Testimony of Charlene Russell-Tucker, Commissioner of Education, State of Connecticut (Senate HELP Committee)

Summary

The ten-page prepared testimony of Charlene Russell-Tucker, Connecticut Commissioner of Education, before the Senate HELP Committee on the pandemic's effect on learning from March 2020 onward and the state's recovery effort. She describes what she calls the Connecticut Difference, a habit of collaboration: Health and Safety Tuesdays, weekly virtual calls with the Department of Public Health begun in August 2020 that reached 75 sessions and over 1,100 registered participants; Virtual House Calls with Connecticut Children's Medical Center and the state chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics for parents in the fall of 2020 and 2021; and roundtables, feedback sessions and focus groups to plan the state's ESSER spending. Connecticut has more than half-a-million students across 205 districts, over 1,500 schools and more than 110,000 school staff.

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                         STATE OF CONNECTICUT
                                    STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
Good morning. Chair Murray and Ranking Member Burr, committee members, thank you for having me
here today.

My name is Charlene Russell‐Tucker, and I am the Commissioner of Education in Connecticut. I am
honored to appear before you all today to represent our great state and share information regarding the
impacts of the pandemic – March 2020 to today‐ on learning in my state, and the immense effort of the
entire ecosystem that has been mobilized to facilitate learning recovery (academic renewal) that
includes addressing the social, emotional, mental, physical and behavioral health needs of our students
and school staff. I will address the impacts and supports/promising practices for students; our system of
school administrators, educators and school staff, and families; as well as communities.

I want to lead with what makes Connecticut unique ‐‐ what in Connecticut is referred to as “The
Connecticut Difference.” This is our longstanding focus on best‐in‐class collaboration, working together,
and listening to one another, in search of common ground for the sake of our students.

Throughout this pandemic, and into recovery, we have made it a hallmark of our response and recovery
efforts to work with our various partners and stakeholders—educators and administrators, families,
students, advocates, policymakers, local health officials, and more—as often as possible to develop and
implement our policies. Policies designed without hearing different perspectives, and without our
constituent's input and feedback, are not likely to produce the intended and needed results.

In August 2020, I spearheaded, in robust partnership with the Connecticut Department of Public Health,
“Health and Safety Tuesdays—” virtual calls to provide weekly opportunities for superintendents, local
health officials, school board members, school nurses, medical advisors, policymakers, teachers’ union
representatives, and other educational partners to engage in a dialogue with the state education agency
leaders and our public health epidemiologists and key expert staff for up‐to‐date and emerging COVID‐
19 guidance, to triage questions and concerns, and ultimately, forge, build, and maintain trusted
relationships. These weekly sessions – 75 held since the pandemic began through the end of this school
year – had over 1,100 registered participants and became the reliable and credible space for maintaining
safe school environments to support learning.

This collaborative approach is the way we build effective policy; we bring it to the people we serve and
create numerous opportunities for conversation.

And when our families were concerned about returning their students to school in the fall of 2020 and
2021, we held Virtual House Calls for parents and caregivers in partnership with Connecticut Children’s
Medical Center and the Connecticut Chapter of American Academy of Pediatrics. This gave thousands of
families the opportunity to directly ask questions and share concerns with pediatricians and medical
experts, and get immediate answers and guidance to COVID‐19 and their children’s health and safety.
This solidified trust among family members regarding the safe return to school each fall.

When planning how to prioritize and implement our Elementary and Secondary Schools Emergency
Relief (ESSER) funds, this same methodology was used. We engaged our stakeholders through




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roundtables, feedback sessions, and focus groups. Some may ask why we do this? We do this be
because our students, educators, school staff and families deserve this level of effort from their leaders!

Connecticut has a beautifully diverse student body of more than half‐a‐million students. Across 205
districts, we have over 1,500 schools and more than 110,000 school staff devoted to helping our
students thrive.

Looking more closely at our student population, more than half of students identify as nonwhite; 42.7%
are eligible for free or reduced‐price meals, 16.2% are students with disabilities, and 8.2% are English
learners with more than 145 spoken languages ‐ across our student body over 180 languages are
spoken.

Also important to Connecticut’s context and background, with each round of ESSER funds distributed to
states, Connecticut established the priorities for investing the more than $1.7 billion that has been
allocated for education. The priorities at both the state and districts levels are:

       Learning Acceleration, Academic Renewal, and Student Enrichment, which focuses on the
        academic supports students need to thrive and become well‐rounded, engaged citizens upon
        graduation. (over $729M budgeted for investment statewide)
       Family and Community Connections, which focuses on investing in strengthening or forming
        new school‐family‐community partnerships to support students. (over $70M budgeted for
        district investment statewide)
       Social, Emotional, and Mental Health of Students and School Staff, which focuses on
        supporting students and school staff to re‐engage with their school communities as we’ve
        returned to in‐person learning. (over $183M budgeted for district investment statewide)
       Strategic Use of Technology, Staff Development, and the Digital Divide, which focuses on the
        importance of in‐person learning balanced with the strategic use of technology to expand
        learning opportunities. (over $147M budgeted for district investment statewide)
       Building Safe and Healthy Schools, which focuses on allocating resources to support the
        physical health and safety of students and school staff. (over $254M budgeted for investment
        statewide)

As you can see, these priorities cover the experiences of our students, educators, school staff, and wider
communities. It is through thorough guidance issued at the state level, diligence and innovation at the
district level, and partnership at the community level, that Connecticut has embarked on a bold and
equitable learning recovery from this pandemic.

 As of June 10, 2022, all funds have been obligated for all three streams of ESSER funds. The charts and
table below contain more information regarding the percent of each stream that has been drawn‐down
at the district level and expended at the state level.

                 Connecticut Federal COVID Recovery Funds – State Reserve
                              ESSER I            ESSER II              ARP ESSER
 Obligated                           11,106,393           49,242,646         110,669,666
 Expended                             7,838,867           10,572,207          10,617,921
 Balance                              3,267,526           38,670,439         100,051,745
 % of Funds Expended                     70.58%               21.47%               9.59%

Commissioner Charlene M. Russell‐Tucker                                                    Page 2 of 10
Commissioner Charlene M. Russell‐Tucker   Page 3 of 10
Addressing the Digital Divide:

In March of 2020, when the pandemic necessitated the closure of schools and the sudden shift to
remote learning, we were all faced with an uncertain future. Our state immediately bolstered our
relationships across state agencies, districts, and communities – and we provided consistent, timely
communication to the field. We had school districts that made a smooth transition seamlessly to
remote instruction, while others struggled with paper packets that needed to be picked up by families
etc. In June of 2020, the Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) published results of its
“Student Participation in Distance Learning” survey. In sum, CSDE found that:

       Over 90% of students who participated in distance learning after class cancellations due to
        COVID‐19 participated through technology‐based online learning while fewer than 10 percent
        participated through other methods (e.g., printed learning materials/packets, 1:1 phone calls,
        wellness checks).
       Tens of thousands of students statewide experienced the following barriers to greater
        participation in distance learning:
            o Access to a device in the home – nearly 10 percent (around 50,000 students)
            o Internet access in the home – nearly six percent (over 29,000 students)
            o Family, health, and trauma issues – over 17 percent (nearly 92,000 students).

With the first round of ESSER signed into law, we set out to ensure students could access their learning,
and this meant addressing the digital divide. Ensuring connectivity among our student body required
strong school‐family‐state partnerships, as we had to accurately assess the need in each community.

Under Governor Lamont, we launched the Everybody Learns Initiative which invested more than $43
million to purchase more than 142‐thousand laptops, 12‐thousand hotspots, and 40‐thousand cable
broadband vouchers to address the digital divide in Connecticut and empower students and families
across the state to learn from home. This initiative brought together the Office of the Governor,
Connecticut State Department of Education, Department of Administrative Services, Office of Policy and
Management, and the Connecticut Commission for Educational Technology to coordinate with internet
companies and school districts.

Focusing on School Attendance and Engagement:

Beginning with the 2020‐21 school year, we also rolled out two new data collections—weekly collection
of Learning Models (e.g., in‐person, hybrid, or remote) and Enrollment, as well as the monthly collection
of Student Membership and Attendance, to allow us to make data‐informed decisions to focus
resources on student engagement and participation during the 2020‐21 school year.

When we returned to school in Fall of 2020, 34% of districts were fully in‐person; 60% were hybrid; and
6% were fully remote. Come December of 2020, 42% of districts were fully in‐person; 30% were hybrid;
and 28% were fully remote. By June of 2021 we were proud to announce that, 86% of districts were fully
in‐person; 14% were hybrid; and none were fully remote. For the 2021‐22 school year, all districts
operated fully in‐person with extremely rare exceptions of limited closure due to local COVID outbreaks.

In 2020‐21, student attendance on days when they learned remotely was substantially lower than on
days when they learned in‐person. This was true for almost all student groups. Additionally, students
from some of our more vulnerable populations including English learners, students from low‐income

Commissioner Charlene M. Russell‐Tucker                                                   Page 4 of 10
families, and students experiencing homelessness, tended to be learning remotely at greater rates than
their peers.

These just‐in‐time data points allowed us to better identify patterns early on around issues with
participation so we could proactively work with educators, families, and community partners to address
the root causes of chronic absence and disengagement and establish systems of support to reach all of
our students.

In September of 2020, attendance rates were slightly lower than those in the 2019‐20 school year;
however, student groups disproportionately impacted by the pandemic experienced substantially lower
attendance rates when compared to the previous year.

Come December of 2020, the year‐to‐date chronic absenteeism rate was 21.4 percent. However, the
rate was 36.1 percent among English learners, 33.1 percent among students with disabilities, 35.8
percent among students eligible for free meals, and 55.6 percent among students experiencing
homelessness.

By the end of the school year, the state average chronic absenteeism rate was 20.7 percent, 33.9
percent among English learners, 32.0 percent among students with disabilities, 36.1 percent among free
meal eligible students, and 57.9 percent among students experiencing homelessness.

The State’s response to this data collection was the Governor’s Learner Engagement and Attendance
Program, or LEAP, which was announced in April of 2021. Underway in 15 high‐needs districts, LEAP is
aimed at addressing student chronic absenteeism and disengagement resulting from the COVID‐19
pandemic. Local home visitors meet families where they are—at home—and provide the necessary
resources to support students’ return to school.

Through these visits, families have obtained back‐to‐school supplies; support with technology, including
student laptops and assistance with school district portals; connections with healthcare providers to
support student mental health and well‐being; and more.

As of December 2021, nearly 7,000 students across the 15 LEAP school districts had received more than
12,000 contacts from home visitor staff to encourage and support increased student attendance in
school. This upcoming school year, thanks to financial commitments of our legislature, we are able to
continue this program.

Learning Acceleration, Academic Renewal, and Student Enrichment:

Learning recovery to me‐‐ our definitions may differ slightly—begins with identifying gaps in learning
that have occurred during the pandemic. Then, we ensure we institute and bolster evidence‐based
supports to promote academic achievement and improved outcomes for all students. Importantly, a
focus must be placed on student groups disproportionately impacted by the COVID‐19 pandemic,
including but not limited to students with disabilities, English learners, students experiencing
homelessness and students who faced barriers to remote learning in 2020 and 2021.

To objectively gauge the academic impact of the pandemic on student achievement and growth, CSDE
committed to administering all state student assessments in Spring 2021 to the fullest extent possible.
The purpose of administering these assessments was not to hold the adults accountable for student
outcomes during challenging times; instead, it was intended to objectively know how our students were

Commissioner Charlene M. Russell‐Tucker                                                  Page 5 of 10
progressing academically through the pandemic so we could collectively target supports and resources
where they’re needed the most. These assessment data, when coupled with our attendance data,
produced clear evidence to show that students who learned in‐person lost the least ground
academically, as compared to those who learned in hybrid or remote modes. Moreover, the effects
were greater in mathematics, and in the elementary and middle grades, but not in high school. A similar
finding was seen in our chronic absenteeism analyses where the gap in chronic absence rates between
in‐person and hybrid students was greater for elementary and middle school students, but not for high
school students. These findings informed CSDE’s decision to advocate strongly for in‐person instruction
for all students in 2021‐22.

With the third round of ESSER funding, we used our state‐level set‐aside to extend licenses with online
learning/credit recovery platforms, continue the development of our K‐8 model curricula, and provide
direct financial support to our 58 Family Resource Centers.

With Governor Lamont, we announced the deployment of more than $16 million to provide
comprehensive supports for students with disabilities whose services were disrupted during the
pandemic. This includes addressing delayed, interrupted, suspended or inaccessible individualized
education program (IEP) supports and services; conducting special education evaluations; supporting
supplementary tutoring and reading instruction; and providing individualized in‐home support.

At the district level, we saw flexible course offerings to promote credit recovery, improvements to
parent‐school communications, continued technological updates, and more. All approved district ESSER
plans, among other grants, are available for anyone to see on Connecticut’s electronic grants
management system (eGMS) at connecticut.egrantsmanagement.com. This information is routinely
communicated with families and stakeholders to encourage two‐way dialogue at the district level
regarding ESSER investments.

With the more than $1.1 billion American Rescue Plan ESSER funding coming to Connecticut, learning
recovery was certainly at the forefront of our minds—and we knew this was a collective call to action to
transform education in Connecticut.

Moving quickly to deploy these funds, we invested more than $8.6 million in our first round of Summer
Enrichment Grants, which served more than 108,000 students and was evaluated by our research
collaborative, the Connecticut COVID‐19 Education Research Collaborative (CCERC). CCERC found that
the initiative met its goal of expanding access to summer programming for Connecticut students,
including nearly doubling the number of students among camps that also operated in the summer of
2020, and students and staff overwhelmingly enjoyed their camp experiences. This year, our Summer
Enrichment grants total more than $12.2 million, and we look forward to learning from another
evaluation to guide future investments.

The Department, as well as our legislative counterparts in Connecticut, has recognized the immense
need to focus on ensuring our students are reading at grade level and that students who need additional
literacy support are identified.

In collaboration with experts and stakeholders, the Department recently announced the launch of the
Science of Reading Masterclass, funded through ESSER II. The Masterclass includes statewide



Commissioner Charlene M. Russell‐Tucker                                                  Page 6 of 10
professional learning and coaching to district teams to support comprehensive K‐3 literacy
instruction aligned with the science of reading.

Evaluating Effectiveness and Sustainability:

ESSER II funds were used to establish the first‐of‐its‐kind, aforementioned research collaborative called
the Connecticut COVID‐19 Education Research Collaborative (CCERC). CCERC will not only study the
impacts of COVID‐19 on students’ learning but also study the efficacy of the programs and supports put
in place in respond to the pandemic’s effects. CCERC brings together researchers from public and private
universities across Connecticut to work collaboratively on these evaluations. Among its projects, CCERC
is currently conducting a remote learning audit so that we can learn of the impact, challenges, and
promising practices brought about by the sudden shift to remote learning in March of 2020.

Beyond understanding the impacts of the pandemic, CCERC demonstrates the Department’s
commitment to programmatic accountability, and sustainability. So, instead of being concerned about a
funding cliff that is talked about in many circles, Connecticut is instead focused on building evidence on
the effectiveness of its interventions because by knowing what works, we will be able to advocate for
continued, sustainable funding at both the state and federal levels as well as with philanthropy.
Connecticut will have the strength of results to say, “fund and sustain what works.” This will hopefully
serve as a parachute that will help Connecticut’s education community land safely from the cliff.

Supporting Educators:

Our Connecticut educators and school staff worked heroically throughout the pandemic. In working to
keep schools safely open, Connecticut prioritized access to COVID testing, vaccines, and contact tracing
support for educators and school staff. However, we were not immune to the nationwide staffing
shortages.

We offered staffing flexibilities to districts while ensuring that all Connecticut students have access to
appropriately certified, authorized, and permitted educators through collaboration with educator
preparation programs across Connecticut. In addition to the Department’s efforts, our State Board of
Education also approved emergency certification endorsements and flexibilities regarding educator
evaluation.

Responding to the need for increase technological support, CSDE used a portion of its ESSER funds to
offer the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Summer Learning Academy to
Connecticut educators at no cost, and we are currently contracting to provide additional professional
development to districts, including, but not limited to, ISTE certification and additional ISTE University
courses.

At the district‐level, we have seen innovative practices such as offering training workshops on school
learning platforms, creating a technology‐based Professional Development Hub for educators to expand
their expertise in utilizing learning platforms, upgrading all school and district‐based technology
systems, and more.

CSDE’s continued efforts to diversify the state’s educator workforce did not cease amidst the pandemic.
In fact, in May of 2021, Governor Lamont announced we had met our State Board of Education’s five‐
year goal of having 10% of Connecticut educators be people of color. Continued efforts include


Commissioner Charlene M. Russell‐Tucker                                                     Page 7 of 10
Educators Rising, recruits and supports high school students’ with interest in the teaching profession,
and NextGen Educators, which brings highly motivated students enrolled in educator preparation
programs into classrooms to serve as building substitutes. NextGen not only provides additional relief
to substitute teacher shortages; it also allows teacher candidates to build strong resumes and rapport
with districts.

Finally, we recently announced a $2‐million investment in aspiring educators in preparation programs
across Connecticut. This investment will help defray costs associated with testing and obtaining
educator certification in Connecticut.

Supporting and Engaging Families and Communities:

I like to say, “It can’t be about them without them.” We cannot assess the impact of this pandemic on
student learning, educators, and families without authentically engaging with them. CSDE is staunchly
committed to two‐way dialogue with our array of stakeholders– from educators to families to
advocates, including our monthly meetings with partners representing unions, superintendents, and
school boards, and advocates who represent families.

Family and community engagement is a particular passion of mine. In 2017, I developed and
implemented the Commissioner’s Roundtable for Family and Community Engagement in Education,
which is a diverse constituent group of education stakeholders representing school and district staff,
advocacy organizations, parents and guardians, community members, and students, to advise the
Commissioner of Education regarding policy and programmatic priorities. The Roundtable meets
quarterly to bring authentic parent and community voice to CSDE’s products and initiatives;
communicate state‐level initiatives with families and communities; recommend effective practices to
increase successful school and district engagement with families; and provide strategies to empower
families in supporting their children's education.

Prior to the pandemic, the Department, the Family Engagement Roundtable, and other partners led the
co‐creation of a Definition and Framework for family engagement in Connecticut. It states: “Family
Engagement is a full, equal, and equitable partnership among families, educators and community
partners to promote children’s learning and development form birth through college and career.” This
provided an excellent foundation on which to build our pandemic relief efforts. Authentic partnerships
between schools and families have been especially critical during this pandemic, which is why Family
and Community Connections is one of our ESSER investment priorities—not just one we set for districts.

We also recently completed our second formal round of ARP ESSER stakeholder forums/surveys just last
week. Stakeholders participated in focus groups and were also given the opportunity to complete a
survey to provide feedback on current and planned investments of state set‐aside funds in family and
community connection initiatives. District investments in this area include partnering with non‐profit
and community agencies to support the creation of parent academies on technology; supporting
emotional well‐being; and expanding family access to cultural experiences, no‐cost after‐school
programs, and multigenerational activities at local libraries and parks in the community.




Commissioner Charlene M. Russell‐Tucker                                                  Page 8 of 10
Strengthening Student Voice:

In November of 2021, we launched Voice4Change, the first statewide student participatory budgeting
initiative in the country, to give students a direct say in how a portion of the ESSER funding ($1.5M)
should be spent across Connecticut schools. With goals of boosting engagement among high school
students and sparking lifelong passions for civic engagement, Voice4Change is grounded in the
Connecticut State Board of Education’s mission emphasizing the importance of preparing students to
civically engage in the world around them. Studies have shown that modeling civic engagement in
school prepares students to make it a lifelong habit. We are preparing our students to be future leaders
by empowering them to make an impact today.

Under the guidance of the same five investment priorities we set forth for districts, students crafted and
voted on proposals. What did we see? More than 80% of winning proposals addressed the need for
more supports for student social, emotional, and mental health. They also saw what worked during the
pandemic—best practices they wanted to make permanent in their school going forward, like creative
and innovative learning environments such as outdoor classrooms. We are so proud of the innovation
we saw among the students who participated in Voice4Change, and we cannot wait to see these
projects come to life this fall.

Supporting the Social, Emotional, and Mental Health Needs of Students and Staff:

This pandemic has brought keen attention to the need to address the social, emotional, and mental
health needs of our students and school staff. While Connecticut has a longstanding history with this
work, COVID‐19 has increased the demand for mental health services and supports. ESSER funding has
afforded us the opportunity to support resources that can be deployed locally at no cost in districts and
to launch the Connecticut Behavioral Health Pilot.

The Behavioral Health Pilot stems from what I call my “Big Audacious Goal,” which is to ensure every
Connecticut school has a coordinated and sustainable system of care for all K‐12 schools to provide
comprehensive behavioral and mental health supports and services to students and staff. Currently, our
Behavioral Health Pilot is underway in select demographically varied districts in partnership with
community partners to assess their mental health support needs. The specific needs and gaps in service
will drive the development and implementation of these systems of care. The Pilots will then inform our
plans to scale these systems statewide.

I am privileged to live in a state where education receives robust bipartisan support from the legislature.
This past session, Connecticut lawmakers passed the most comprehensive mental health bills in the
state’s history—including grants for schools to hire staff to support student well‐being, bolstering the
Governor’s home‐visiting initiative already underway, increasing summer programs’ capacity to support
the mental health of its campers, and more. We all know that recovery is a long path ahead of us, but I
am confident in leveraging the strong partnerships already in place in Connecticut for the benefit of our
students.




Commissioner Charlene M. Russell‐Tucker                                                   Page 9 of 10
Mobilizing the Community:

While you would be hard pressed to find someone who doesn’t believe this pandemic has caused
unprecedented disruptions to school, work, and life, disruption is a time to innovate, create, partner,
and collaborate so we are constantly learning and growing together.

This is the time to find our collective strengths and intentionally move forward to redesign education
with a focus on equitable access to a world class education, including leveraging new and existing
strategic partnerships to strengthen our systems of support.

Connecticut is grateful for the financial support provided to spark learning recovery, and we look
forward to continued partnership with our federal counterparts, including the U.S. Department of
Education.

As Commissioner, I am part of a strong, nationwide network of state commissioners, and I can
guarantee you no two stories are alike. But what I can surely guarantee you is that we wake up every
morning with our students, educators, and school staff at the forefront of our minds, because it is when
our schools are supported that our students achieve more, and our communities achieve more, and
together—we all achieve more.

We must use this moment to think holistically about the continuum of supports necessary for our
children to thrive.

Finally, none of the efforts and initiatives that I bring from our great state would be possible without the
excellent staff at the CSDE, our sister agencies, particularly the Department of Public Health, our State
Board of Education, our school district superintendents, administrators, educators and staff, our
policymakers, and the many education partners in our state. That truly is the Connecticut Difference!

Chair Murray and Ranking Member Burr, HELP committee members: thank you once again for the
opportunity to share Connecticut’s education recovery story with you today. Thank You.




Commissioner Charlene M. Russell‐Tucker                                                    Page 10 of 10


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