Newly released test results from the first Connecticut SAT School Day have provided what is being a called a “sobering” picture of students’ college and career readiness in the state. 

Last year, Connecticut opted to reduce over-testing by announcing that the SAT would replace its existing statewide exam for all grade 11 students. Since many of the state’s students already take the college entrance exam, state officials hoped the move would remove the pressure of multiple tests off its high school students.

State officials also had one other motive in mind--inspiring more students to apply to college.

Unfortunately, the release of the first year’s tests results have revealed that CT students have a long way to go before the majority are college and career ready.

According to WTNH, while 6 out of 10 CT students are ready for college-level work in English language arts, only 4 out of 10 are ready for college-level work in mathematics.

For the state’s minority students, the results are even worse.

"Only about 3 out of 10 (36.4%) African-American students and about 4 out of 10 (39%) Hispanic students met or exceeded achievement standards in ELA, compared with about 7 out of 10 (77.4%) white students,” WTNH said.

The results are even more staggering when looking at math.

"In math, about 1 out of 8 (12.5%) African-American students and less than 2 out of 10 (15.5%) Hispanic students met or exceeded standards, compared to about half (49.9 %) of all white students.”

The CEO of the state’s largest education advocacy organization Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now (ConnCAN) spoke to WTNH about how to interpret the results.

“For years Connecticut has struggled with one of the largest achievement or opportunity gaps in the country, and these SAT results confirm that we have a long way to go to close these gaps. Doing so is both a moral and economic imperative,” Jennifer Alexander said.

Read the full article here.

Nicole Gorman, Senior Education World Contributor

8/5/2016