Corrected Version 10/27/07: Number of Stamford District slots changed from 12 to 10.

ConnCAN Ranks Connecticut’s Public Schools:
Hartford’s Jumoke Academy Secures Most Top 10 Spots (6); Bridgeport (11) and Stamford (10) Have Schools with Most Spots on Top 10 Lists; Hartford (9); New Haven (8)
 
ConnCAN Research Report Also Looks at Performance Trends, Reveals Writing Gap in Connecticut’s Largest Districts Up 50 Percent Since 1993
 
Contact: Marc Porter Magee
Tel: 203-772-4017 x14
Cell: 203-586-9313
Email: marc.magee@conncan.org

 Download the 2007 State of Connecticut Public Education report.

Hartford has the public school with the most Top 10 finishes in Connecticut, Jumoke Academy, but Bridgeport’s and Stamford’s public schools secured the most spots on the Top 10 lists, according to ConnCAN’s new compilation of the top elementary and middle schools across five key performance categories.

In the second annual ranking, Hartford’s Jumoke Academy was followed by Bridgeport’s New Beginnings Family Academy (4 “Top 10” finishes), Stamford’s Rogers School (4), New Haven’s Amistad Academy (3), and New Haven’s Elm City College Preparatory School (3).

The schools are ranked based on their results on the 2006 and 2007 Connecticut Mastery Tests across five categories: Performance Gains, Most Improved, African American Scores, Hispanic Scores, and Low-Income Scores. ConnCAN’s Top 10 lists are designed to shine a spotlight on the public schools doing the most to help close Connecticut’s achievement gap. The 2006 online school and district report cards were viewed by more than 20,000 people in Connecticut.

The Top 10 lists also appear in print inside ConnCAN’s 2007 State of Connecticut Public Education report. Some of the findings from this new research report include:

• Despite a number of outstanding high-poverty public schools, compared to low-income students in other states, Connecticut’s low-income eighth-graders rank 42nd in reading and 49th in math, below every state except Alabama.
• Since 1993, the gap between Connecticut’s three largest school districts (Hartford, Bridgeport, and New Haven) and the state average on the fourth- grade Connecticut Mastery Test has increased in reading and writing while decreasing in math. The writing gap is now 50 percent larger than it was 14 years ago in these three cities.
• African American and low-income students are performing better in magnet schools and public charter schools than in traditional public schools.
• Public charter schools made twice the performance gains with their elementary school students (10.1 points versus 4.1 points) and three times the gain with their middle school students (6.9 points versus 2.0 points) as traditional schools.
• One factor contributing to charter schools’ larger performance gains may be “time on task,” with charter schools providing their students with 18.2 percent more hours of instruction than traditional public schools in elementary school and 12.2 percent more hours of instruction than traditional public schools in middle school.

 
“This project shows us that even as we are confronting the nation’s largest achievement gap, a number of outstanding educators in a variety of public schools across Connecticut are blazing a trail and delivering dramatic gains in student achievement,” said Alex Johnston, ConnCAN’s executive director. “These Top 10 Schools are a great place to start in looking for broader solutions in the effort to close our state’s achievement gap.”

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For more information on the 2007 School and District Report Cards, the 2007 Top 10 Schools, or the 2007 State of Connecticut Public Education Report, call Marc Porter Magee at 203-586-9313 or email Marc at marc.magee@conncan.org.
 
The Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now (ConnCAN) is a statewide outreach, education, and research organization working to close Connecticut’s achievement gap. To learn more visit: www.conncan.org.