Project Concern<\/strong><\/h1>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/agurren\/files\/2012\/10\/Screen-shot-2012-10-17-at-3.07.57-PM1-237x300.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nEarly Student Participants of Project Concern Project; Source: Hartford Times 1968, Hartford Public Library<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Conventionally, students attend school in the district where they live, but the option to\u00a0choose other educational alternatives has been a part of Connecticut\u2019s state policy for years. One of these educational alternatives included Project Concern, one of the first voluntary busing programs in the United States executed in 1966, which granted Connecticut students residing within city limits the ability to attend suburban schools. In 1998-99, Project Concern was supplanted by the Project Choice (also known as Open Choice) program, which enables the two-way movement of urban and suburban students in the areas neighboring Connecticut\u2019s three largest cities (Hartford, Bridgeport, and New Haven).<\/p>\n
The Concern that Prompted \u2018Concern\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\nIn the mid 1960\u2019s, the quality of education in Hartford\u2019s public schools was greatly compromised. Studies concluded that the students who attended the public schools in the low-income areas of Hartford were racially segregated, testing far below both the state and national averages, and dropping out at unforeseeably high rates. Parents, students, and school faculty members were outraged and demanded government intervention immediately. Unsure of what should be done that would most effectively address and resolve the issues at hand, the city requested the aid of Harvard University to examine and essentially assess Hartford and its respective public schools. The findings of Harvard University\u2019s study of Hartford were later published in what is known today as the \u201cHarvard Report<\/a>.\u201d The Report presented Hartford with a number of suggestions the city could undertake to improve the disastrous conditions of its schools. Although many of these propositions were never implemented due to the lack of sufficient funds, the idea of a state-funded provincial busing program looked hopeful and most importantly–affordable.<\/p>\nEn Route to Change: The Beginning Years\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/agurren\/files\/2012\/10\/Screen-shot-2012-10-21-at-7.54.19-PM3-300x198.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nMap of Hartford and its Surrounding Suburbs that Agreed to Participate in Project Concern; Source: Hartford Times 1968, Hartford Public Library.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Project Concern, one of many desegregation social\u00a0experiments, was put into effect during the sweeping idealism of the 1960s in Connecticut. Hartford responded to Harvard University\u2019s findings by experimenting with busing a randomly selected group of its inner city children to schools of five surrounding suburbs. Considering that\u00a0more suburbs strongly opposed this desegregation program than volunteered to participate during its early years,\u00a0the project leaders hoped that the anticipated success of the experiment would encourage more suburbs to join the effort.\u00a0During\u00a0this two-year experimental phase,\u00a0extensive records<\/a>\u00a0were kept of the academic and social progress of the 260 student program participants, and were compared to control groups of children remaining in the Hartford public schools.The results of the testing convinced ten other towns and white middle class areas of Hartford to partake in the project and admit target area children into their schools.<\/p>\nConclusions of ‘Concern’<\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nEarly Student Participants of Project Concern Project; Source: Hartford Times 1968, Hartford Public Library<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Conventionally, students attend school in the district where they live, but the option to\u00a0choose other educational alternatives has been a part of Connecticut\u2019s state policy for years. One of these educational alternatives included Project Concern, one of the first voluntary busing programs in the United States executed in 1966, which granted Connecticut students residing within city limits the ability to attend suburban schools. In 1998-99, Project Concern was supplanted by the Project Choice (also known as Open Choice) program, which enables the two-way movement of urban and suburban students in the areas neighboring Connecticut\u2019s three largest cities (Hartford, Bridgeport, and New Haven).<\/p>\n
The Concern that Prompted \u2018Concern\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\nIn the mid 1960\u2019s, the quality of education in Hartford\u2019s public schools was greatly compromised. Studies concluded that the students who attended the public schools in the low-income areas of Hartford were racially segregated, testing far below both the state and national averages, and dropping out at unforeseeably high rates. Parents, students, and school faculty members were outraged and demanded government intervention immediately. Unsure of what should be done that would most effectively address and resolve the issues at hand, the city requested the aid of Harvard University to examine and essentially assess Hartford and its respective public schools. The findings of Harvard University\u2019s study of Hartford were later published in what is known today as the \u201cHarvard Report<\/a>.\u201d The Report presented Hartford with a number of suggestions the city could undertake to improve the disastrous conditions of its schools. Although many of these propositions were never implemented due to the lack of sufficient funds, the idea of a state-funded provincial busing program looked hopeful and most importantly–affordable.<\/p>\nEn Route to Change: The Beginning Years\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/a><\/p>\nMap of Hartford and its Surrounding Suburbs that Agreed to Participate in Project Concern; Source: Hartford Times 1968, Hartford Public Library.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Project Concern, one of many desegregation social\u00a0experiments, was put into effect during the sweeping idealism of the 1960s in Connecticut. Hartford responded to Harvard University\u2019s findings by experimenting with busing a randomly selected group of its inner city children to schools of five surrounding suburbs. Considering that\u00a0more suburbs strongly opposed this desegregation program than volunteered to participate during its early years,\u00a0the project leaders hoped that the anticipated success of the experiment would encourage more suburbs to join the effort.\u00a0During\u00a0this two-year experimental phase,\u00a0extensive records<\/a>\u00a0were kept of the academic and social progress of the 260 student program participants, and were compared to control groups of children remaining in the Hartford public schools.The results of the testing convinced ten other towns and white middle class areas of Hartford to partake in the project and admit target area children into their schools.<\/p>\nConclusions of ‘Concern’<\/strong><\/h2>\n
En Route to Change: The Beginning Years\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/a><\/p>\nMap of Hartford and its Surrounding Suburbs that Agreed to Participate in Project Concern; Source: Hartford Times 1968, Hartford Public Library.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Project Concern, one of many desegregation social\u00a0experiments, was put into effect during the sweeping idealism of the 1960s in Connecticut. Hartford responded to Harvard University\u2019s findings by experimenting with busing a randomly selected group of its inner city children to schools of five surrounding suburbs. Considering that\u00a0more suburbs strongly opposed this desegregation program than volunteered to participate during its early years,\u00a0the project leaders hoped that the anticipated success of the experiment would encourage more suburbs to join the effort.\u00a0During\u00a0this two-year experimental phase,\u00a0extensive records<\/a>\u00a0were kept of the academic and social progress of the 260 student program participants, and were compared to control groups of children remaining in the Hartford public schools.The results of the testing convinced ten other towns and white middle class areas of Hartford to partake in the project and admit target area children into their schools.<\/p>\nConclusions of ‘Concern’<\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nMap of Hartford and its Surrounding Suburbs that Agreed to Participate in Project Concern; Source: Hartford Times 1968, Hartford Public Library.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Project Concern, one of many desegregation social\u00a0experiments, was put into effect during the sweeping idealism of the 1960s in Connecticut. Hartford responded to Harvard University\u2019s findings by experimenting with busing a randomly selected group of its inner city children to schools of five surrounding suburbs. Considering that\u00a0more suburbs strongly opposed this desegregation program than volunteered to participate during its early years,\u00a0the project leaders hoped that the anticipated success of the experiment would encourage more suburbs to join the effort.\u00a0During\u00a0this two-year experimental phase,\u00a0extensive records<\/a>\u00a0were kept of the academic and social progress of the 260 student program participants, and were compared to control groups of children remaining in the Hartford public schools.The results of the testing convinced ten other towns and white middle class areas of Hartford to partake in the project and admit target area children into their schools.<\/p>\nConclusions of ‘Concern’<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/agurren\/files\/2012\/10\/Screen-shot-2012-10-22-at-7.41.25-PM-300x225.png\")
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