Welcome to BEST Connections
for the  2007-2008 school year.
 

Important Questions and Answers about Substitute House Bill 5871

Guidelines for submission of DVD with BEST Portfolio in May 2008
(does not apply to portfolios submitted in February 2008)

Year 1 Beginning Teacher Seminars (PDF)

Click for Inclement Weather Cancellation and Delay Information

This site connects beginning teachers and other professional educators with the State of Connecticut Beginning Educator Support and Training (BEST) Program.  This site will permit users to:

1. subscribe to electronic communications
2. register for professional development opportunities,
3. have access to BEST Program Resources and informational material,
4. cancel participation in a professional development activity,
5. find out about weather related cancellations,
6. find out about troubleshooting common problems.

1.   Subscribe to Electronic Communications

Sign-in to use this site and receive regular electronic communications through your email. Begin by clicking Electronic Communications on the left.

You will establish a USER PROFILE (User Name, Password, Name, Address, etc.), and select a subject area subscription for email communications. 

• If you are a beginning teacher it is recommended that you subscribe to portfolio subject area.

• If you are a District Facilitator, a mentor or a support colleague, (supporting more that one individual) you may wish to subscribe to receive communications in several subject areas. Select one from the USER PROFILE and add to your list in the Electronic Communications Summary page.

• Through this email connection, BEST portfolio project leaders and teachers-in-residence will be able to stay in touch regarding:

  • important dates and/or reminders;

  • professional development training opportunities relevant to your teaching area; and

  • resources and tips to help beginning teachers complete their portfolios and improve instruction.

• Proceed to subscribe to Electronic Communication.

2.    Register for BEST Professional Development

Training opportunities are provided throughout the year and across the state to:

• assist beginning teachers preparing for the portfolio assessment;
• assist experienced teachers to support those beginning teachers by becoming trained mentors, or updating their training; and
• provide training for experienced teachers to assess portfolios.

To view a catalog listing of professional development for yourself, you may click the box appropriate to your BEST participation on the navigation bar on the left side of this page, i.e., Beginning Teachers, Experienced Teachers, Administrators, or District Facilitators.  These categories are described below.

• Beginning Teacher Professional Development: Click on "Beginning Teachers" for listings of current discipline-specific seminars, or orientations;
• Experienced Teacher Professional Development: Click on "Experienced Teachers" for available trainings such as:
  • Mentor Training: a three-day training for district selected individuals.
  • Portfolio Support Training: an introduction to the portfolio assessments as an update for trained mentors and for other colleagues and/or administrators who work with beginning teachers in their districts.
  • Portfolio Scorer Training:  Training to become a portfolio scorer. By invitation only.
• District Facilitator: Click on "District Facilitators" for meeting registrations and resource documents.
• Administrator: Click on "Administrators" for a current listing of workshops or meetings for administrators.

3.    BEST Program Resources

BEST Program Resources: Click on this for a link to the Connecticut State Department of Education website for the materials including: A Guide to the BEST Program for Beginning Teachers, portfolio handbooks in ten subject areas, portfolio feedback rubrics, sample portfolio performance reports in ten content areas, and the Common Core of Teaching.

4.    Cancellation

Click here to cancel participation in an activity for which you are registered.

5.    Weather Cancellation

Click here to see the latest information about events or activities that are affected by severe weather or other concerns.

6.    Troubleshooting

Click here to view solutions to problems experienced by other users.  Problems include "Page Can't Load" errors and "email not delivered."

All BEST Program participants are expected to “sign-up” for electronic communications at the beginning of each school year.

Click here for instructions on how to use this site.