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STAMFORD, Conn. African-American and Hispanic students in grades 3 through 8 in Stamford have dramatically closed what just five years ago was a "very wide gap" in math when compared with their white and Asian counterparts, the results of the 2011 Connecticut Mastery Test show.
Stamford middle school students also made big strides on the test, with results mixed for elementary school pupils, according to results released Wednesday by the state Department of Education.
Interim School Superintendent Winifred Hamilton hailed "significant improvements" in math as evidence that the district's long-term plan is having a "major impact."
Sixth-grade students had the district's strongest overall math scores, with 71.3 percent meeting the state's goal, compared with 71.6 percent of statewide. It was the closest any group of students came in Stamford to meeting state averages.
Taken by 250,000 Connecticut pupils in grades 3 through 8, the state test measures performance in math, reading and writing. Fifth- and eighth-graders are also tested in science. Student scores are divided into five levels: below basic, basic, proficient, goal and advanced.
"I'm very impressed and pleased with the math results," Hamilton said Wednesday afternoon in her office. "We've put a lot of time, effort and money into our long-term math plan."
Hamilton is especially pleased by the narrowing gap between African-Americans and Hispanics with whites and Asians. In 2006, black students in grades 3-8 were at the bottom of the test results for math, with 48.3 percent achieving at and above proficiency and 66.7 percent of Hispanics compared with 89.7 percent of Asians and 87.9 percent of whites. Those percentages have considerably narrowed. The 2011 results show 66.9 percent of black students achieving at and above proficient levels, as well as 76.7 percent of Hispanics. The percentage of Asians at those levels also grew to 95.1 percent and for whites, to 94.4 percent.
"This proves we can raise test score levels for pupils at the bottom, without sacrificing students at the top," Hamilton said.
Stamford mirrors another state trend. The percentage of third-grade students meeting goal in mathematics has increased 7 percentage points since 2006. In Stamford, the percentage in third-grade math has risen from 52.6 percent in 2006 to 59.3 percent in 2011, a 6.7 percentage point jump.
Since 2006, math test scores have improved at every grade level in Stamford. Significant gains were made in middle schools, where the percentage of sixth-grade students reaching goal increased 23.4 percentage points, 14 percentage points in seventh grade, and more than 6 percentage points in eighth grade.
Disappointing results on fifth grade reading tests, where 48.7 percent of pupils made the state goal, and seventh-grade writing, where 48.4 percent achieved goal, had Hamilton at a loss.
"I wish I knew the answer," Hamilton said. "We are going to have to look at the data and use models that work to move forward, and figure out why some things didn't work as well.
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