The application for the 2010 Connecticut Youth Leadership Forum has been extended to February 26, 2010.   The twelfth annual forum will be held from July 26th through the 29th and will bring together students with disabilities throughout Connecticut.

The Connecticut Youth Leadership Project (CTYLP) is a youth leadership program that empowers youth with disabilities to realize their leadership potential.  Through self-awareness and team building activities, young adults explore leadership styles and develop and implement team and personal leadership plans.

This year’s Forum will be held at the University of Connecticut, Storrs campus. The program will bring together students with disabilities from throughout Connecticut for a four-day training forum focusing on enhancing community leadership skills. The forum will provide a concentrated educational and motivational experience for the students selected through a formal, competitive process. The delegates will explore personal leadership skills, define career goals and leave the forum with a very specific action plan that describes what they will do back in their local communities to enhance the lives of people with disabilities. Students who are accepted to YLF will be required to attend follow-up sessions after the forum to implement their Community Action Plans.

Interested students may download the application by logging onto the YLF website.   If you have any questions about the program, contact Karen Halliday at (860) 633-8403 or KarenH1203@aol.com or Kathleen Kabara at (860) 424-5068 or Kathleen.kabara@ct.gov.

In the beginning of the month, the Connecticut State Board of Education voted unanimously to oppose the practice of tracking. “Tracking” is the practice of permanently assigning students for instructional purposes to an instructional group that denies voluntary association and instruction with higher achieving students, based on assessed or perceived readiness.

State board members cited research showing that tracking funnels a disproportionate number of low-income and minority students to less challenging classes, making the achievement gap a self-fulfilling prophecy.

For more information, please read the State Board of Education Resolution Regarding Tracking.

With the growing emphasis in schools on data-driven decision-making and the continued use of standardized tests to measure student performance, it is not surprising that we often lose sight of all of factors that contribute to student learning and success. Parents of students with disabilities have known for some time what the research is showing, student success depends a great deal on what we call “the other side of the report card.”  Students who are actively engaged in class and come prepared, who cooperate with their peers, who resolve conflicts peacefully, who complete their work, who attend school regularly and on time, and who demonstrate initiative and leadership are more likely to succeed in school and, ultimately, in life.   Fortunately, Connecticut has taken the research on student engagement seriously and is now developing tools and strategies so that schools are better prepared to help all students feel a sense of belonging and connection to their school.

Research conducted by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning and the Mid-Atlantic Regional Educational Laboratory for Student Success is yielding a clearer picture of the skills and competencies students need for academic and life success.  Research confirms that social and emotional factors affect academic grades and school performance.  Enhancing social-emotional competencies, in combination with a positive, supportive classroom and school climate, can improve academic performance.

For more information about what the current research is telling educators, parents and students and what Connecticut is planning to do to improve opportunities to student engagement and success visit the CT State Department of Education website or call CPAC at 1-800-445-2722.

January is National Mentoring Month. Mentoring is one of the proven strategies for helping students get and stay connected to school and their community. Check out this link for more information and resources to share with your child’s school.

Parent-teacher conferences are one way that families and schools can communicate about a child’s progress. Effective conferences can help build collaborative relationships between families and staff, which in turn may improve students’ success in school.

It is helpful to think of some questions to ask as you prepare for the meeting. “In some cases, parent-teacher conferences may not be very informative, especially if the teacher reports that the child has no problems. Some parents may repeatedly hear that they “have nothing to worry about.” While this may sound reassuring, these parents may come away without the necessary information to help their children continue to make steady progress in school. When parents anticipate such an outcome from a conference, they may want to be prepared to ask some of the following questions:

1. What does my child do that surprises you?
Very often this question can reveal to parents what expectations the teacher has for the child. Sometimes a child will behave quite differently at school than at home, so the parent may be surprised, as well.

2. What is my child reluctant to do?
This question may reveal to the parents more about the child’s interests and dislikes than they would ordinarily know. The question may encourage the teacher to talk to the parent about the child’s academic and social preferences.

3. What is a goal you would like to see my child achieve?
This question can serve as a springboard for parents and teachers to develop a plan to work together to help a child set and reach a specific outcome. Even well- behaved and high-achieving children may benefit from setting goals in areas that need improvement or in which they might excel.

4. What can I do at home to support what is being done at school?
This question is always appreciated. Teachers may have suggestions for pare

nts but may be afraid to offer unsolicited advice. The question

helps create a team feeling.”

This information was taken from “Parent-Teacher Conferences: Suggestions for Parents” by Ann-Marie Clark. The article can also be viewed in Spanish, “Conferencias de padres-educadores: Sugerencias para los padres.”

Information about monitoring your child’s progress in school can be found in “How can parents tell if their child is making progress?” also available in Spanish “¿Está aprendiendo mi hijo/a?“