Connecticut educational disparities

National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results reveal that across every category in Connecticut – poor vs. non-poor, African-American vs. white, and Hispanic vs. white – the achievement gap is nearly three grade levels, and in some cases more.
Connecticut is again worst in the nation for the average achievement gap between poor and non-poor students across eighth and fourth grade reading. In eighth grade, Connecticut was 50 out of 50 and in fourth grade was 46 out of 50, the two grades tested.
• The average gap between poor and non-poor students for both the eighth and fourth grade reading tests is 2.97 grade levels.
• The gap between poor and non-poor students on the fourth grade reading test is 3.05 grade levels.
• The gap between poor and non-poor students on the eighth grade reading test is 2.89 grade levels.
Connecticut’s racial and ethnic gaps also remained close to the bottom of the pack, including the worst 8th grade achievement gap between African-American and white students in the nation and the second worst achievement gap between fourth grade Hispanic and white students, after Minnesota.
• African-American eighth grade students scored 3.43 grade levels behind their white peers, the biggest gap in the nation.
• African-American fourth grade students scored 2.88 grade levels behind their white peers.
• Hispanic fourth grade students scored 3.29 grade levels behind their white peers.
• Hispanic eighth grade students scored 2.71 grade levels behind their white peers.
NAEP, commonly referred to as the “Nation’s Report Card,” was created by Congress in 1969 and is overseen by the U.S. Department of Education. Administered every two years to fourth, eighth, and twelfth graders in math and reading, and at six-year intervals in other subjects, NAEP provides a common yardstick that allows for side-by-side comparisons of student academic achievement from different racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups, and between students from different states. Fourth and eighth grade results are released for all 50 states, while twelfth grade results are released only on the national level. View the full results at:http://nationsreportcard.gov/