    
Mapping the Gap Spearheaded by ConnCAN's research and policy manager Tori Truscheit and research fellow Jesse Wanzer, this book of maps is a visual accompaniment to ConnCAN's 3rd annual School and District Report Cards. It is designed to provide an easy-to-understand overview of the relative performance of Connecticut's 169 school districts across elementary, middle and high school. The maps are an additional lens through which parents, school leaders, community members and policy makers can explore student achievement in Connecticut.
Drawing on the categories in our report cards, the maps use results from the Connecticut Mastery Test and the Connecticut Academic Performance Test to illustrate overall student achievement, low-income and minority student achievement, and the change in performance over time. The category of "performance gains" measures how much the same cohort of students learned over the course of one year. It examines whether this year's fourth graders, for example, performed better than they did in third grade last year. The improvement category measures the average change in the percent of students meeting state goals in one grade. This category compares, for example, 2008 fourth grade scores with 2007 fourth grade scores. You will notice that some maps, particularly those illustrating low-income, African-American, and Hispanic student results, are missing data for many districts. The Connecticut State Department of Education prevents the release of data for groups with fewer than 20 test takers within a grade. As a result, the small size of many rural districts and the stark geographic segregation in our state preclude the release of data for many districts. In addition to district-level maps of academic performance, we also offer a visual overview of the Top 10 schools in key categories for elementary, middle and high school.
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