourselves to change the dynamics of the discourse. We see the African American/Black and Puerto Rican/Latino Course of Studies as a significant first step to creating a vision for how racial equity and cultural responsiveness result in improved student performance, strong relationships among educators and students, and effective school-family-community partnerships.

It is a long process to become intentional about dismantling systemic racism. We are 20 years into it ourselves, and the learning continues. First and foremost, we are here as a resource. SERC will continue to identify policies and practices that enable educators and students develop, enhance, and maintain cultural competence, cultural responsiveness, and critical consciousness regarding race, racism, and social justice.

SERC welcomes anyone who wants to learn more about what they’re hearing. We thank everyone who has become engaged enough to make their voices heard.

The State Education Resource Center
June 15, 2021

This session will be offered twice: in English (May 10), and in Spanish (May 3)

How can faith communities and local public schools become more engaged partners in the work of improving students’ educational achievement?

As community “trusted messengers,” faith-based leaders are invited to this session to learn ways they can reach, share with, and encourage families to continue to be engaged in their children’s educational pathways. Participants will learn about:

• how faith-based organizations and leaders can serve as essential community partners to support children’s learning and development;
• evidence-based practices that support the importance of faithbased organizations partnering with schools;
• innovative approaches that faith-based leaders, including fellow participants in the session, may use to support education;
• and examples of successful partnerships between faith-based organizations and schools.

Date: Monday May 10, 2021
Time: 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM

Register Here!

For questions, please contact Nitza M. Diaz, SERC Consultant: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or (860)632-1485 x394

¡COMUNIDADES DE FE: RUTA AL EXITO ESCOLAR!

¡Líderes de comunidades de Fe! ¡Mensajeros de Confi anza!

¿Cómo pueden las comunidades de fe y las escuelas públicas locales convertirse en socios más mejorar el rendimiento escolar de los estudiantes?

Le invitamos a participar en una sesión con nosotros sobre como poder ayudar a las familias a involucrarse y participar en el proceso educativo de sus hijos. En esta sesión aprenderán:

• Prácticas y enfoques innovadoras para que las comunidades de Fe colaboren con las escuelas para promover el éxito educativo de los niños
• Ejemplos de programas que pueden implementar en su comunidad

FECHA: Lunes, 3 de Mayo de 2021
HORA: 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM

REGISTRARSE

Preguntas sobre el contenido: Nitza M. Diaz, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. o (860) 632-1485 X394