Achievement Gap Continues to Disappear in CREC Magnet Schools
The results of the 2012 Connecticut Mastery Test (CMT) and Connecticut Academic Performance Test (CAPT) confirm that the state’s financing of CREC Magnet Schools as a means to eradicate the country’s largest achievement gaps was an intelligent investment. Serving 30% white students, 33% black students, 28% Hispanic students, and 47% students eligible for free and reduced price lunch, CREC Magnet Schools are more racially and economically diverse than the state. In keeping with previous years’ trends, CREC Magnet Schools in 2012 showed dramatic results for the state’s most disenfranchised populations, while continuing to outperform the state on the CMT and CAPT in virtually all areas.
Under the Sheff Settlement, CREC Students Outperform State Averages
CREC Magnet Schools have demonstrated that racially and economically integrated schools can guarantee equitable and high achievement for all students. CREC students outperformed the state in virtually all areas and for all subgroups on the CMT and CAPT.
• On the CMT and CAPT, black and Hispanic students from Hartford who attend CREC Magnet Schools outperformed their peers across the state in the percentage scoring at or above Proficient in both math and reading. For example, 76.4% of black Hartford resident students attending a CREC Magnet School achieved proficiency in reading on the CMT, compared to 64.5% of black students statewide.
• In 2012, all CREC subgroups (black, white, Hispanic, and students eligible for free and reduced price lunch) outperformed the state in math and reading in the percentage of students meeting or exceeding the state’s proficiency standard on the CMT and CAPT.
• Black students, Hispanic students, and students eligible for free or reduced price lunch outperformed the state in math and reading in the percentage of students meeting or exceeding the higher Goal standard on the CMT and CAPT.
CREC Magnet Schools Prove High Quality, Integrated Education Boasts High Achievement for All
Since 2007, CREC Magnet Schools have consistently and significantly reduced the size of Connecticut’s achievement gaps, and in some cases, have eliminated them completely. CREC’s model for attaining excellence in achievement proves that integrated schools are capable of closing the largest and most devastating achievement gaps in the country.
• In CREC Magnet Schools, there is no achievement gap between white students and Hispanic students in either math or reading in the 5th grade.
• At the 5th grade level, 100% of the Hispanic students in CREC Magnet Schools met or exceeded the state’s proficiency standard on CMT reading and math, and 95.5% of Hispanic students met or exceeded the higher Goal standard in reading.
CREC Magnet Schools Maintain Exceptional Scores While Increasing Enrollment to Meet Sheff Benchmarks
Since 2007, in order to assist the state in meeting participation benchmarks under the Sheff Settlement Agreement, CREC responded to the State Department of Education’s request to increase enrollment in CREC Magnet Schools. In 2012, CREC tested nearly 1,000 more students on the CMT and CAPT since 2007. The number of free and reduced price lunch eligible students taking the CMT in 2012 more than doubled for math and almost doubled for reading since 2007, and the percentage of eligible students taking the CAPT increased by more than 7 times since 2007. Despite this enormous growth, CREC sustained exceptional achievement results.
• Overall, 86.0% of CREC Magnet School students met or exceeded the state’s proficiency standard on CMT reading, 87.3% on CMT math, 81.4% on CAPT reading, and 75.5% on CAPT math.
• CREC Magnet Schools do not only focus on meeting the state’s standard of “proficiency;” CREC Magnet Schools have always measured their success by national and international standards for achievement and by the skills and knowledge necessary for college and career success.
• In 2012, CREC Magnet Schools revealed high levels of achievement at the state’s higher Goal standard, including three-quarters (75.5%) of CREC students performing at or above the Goal level on the CMT in reading and nearly two-thirds (63.7%) in math.
• From 2011 to 2012, the percentage of students performing at the Goal level in CREC Magnet Schools increased from 29.9% to 38.9% in CAPT math, and 36% to 42.1% in CAPT reading.
CREC’s Newest Sheff Magnet Schools See Double-Digit Gains
CREC Magnet Schools, even in their early years of operation, are committed to achieving excellence. This is evident in the outstanding CMT and CAPT results at CREC’s Medical Professions and Teacher Preparation Academy and CREC’s Academy of Aerospace and Engineering, both in existence for less than three years.
• CREC’s Medical Professions and Teacher Preparation Academy saw double-digit gains (13.5 percentage points at the Proficient level and 22 percentage points at the Goal level) on CMT reading between 2011 and 2012. On CMT math, the percent of students that met or exceeded the state’s proficiency standard increased by 7 percentage points, and the percent of students that met or exceeded Goal increased by 13 percentage points on CMT math between 2011 and 2012.
• At CREC’s Academy of Aerospace and Engineering, there is no achievement gap between black students and white students in reading at the 10th grade level, with both groups having 100% of their students performing at proficiency or better. In 2012, 90% of students school-wide performed at Proficient or better in CAPT math and 95% of students performed at Proficient or better in CAPT reading.