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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: STEPHEN SIDORAK, (860) 933-8100
EMAIL: STEPHEN.SIDORAK@CONNCAN.ORG
Hartford, Conn.—On Monday, the State Department of Education released new SAT scores for 36,916 Connecticut high school juniors. This is the fourth year the State of Connecticut has administered the SAT, which measures preparedness for college including essential and grade-appropriate skills in English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics.
Statewide, just 62% of high school juniors students are at/above grade level for ELA; 41% for math. For scaled scores, students average a 515 (out of 800) on ELA and 501 on Math. These scores have not increased over the last four years. In fact, average ELA scores have declined by 5 points.
Deep racial disparities continue to exist, as well.
ConnCAN Executive Director Subira Gordon said: “The results released by the State Department of Education clearly show serious racial disparities in performance. Black and Latino students average nearly 100 points lower on both ELA and Math compared to White students. In fact, just 35% of Black students are at/above grade-level in ELA, and 14% for Math. For Latino students, the results are similar: 36.5% for ELA and 16.6% for Math. This means that the vast majority of Black and Latino students are unprepared for college and beyond.”
Connecticut has a long way to go to ensure that all students, regardless of their race, background or educational need, have access to a great education. With almost half of Connecticut’s students needing remedial coursework in college, far too many students are being left behind and unprepared for college or the workforce. This hurts our economy and is fundamentally inequitable and unjust. Connecticut must do better.
Gordon added: “Until America has a reckoning with the root causes of educational inequity, including systemic racism and economic insecurity, little will change. We must acknowledge how these glaring and persistent disparities affect our students, our communities and our workforce. This year’s SAT results underline that we must do more to improve how we prepare all of Connecticut’s students for their future. We have yet to see a full-scale effort to prepare all students for the rigor of the SAT. However, there are noteworthy pockets of success in Connecticut that may illuminate ways we can address racial and other disparities. Connecticut can solve these problems, but it will take sustained commitment from key stakeholder groups to move the needle for our most vulnerable students.”
A town-by-town list of SAT scores can be found here.
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About ConnCAN: ConnCAN is leading a movement to improve education outcomes for Connecticut’s kids. We bring advocates, policymakers, parents and educators together to change the system and give all kids access to the great public schools they deserve. Learn more at conncan.org.