Study Reveals Small Gap in White, Hispanic Academic Achivement

A new report shows evidence of an achievement gap between white and Hispanic students in every school district studied in Connecticut. The good news for East Haven is that the difference in test scores is among the lowest in the state.

Part of that reason could be is that test scores are already below the state average, although East Haven’s Hispanic students performed better than other Hispanics throughout the state.

“Sometimes you can have a small gap because you have white students and Hispanic not doing well,” said Annemarie Hillman, co-author of the report and policy fellow at the nonprofit CT Voices for Children. “You can have a small achievement gap but it might not be a [good] thing.”

In the report, fourth grade 2010 Connecticut Mastery Test scores for reading and math are broken down into the white and Hispanic category. By dividing the two scores, the achievement gap is calculated.

In East Haven, white students were 1.1 times more likely to score at or above the goal level. That achievement gap is among the lowest in the state, and far below other towns in the area. White students in West Haven were 1.8 times more likely to poor better than Hispanics, and New Haven is 1.8 times more likely.

“It is a very narrow gap,” said Hillman of East Haven’s results.

Elsewhere in the area, Stratford had a gap of 1.3, as did Milford.

In reading, a bigger gap was discovered by the report. White students in East Haven were 1.4 times more likely to do better. However, New Haven had a staggering 2.7 different, and West Haven had a 2.4 gap. Milford was at 1.4 and Stratford was at 1.7.

According to Hillman, the report originated from news articles that broached the subject of an achievement gap with the largest minority and the state, the report hoped to show concrete proof of the problem.

“I think it’s really important that the point of the paper was not to place blame on anyone...the point is to say there is a problem.”

For the future, the report says better data is needed to look at other factors, such as family income and the education level of the parents in order to get a more concrete picture.