COMMUNITY FORUMConnecticut’s Plan to Improve Public Education

Where does Connecticut

currently stand?

Connecticut has the Nation’s Largest Achievement Gap

Gap4th Grade

Math4th Grade Reading

8th Grade Math

8th Grade Reading

Low Income / Non-Low Income

Worst Worst Worst 5th

African-American /

White4th Worst 9th 5th

Hispanic & Latino / White

Worst Worst Worst 2nd ELL / Non-

ELL 2nd 6th 4th 2nd

Worst in the nation in 7 of 16 measures; among the bottom 10 in all 16.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics, 2011

We are failing many students, especially low-income Hispanic and Latino Students.

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Source: National Center for Education Statistics, 2011

Low-income Hispanic and Latino 4th grade

students in Connecticut perform two grade levels behind similar students in

Maryland.

Connecticut’s High School Graduation Gap, Class of 2010

White African American Hispanic & Latino0

20

40

60

80

100

88.7

68.7 64

20.0 24.7

Graduation Rate Graduation Gap

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du

atio

n R

ate

Source: Connecticut State Department of Education

Where does Bridgeportcurrently stand?

The district faces the same achievement gap as four years ago.

State Combine

d Average

Bridgeport

Combined Average

Achievement Gap at

Goal

2011 64.1 30.8 (33.3)

2010 63.6 31.0 (32.5)

2009 62.3 29.0 (33.3)

2008 60.4 27.4 (33.0)

2007 60.0 26.5 (33.4)

CMT and CAPT Combined Averages

95% of Bridgeport elementary schools perform below the state average.

School 2011 Avg

Multicultural Magnet 80.5State CMT Avg 66.4High Horizons Sch 65.8Park City Magnet 63.0Winthrop Sch 53.9Madison Sch 47.2Hall Sch 46.9Classical Studies 42.6Black Rock Sch 42.2Hooker Sch 38.3Edison Sch 35.2Blackham Sch 35.0Cross Sch 34.7

Bridgeport School Avg 33.7Beardsley Sch 32.9Hallen Sch 32.3Waltersville Sch 31.9Read Sch 31.1Tisdale Sch 28.5Columbus Sch 27.4Johnson Sch 26.1Barnum Sch 22.5Longfellow Sch 22.5Curiale Sch 19.9Cesar Batalla 18.6Luis Munoz Marin 17.3Dunbar Sch 16.8Roosevelt Sch 14.6Bryant Sch 13.5

Percentage of Students at Goal in 2011

Less than 25% of Bridgeport 3rd graders are reading at grade level

Yearly change in at goal CMT reading scores

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2007 2008 2009 2010 20110.5 0.2 3.2 -2.1 -0.2 2.5 2.5 1.3

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

20.7 21.2 21.4 24.6 22.5

52.3 52.1 54.6 57.1 58.4

3rd Grade Reading at Goal

Bridgeport State

4 year average gain of 0.5 points 4 year average gain of 1.5 points

All three Bridgeport high schools perform well below state average.

School 2011 Avg 2010 Avg Change

State CAPT Avg 50.7 50.0 0.8

Bridgeport HS Avg

13.2 12.6 0.6

Bassick High School

4.0 1.7 2.3

Central High School

20.1 20.4 -0.3

Harding High School

5.7 6.5 -0.8

Change in Percentage of Students at Goal 2010-2011

Only half of Bridgeport students are graduating from high school.

Bridgeport State National0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

55.4

79.271.7

Percentage of students graduating from high school

Data from Education Week: http://www.edweek.org/apps/gmap/

Bridgeport is the lowest performing school district among its urban peer districts in Connecticut.

Peer Districts

Bridgeport Hartford New Haven Waterbury Stamford State0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

30.8 32.537.7 38.9

56.1

64.1

% of Students Reaching Goal on CMT and CAPT Combined in 2011

We need better

schools.

We know it is possible to close the gap.

Black Rock School, Bridgeport Davis Street 21st Century Interdistrict

Magnet School, New Haven

Edith E. Mackrille School, West Haven

Highville Charter School, Hamden

Jefferson Elementary School, Norwalk

Mead School, Ansonia

Multicultural Magnet School, Bridgeport Nichols School, Stratford

Park City Magnet School, Bridgeport Second Hill Lane School, Stratford

University of Hartford Magnet School, Hartford

Vogel-Wetmore School, Torrington

Westover School, Stamford

Worthington Hooker School, New Haven

Elementary SchoolsAchievement First Hartford Academy, Hartford Amistad Academy, New Haven

High Horizons School, Bridgeport House of Arts, Letters and Science Academy,

New Britain Jumoke Academy, Hartford

Multicultural Magnet School, Bridgeport Park City Magnet School, Bridgeport Roton Middle School, Norwalk Worthington Hooker School, New Haven

Middle Schools

High SchoolsAmistad Academy, New Haven

Sources: http://solutions1.emetric.net/cmtpublic/Index.aspx, 2011; http://solutions1.emetric.net/captpublic/Index.aspx, 2011

See http://www.conncan.org

Schools with at least 75% low-income or minority students and one of those student groups outperforms the state average at or above goal on the

CMT/CAPT

How can we get there?

The Governor’s Education Reform Bill

S.B. 24, An Act Concerning Educational

Competitiveness

What’s in the Governor’s Bill?

• Improved school and district accountability- State can take over and run worst

performing schools through a “Commissioner’s Network”

- Teacher tenure linked to performance

- Principal evaluations linked to performance

• Additional funding for Education Cost Sharing (ECS) program- ~$40M to lowest performing

districts (including $4.4M to Bridgeport)

- ~$5M of conditional performance-based funding

• Increased funding for public schools of choice- Closes (but does not eliminate)

gap in per-pupil funding between charters and other public schools

- Facilitates opening of five new charter schools

• Early Childhood Education- New funding for low-income

children to attend preschool, performance tracking systems, and training programs

Our take: a step in the right direction, but there remains more to do

• Strongest elements: School and district accountability and turnarounds, teacher and school leader quality

• Promising elements: conditional funding and increased funding for charters and magnets

• Areas for Improvement: fundamentally fixing school finance formula, ending last-in first-out, linking teacher pay to performance, fixing binding arbitration, eliminating unnecessary spending

Q & A

How can we get involved?

What does Excel Bridgeport do?“All children in Bridgeport will have the opportunity to attain a world-class education that prepares them for

success in college, career, and life.”Excel works to:

• Engage parents and students to build a sustainable change movement.

• Serve as a knowledge-builder and thought leader for the community on education reform issues.

• Use data and research to hold the district accountable for progress toward improved student achievement.

What can you do?• Sign the Pledge for Change by visiting our website. And

then share it with your friends!

• Connect with us online on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Sign up for our newsletter and read our reports to stay informed about education in Bridgeport.

• Share your story! Give us a call, send us an email, or stop by the office and tell us how Bridgeport public education has affected you.

• Donate your time and effort to help build our movement for change. Come to Excel Bridgeport’s events and Bridgeport Board of Education meetings.

What can you do?Two hearings on the Governor’s bill:

Tuesday, February 21st, 1:15pm:- Teacher tenure, certification, evaluation, collective

bargaining, retirement, recruitment, professional development

- Vocational-technical school structure- Early childhood education

Wednesday, February 22nd, 12:00pm:- ECS funding, schools of choice funding- Conditional funding, competitive grants- Accountability and low-performing schools