- ConnCAN
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ConnCAN 
Founded 2005 Location 429 Capitol Avenue, Hartford, Connecticut, USA
85 Willow Street, New Haven, ConnecticutFocus Education research and advocacy Motto Great Schools for All Website www.conncan.org ConnCAN (Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now) is an American think tank and state-level education advocacy group founded in January 2005, with offices in Hartford, Connecticut and New Haven, Connecticut.
Its stated mission is "building a movement of concerned citizens advocating to fundamentally reform our public schools through smart public policies."[1] Its major projects include education research reports and issue briefs, ranking Connecticut public schools, parent outreach and education, and legislative advocacy. [2] In 2007 it produced a parent guidebook entitled "How to Make Sure Your Child is Not Left Behind" in partnership with the Connecticut chapter of the NAACP, Connecticut Appleseed, and the Lawyers Committee on Civil Rights Under Law.
Campaigns
ConnCAN runs advocacy campaigns with specific policy objectives. According to the website, "focused, goal-oriented issue campaigns are the heart of ConnCAN's work,"[3] and campaign activities include "letter-writing drives to state officials, public events, and citizen lobbying."[4]
Its first campaign, called "Mind the Gaps," launched in 2009. The stated goal of the campaign was "advocating for three commonsense school reforms—funding to grow high-performing public charter schools, teacher quality and education transparency—to help close Connecticut’s achievement gap."
ConnCAN's 2010 campaign, "Our Race to the Top," focused on the state's application to the federal government's Race to the Top grant competition, "urging public officials to make the reforms necessary for Connecticut to be truly competitive."[5] The campaign successfully advocated for four reforms: "measuring effectiveness," world-class standards," superstar principals," and "money follows the child."[6]
Publications
The organization produces a quarterly print newsletter called the ConnCAN Compass, a monthly e-newsletter, a weekly news summary called the Education News Roundup, and a monthly research summary called the Education Research Roundup.[7]
ConnCAN also publishes issue briefs and research reports that focus on education policy issues, such as teacher effectiveness and charter school funding. The State of Connecticut Public Education a report ConnCAN puts out annually, assesses the state of education policy in Connecticut and ranks the performance of its public schools.[8] Reports are available for download in the research section of the ConnCAN website.
Citing statistics from the web traffic company Alexa Internet, in a January 16, 2008 news release it claimed that conncan.org was "the most visited advocacy website in Connecticut."[9]
Staff and Board
A February 2007 review[10] by the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation compared the organization's legislative agenda to that of the Delaware-based Vision 2015 plan for education reform and stated that it is "spearheaded by a large, well-credentialed Board of Directors and Advisors and is clearly serious about school reform." Senior staff include Alex Johnston (chief executive officer), Marc Porter Magee (chief operating officer), Jennifer Harmon (Director of Research and Policy), Ronald Jarrett (vice president of strategic partnerships), and Lisa Whitfield (executive officer for operations and human resources).
Among the 48 board and advisory board members are Richard C. Levin, president of Yale University, Allan Taylor, chair of the Connecticut State Board of Education, and Ron Howard, Co-Chairman of Imagine Entertainment.
References
- ^ http://www.conncan.org/aboutus
- ^ http://www.conncan.org/aboutus/whatwedo
- ^ http://www.conncan.org/campaigns
- ^ http://www.conncan.org/media/conncan-launches-“our-race-top”-legislative-campaign
- ^ http://www.conncan.org/media/conncan-launches-“our-race-top”-legislative-campaign
- ^ http://www.conncan.org/campaigns/ourracetothetop
- ^ http://www.conncan.org/learn/publications
- ^ http://www.conncan.org/learn/research/achievement-gap/state-connecticut-public-education-2009-2010-report-card-connecticut-
- ^ "National Education Leader Joins ConnCAN." ConnCAN News Release. January 16, 2008
- ^ "Great Schools for All: A Plan Big Enough to Close America's Largest Achievement Gap." The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation." February 1, 2007.
- "Waterbury schools near bottom on CAPT scores" Republican-American. February 27, 2008.
- "Report: Achievement gap closing in some Stamford, Norwalk schools" The Advocate. November 5, 2007.
- "Owning Up to Failure." New York Times. July 1, 2007.
- "Good Alternatives to Status Quo." Republican-American. March 28, 2007.
- ConnCAN's 2006 IRS Form 990. Guidestar.com.
External links
Categories:- Think tanks based in the United States
- Organizations based in Connecticut
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