From the January-February 2009 issue of e-Momentum
A $25,000 gift from JP Morgan Chase will support the University of Connecticut in its efforts to close the achievement gap at two Bridgeport schools as part of the CommPACT schools program, a reform effort based at the Neag School of Education.
Barnum and Longfellow Schools are among eight urban schools that opened their doors this fall as CommPACT schools. The reform model, developed through an historic collaboration involving the teachers’ unions, three school administrator organizations and UConn, received start-up funding through a state appropriation last summer.
The JP Morgan Chase grant will support the CommPACT facilitator who is assigned to work with the teachers and administrators at the two Bridgeport schools and who serves as a liaison with the Neag School and its faculty. The grant also will provide funding for onsite professional development for teachers and administrators.
“We are extremely appreciative that JP Morgan Chase understands the vital role of community involvement in our CommPACT Schools initiative,” says Richard L. Schwab, Neag School dean. “With support from an institution that believes in investing in its neighborhoods, we are in a better position to assist Barnum and Longfellow in becoming the kind of schools all parents wish for their children,”
The name, CommPACT, symbolizes the collaboration among a school’s community, parents, administrators, children, and teachers to make decisions and run the school based on student needs.
Though still accountable to its local district, each CommPACT school has autonomy to make changes. For example, several CommPACT schools have replaced the district-mandated reading programs with ones thought to be more in tune with the student populations.
This is a change from the top-down operations typically implemented in school systems. Schools can be selected as a CommPACT school only if 90 percent of the teachers, parents, principal and district administrators approve the concept.
The founding partners of the CommPACT alliance include the American Federation of Teachers–Connecticut, the Connecticut Education Association, the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents, the Connecticut Association of Urban Superintendents, the Connecticut Federation of School Administrators and the Neag School of Education.
The CommPACT facilitator is currently working with both Bridgeport schools to identify their strengths and challenges. In the coming months, each school will be provided a menu of programs that have been field tested and proven effective in addressing each school’s specific needs.
The Neag School is monitoring and, eventually, will assess the schools’ progress. That information will be used to guide school decision making and to determine student achievement and school performance.
In addition to the two Bridgeport schools, the other CommPACT schools include M.D. Fox in Hartford, Davis Street and Hill Central in New Haven, Washington and West Side Middle in Waterbury and Shoreline Academy in New London. During the next year, the CommPACT Alliance hopes to select at least a half dozen more public schools to join the reform effort.
For more information about supporting the Neag School of Education, please contact the UConn Foundation's development department.
Original Press Release: http://news.uconn.edu/2008/December/rel08113.html
