Connecticut

Many Connecticut Students Fail to Meet SAT Standard For College

To meet the achievement standard the state says students must score at least 480 in English and a 530 in math.

More than one-third of Connecticut high school juniors are not ready for college-level courses or career, according to SAT scores just released by the state.

To meet the achievement standard the state says students must score at least 480 in English and a 530 in math.

In English, 38 percent of students tested did not meet the state standard.

In math, nearly 60 percent of students did not meet the standard for college or career preparedness.

“I’m certainly disappointed that our students are not doing better,” said Fran Rabinowitz, executive director of Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents.

“I don’t think we can be complacent with the scores. When you have more than a third of your students not reaching standard certainly more than half not reaching it in mathematics I think we need to look at other measures of achievement, and make some plans based on that.”

The data also shows that there continues to be a wide achievement gap between white students and their minority peers.

According to results released Monday , white students are still twice as likely as black or Hispanic students to have the reading and writing skills needed to be ready for college or a career. In math, white students are three times more likely to be prepared.

The results showed that one-third of high school juniors are not reading or writing well enough to begin college or a career, while 59 percent of juniors failed to meet the math standard.

Ajit Gopalakrishnan, chief performance officer for the state's education department, says while many students are meeting standards, "We still have a long way to go."

“Some kids test well and they don’t have the background for it. So they can test well. And some kids don’t test well and they’re really brilliant,” said parent Helen Schwartz.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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