It was a pleasure to read about the dramatic turnaround in the Bloomfield public schools. And it was extra special to recognize that one of our scholarship recipients has played a leadership role in this achievement.

Several years ago, the situation in the Bloomfield Schools was bleak. Test scores and graduation rates were low. Only half of the high school’s graduates enrolled in two- or four-year colleges.

The predominantly African-American school system offered a stark example of the achievement gap affecting minority and low-income students in Connecticut and throughout the nation.

Now, the picture is much brighter. According to an article by Robert A. Frahm in the CT Mirror, the dramatic improvement in academic performance in Bloomfield has captured the attention of state officials and education reform organizations.

Last year, 71 percent of 10th graders met the state proficiency standard on a statewide mathematics test, compared with 46 percent in 2011. And 89 percent of sophomores met the state standard in reading, up from 62 percent in 2011.

Bloomfield High School’s four-year graduation rate improved to 90 percent in 2014, from 74 percent in 2011. Last year, 72 percent of high school graduates went on to two- or four-year colleges, compared with 51 percent in 2009.

Dramatic improvements also have been accomplished in the lower grades, where 2000 Alma Exley Scholar Desi Nesmith has been a key leader.

In 2011, Mr. Nesmith was named principal of Metacomet School, one of two elementary schools in town. He was selected by James Thompson Jr., who had been named superintendent earlier that year.

Dr. Thompson had been hired to lead a turnaround in Bloomfield, based on his leadership record in the Hartford Schools. He had a vision of higher academic performance in Bloomfield, and Mr. Nesmith shared that vision.

Right at the start, the new principal established high expectations for academic performance at Metacomet. And his commitment to setting the bar high has paid off.

By 2013, third-grade classes had surpassed state averages in reading, writing and math on the Connecticut Mastery Test. The third-graders, almost all African-American and Latino children, far outperformed similar groups statewide. For example, 65 percent of Metacomet’s third graders met the state reading goal, compared with about one-third of minority third graders across the state.

What made the difference in Bloomfield? Dr. Thompson focused on strengthening academics, promoting good discipline and behavior, and forging ties with parents and the community. Teachers rewrote the curriculum to align it with statewide Common Core standards, and schools adopted new accountability plans.

The district started new after-school programs, added summer classes and provided additional training for teachers. Newly created school data teams regularly reviewed student academic performance.

The results caught the attention of the Connecticut Council for Education Reform (CCER), a statewide, business-sponsored non-profit group. The CCER issued a report describing the district’s reforms as a blueprint for narrowing the achievement gap.

Three years ago, Bloomfield received notoriety as one of 30 low-performing districts in the state designated for extra funding. Now, the CCER has singled out Bloomfield for making steady progress in all of its schools.

As someone who grew up in Bloomfield, attending Metacomet School in first grade, Desi Nesmith is gratified to have played a part in the resurgence of his hometown’s schools. But he and his colleagues are not resting on their laurels. They know there is much more to accomplish on behalf of the town and its students.

“We’re not complacent about it,” he said. “We’re not finished yet. There’s a long road ahead of us.”

Congratulations to Desi and all of his colleagues among the leadership and faculty of the Bloomfield Schools. Your achievement shows what can be accomplished through enlightened leadership that sets demanding goals and insists on accountability.

At the Alma Exley Scholarship Program, we have been focused on identifying committed future educators who have the potential to make a difference in the lives of their students. It’s most rewarding to see honorees like Desi Nesmith fulfilling their potential and having an impact.

– Woody Exley

Many of us are troubled by the realization that Connecticut has the nation’s largest educational achievement gap between English-language learners and students fluent in English. While many wring their hands and bemoan this sad fact, Violet Jiménez Sims is trying to do something about it.

Ms. Sims, whom we honored in 2008, has become an advocate for reform of the bilingual education system in Connecticut’s public schools. She served on a panel of educators who addressed this issue at a conference at Central Connecticut State University Feb 27-28. Earlier in February, she spoke at a forum on the topic at the New Britain Public Library.

Most recently, she posted an op-ed essay advocating reform in bilingual education in the CT Mirror online publication. We are reprinting it here.

Ms. Sims taught Spanish and English for Speakers of other Languages (ESL) for several years at New Britain High School and now is a bilingual educator and instructional coach at Manchester High School. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees and a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies from the University of Connecticut and is pursuing her doctorate at the University of Bridgeport.

Congratulations to Violet for working to make a difference. She is one of many Alma Exley Scholars who are having a positive impact in a variety of ways. Following is her op-ed from the CT Mirror. – Woody Exley

By Violet Jiménez Sims

Central Connecticut State University has taken the lead in speaking up for a marginalized sector of our population with the recent conference titled “Dos Días para Transforming Bilingual Education in Connecticut.”

This topic is especially important to the children, parents, and educators across Connecticut, as a recent Hartford Courant article pointed out the shameful fact that our state leads the nation with the largest achievement gap between English Language Learners (ELL) and their peers who are English fluent.  According to the article, the gap in Connecticut is 54 percent larger than the national average. Why is this happening? Several reasons.

First, Connecticut state statute limits bilingual education (defined as a program where students receive academic support in their native language) to a maximum of 30 months, even though well-established research shows that students need a minimum of five years to attain grade level proficiency in a second language.

Second, Connecticut does not fully embrace dual language models, the best way for children to reach fluency bilingually. There are only six dual-language schools in the entire state and cities such as New Britain have closed down these research-based programs that are thriving internationally and throughout the rest of the country.

For example, New York currently has hundreds of dual language schools and is expanding by as many as 40 new dual language schools this year. These models are superior because they allow both ELLs and monolingual English speakers to become fully bilingual.

Third, bilingual education in Connecticut is not equitable.   For example, affluent suburban communities, such as Avon and West Hartford, offer world language instruction kindergarten through high school.  Meanwhile, most ELLs attending Connecticut’s urban districts are at risk of losing their native language as their schools focus on pushing ELLs to acquire English with methods that sacrifice their first language, but do not lead to grade level proficiency; a process known in language acquisition theory as fossilization.  Therefore, suburban children have the privilege of becoming bilingual, while our urban students lose their home languages and half-learn English.

Local districts in Connecticut have wasted millions of taxpayer dollars on “get proficient quick” schemes, like Kevin Clark’s English Language Development (ELD) program, which have failed elsewhere and have been challenged by the U.S. Office of Civil Rights.

Proponents of such programs claim that their data shows sharp improvements in English proficiency, but these results are skewed as they use assessments created by the same people that sell the programs and teachers are trained to “teach to the test.” The validity of these programs is highly undermined by assumptions and a lack of alignment to empirical research, or strong theory. Additionally, ELLs are segregated from their English-fluent peers for several hours a day, where they miss the other important academic subjects like Social Studies and Science. These corrupt practices must stop.

Properly educating our youth is beneficial to the entire population. Thank you to CCSU for taking the lead in Connecticut by hosting a much-needed conversation on how to change bilingual education in our state. Over 200 professionals participated. Our children and society depend on this continued valor.

Our selection committee really knows how to pick ’em!

When we selected Desi Nesmith as the Alma Exley Scholar for 2000, we recognized his potential to become an outstanding educator.

Our confidence was reinforced a few years later when he was honored as Teacher of the Year at Mayberry Elementary School in East Hartford.

We weren’t surprised when he received the Promising Young Professional Award from his alma mater, the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut, in 2009.

That was the year he became principal of SAND Elementary School in Hartford. In his first year, he transformed the school from one of the state’s lowest performing schools to one of the most improved. And he was recognized as Best First-Year Principal by the Connecticut Association of Schools.

Since 2011 Desi has been principal of Metacomet School in Bloomfield. Under his leadership, student academic performance has improved dramatically and the achievement gap has been narrowed significantly.

In recognition of his outstanding leadership, the Milken Family Foundation has honored Desi with the prestigious Milken Educator Award, the only one in Connecticut this year. The honor includes an unrestricted $25,000 prize.

The award was presented at an assembly which Principal Nesmith thought had been scheduled to honor the children for their academic achievements. He introduced State Education Commissioner Stefan Pryor, who congratulated the students for reducing the third-grade achievement gap in reading by 19 percent, with reading scores exceeding the state average by 8 percent.

Then Dr. Jane Foley of the Milken Family Foundation caught Desi completely by surprise by announcing that he had been chosen for the prestigious award. (Dr. Foley and Commissioner Prior are with Desi in the photo above.)

After composing himself from the surprise of his life, Desi told the students that not too many years ago, he had been sitting right where they were, and that they, too, could fulfill their dreams and aspirations. (He grew up in Bloomfield and attended Metacomet School for first and second grades.)

It was such a pleasure for me to see Desi receive this much-deserved honor. I have followed his career since he received our scholarship as an undergraduate at UConn. It is abundantly clear that Desi cares deeply about his students and wants every one of them to succeed. Moreover, his inspired leadership is enabling them to succeed.

Seeing scholarship recipients like Desi grow, mature and have an impact in their careers is what makes being involved with the Alma Exley Scholarship Program so rewarding. Everyone who has supported the program over the years can take some satisfaction in knowing they have played a small part in helping to launch the careers of a wonderful group of outstanding educators.

– Woody Exley