Connecticut Schools’ Scores Remain the Same
REPORT CARD
The Norwalk Hour
Kelly Carroll
Boston University Washington News Service
9/25/2007
WASHINGTON, Sept. 25 – Connecticut students in both the fourth and eighth grades are still performing at academic levels higher than the rest of the country in reading and math, according to a national report card released Tuesday, but they have shown little improvement over the past two years.
“Connecticut students continue to perform well above the nation in reading and math, which is something we have come to expect in this state,” Mark K. McQuillan, commissioner of the Connecticut State Department of Education, said in a statement Tuesday. “We have to keep in mind that our strong performance needs to be stronger every year to maintain our position among the top performers in America.”
The U.S. Department of Education released the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or the Nation’s Report Card, in both reading and math at the fourth- and eighth-grade levels.
The national report cards are developed every other year as a sample assessment of student progress in a number of subject areas and grade levels. Included in the reports are statistics by race and gender and across three levels of income. While the nation saw on average a rise in performance among all these groups, Connecticut’s results were basically unchanged.
In fourth-grade reading, 41 percent of Connecticut children performed at the proficient or advanced levels, much higher than the national average of 32 percent. In eighth-grade reading, 37 percent of Connecticut students were proficient or above, compared to 29 percent for the nation.
For fourth-grade math, 45 percent of Connecticut students were at the proficient or advanced levels, with only 39 percent nationwide. And in eighth-grade math, 35 percent of Connecticut students performed at the proficient or advanced levels, while 31 percent of students were at these levels across the country.
Although the Connecticut statistics are not significantly different from the last assessment, there have been some dramatic changes since the first assessments were taken in 1990 for math and 1992 for reading.
In fourth-grade math, for example, Connecticut has seen a rise from 24 percent of students at the proficient or advanced levels to today’s 45 percent. In fourth-grade reading, the number has risen from 34 percent to 41 percent.
Among Connecticut fourth-grade students, 12 percent performed at an advanced level, according the State Education Department, while nationally, only 7 percent achieved that level.
“Its obvious that states that do better have trouble making gains,” Darvin M. Winick, chairman of the National Assessment Governing Board, said after the press conference releasing the report. “Connecticut spends a lot of money on education; they expect good education.”
In the areas of economic status and race, Connecticut’s statistics have shown no narrowing of the gap over time. While 53 percent of non-disadvantaged fourth-grade students are testing at the proficient or advanced level for reading, according to the State Department of Education, only 13 percent of disadvantaged students are at this level. According to the department, this discrepancy has “persisted” since 1998.
The performance gap in reading between white and black fourth-graders has not narrowed since 1992, nor has it grown closer between white and Hispanic students since 1994. The performance of black and Hispanic students in Connecticut is not drastically different from the performance of black and Hispanic children around the country, except in eighth grade math, where Hispanic students in Connecticut scored lower than the national average for Hispanic students.
For students with disabilities and students learning the English language, Connecticut’s statistics are at a higher level than the nation’s while including a greater percentage of these students than the national average.
The data show what the State Education Department referred to in a press release Tuesday as “the effort Connecticut educators make to ensure that all students are provided the support and accommodations necessary.”
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