The U.S. Department of Education released its biennial “National Assessment of Educational Progress” for reading on Wednesday, and ConnCAN analysis shows that Connecticut’s achievement gap between poor students and their wealthier peers remains the largest in the nation, with poor students reading nearly three grade levels behind their wealthier peers.

Click here to download 2009 state achievement gap rankings for reading.

“It is rare that lawmakers have the opportunity to look at devastating numbers like these and turn around in the same day to make real change,” said Alex Johnston, ConnCAN Chief Executive Officer. “The education committee deadline is today for passing critical Race to the Top education reform bills and these numbers from the Nation’s Report Card show the time for reform is now.”

In early March, Connecticut was rejected from the first round of the Race to the Top, the federal government’s highly coveted $4 billion competition to reward states that aggressively reform their public schools. Round 2 of the Race to the Top is due June 1; the Connecticut General Assembly’s education committee’s deadline to pass bills out of committee is March 24.

The NAEP results come just one day after the Connecticut State Department of Education released recalculated high school graduation rates showing that less than 60 percent of low-income students are graduating on time.

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/

The 2009 NAEP mathematics and reading assessments were administered in all 50 states between January and March of 2009 to students in the fourth and eighth grade. Math scores were released in October 2009. 

Close to 180,000 fourth grade students and 160,000 eighth-grade students participated in the assessment.

ConnCAN’s campaign, “Our Race to the Top” is calling for four reforms to help Connecticut win the Race to the Top: measuring effectiveness, superstar principals, world-class standards and money follows the child. Detailed policy goals and other information are available on www.ourracetothetop.org.

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The Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now (ConnCAN) is an advocacy organization building a new movement of concerned Connecticut citizens working to create fundamental change in our education system. To learn more visit: www.conncan.org.