Our Mission
To assist local and regional boards of education in providing high quality public education for all Connecticut children through effective leadership.
Our Vision
CABE is passionate about strengthening public education to inspire success for each child through high-performing, transformative local leadership teams comprised of school boards and superintendents.
Our Members
CABE represents nearly all boards of education across Connecticut. School boards are comprised of citizens, elected or appointed, who work with their superintendents to provide the best education possible in their communities. They devote countless volunteer hours to provide leadership and oversight, and connect the will of the community to the education of its children.
We Do This Through:
Professional Development
Professional development provided throughout the year on topics board members need to be knowledgeable of. More Info
Policy
Supporting boards to establish and maintain policy, a board's foremost responsibility, is a primary mission of CABE's Policy Services. More Info
Advocacy
We advocate CABE's possitions in all legislative and regulatory arenas. More Info
COVID-19 RESOURCES
We at CABE recognize that superintendents and board members are in uncharted territory in dealing with the Coronavirus (COVID-19). We recognize that you have had to and continue to make decisions that are not easy, but are in the best interest of your communities and that of the greater community.
As of 4:00 pm on Monday, March 16, CABE Staff has been working remotely indefinitely. We will, however, continue to work to meet the needs of our members.
The best way to communicate with staff is via email. Staff email addresses follow the following format:
For example:
In the event you need to speak with someone immediately, please contact Robert Rader, Executive Director at 860-712-4749.
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
Thanks to grants from the Nellie Mae Foundation and the William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund, CABE has created an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion section on our website. It provides information, articles, equity lenses, and assessment tools for Boards to use in examining policies and practices on issues of equity and diversity and ensuring that every student has the opportunity to thrive.
We hope you find these tools helpful. Check back periodically as more resources will be added.
Supporting LGBT Youth: Their Journey in Our Schools
On October 5, 2015, the Connecticut Association of Schools, in collaboration with the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education and the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents, hosted a half-day workshop entitled "Supporting LGBT Youth: Their Journey in Our Schools." Regional and national experts shared strategies for building LGBT-inclusive school communities. The event opened with remarks from Pat Griffin, founding director of Changing the Game, and closed with a panel discussion involving local building/district leaders and students.
The Connecticut Lighthouse Project
The Connecticut Lighthouse Project is a joint effort of the Connecticut State Department of Education and the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education. The foundation of the program was developed by the Iowa School Boards Association and is based on several years of extensive research to determine what constitutes effective practice by boards of education.
Original Lighthouse Study 1998-2000
The projectThe original project started in 1998 when a team from the Iowa School Boards Association, with funding by the Iowa School Boards Foundation and a federal grant developed a research project to see how school boards affected student achievement.
The focus of the study was to determine:
- Do school boards really make a difference in student achievement?
- Are they too far removed from classroom action to impact how well all students learn?
The group analyzed student achievement data for all Georgia school districts to see whether or not a correlation could be made between the work of boards of education and improved student achievement. They analyzed districts with high achievement and similar districts with low achievement. These districts were similar in socio-economic status, district size and type of district.
This research project became one of the first and only studies that made a credible research –based connection between the work of the school board and levels of student achievement. It has been referenced countless times as people try to identify the characteristics of good board leadership.
Don't forget about the CABE/CAPSS Convention!