Connecticut students’ math and science scores improved last year and the number of students labeled chronically absent continued to drop from a pandemic high, according to new attendance and student assessment data released Tuesday by the state Department of Education.
The state reported a decrease in the rates of chronic absenteeism, or the number of children missing at least 18 school days, in 2023-24, which were the lowest they’ve been in four years at 17.7%, but still higher than 2018-19 when 10.4% of students were chronically absent.
While mathematics and science scores slightly improved for the second year across most demographics groups and grade levels, English scores remained the same as the previous year.
The data was released just as the 2024-25 school year gets underway for many districts across Connecticut this week.
Despite the gains, education officials acknowledge that there’s still “quite a lot more work to be done.”
“This past year, there were 87,397 students chronically absent, and yes, for us, that’s an indication that there is quite a lot more work to be done. That’s 87,397 too many students,” said Education Commissioner Charlene Russell-Tucker. “However, I want to put that in context, the 87,397 is down from 99,071 from the school year 22-23 and that number in 22-23 is down from 117,513. So let’s be clear, there’s a lot of work to do.”
Over 80% of districts saw a decline in their chronic absenteeism rates, Russell-Tucker said, adding that attendance improved by 2.3 percentage points in the last year.
Education department officials, superintendents across the state and others praised an at-home visiting program called Learner Engagement and Attendance Program (LEAP) that was started in April 2021 to tackle absenteeism.
"Of the 25 LEAP districts, 23 [have] chronic absenteeism rates that are below those from the peak during the 21-22 school year," said Kari Sullivan, a consultant for chronic absenteeism, community partnerships and wraparound strategies at the education department. "Research continues to show double digit improvement in student attendance rates six months after a visit."
As the expiration of COVID-19 relief funding for schools nears at the end of September and some districts across the state announce they are pulling back on student programs, Russell-Tucker stressed the importance of recent state investments, including a $7 million allotment in the state budget for LEAP.
"We have funding through 2026 for those programs that are funded. It is also important because we now have in front of us a biennium [budget] ... so we can have those conversations as we go into the biennium from a state support perspective," Russell-Tucker said.
District leaders also shared confidence in maintaining and improving their attendance and test scores with newly-trained staff.
"When we talk about professional growth and professional development, we have to try to plan for it. The professional development that we have in place is tricking all the way through," said East Hartford Superintendent Thomas Anderson. "If we view [these efforts] as important and someone else is paying for it, we need to view it as even more important because we're paying for it. I think it's something we have to be proactive in thinking that it is potentially going to go away and make those plans."
An $11.5 million grant for high-dosage tutoring in math is another recent state initiative that officials hope will continue combating learning loss even as federal funding runs out.
“High-dosage tutoring” involves at least three 30-minute sessions per week with students, capped at a student-tutor ratio of 3:1. The tutoring is relationship-based with student monitoring to track their “knowledge and skills,” alongside oversight of tutors “to ensure high-quality interactions,” according to Duke University. The intervention method is effective in bridging gaps of learning loss that were seen in remote learning.
Bethel Public Schools was one of 46 recipients of the grant, and Superintendent Christine Carver said it "made a significant difference in providing additional support to students that needed it."
The school district saw a 9.1% improvement in the number of students meeting or above proficiency in math across the district from 48.1% in 2019-20 to 57.2% in 2023-24.
"I would advocate for, if any of our legislators are listening, the continuation of high dosage tutoring, because that will expire in December and it has made a substantial difference," Carver said.
Statewide math scores have remained significantly lower, at 60.2, than the state target performance score of 75. The math scores are about 3 points lower than they were in 2019, and just about a 0.5 increase from last year.
Science scores also saw a slight increase, from 61.6 in 2022-23 to 61.8. The figure still trails scores in 2019 by 2 points.
English scores remained stagnant compared to the 2022-23 school year at 63.9, but students in grades three, four, six and seven and who identify as American Indian, Black, white and two or more races made slight scoring improvements.
Ajit Gopalakrishnan, the education department's chief performance officer, said the department plans to "keep plugging away" with getting students to grade level test scores.
"The targets were set pre-pandemic. They are part of our 'Every Student Succeeds Act' as a state plan and we haven't revised that state plan," Gopalakrishnan said. "Our goal continues to be to try to take the dip and get it back to that trajectory. Obviously, there's still a lot of work to do."
Part of that work, particularly in regards to reading instruction, dates back to the 2023 legislative session when lawmakers passed the Right to Read bill.
The legislation will require that all Connecticut school districts shift to a reading program aligned with the Science of Reading — a body of research that shows the best way to teach reading is through five pillars of skill development: phonemic awareness, phonics, oral reading fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. It also outlined that the state Department of Education would choose a number of programs that adhere to the Science of Reading for districts to choose from and fully implement by 2025.
When asked about concerns regarding reading scores remaining stagnant compared to other subjects, especially with the passage of Right to Read, Charles Hewes, the department's deputy commissioner for academics and innovation, said sustained and focused efforts will get students closer to the state targets.
"This takes work. This not a one and done one year thing in terms of [English Language Arts]," Hewes said. "A lot of our districts have begun implementation, so you have to give some time and room for maturity there. We hope to see that moving forward."
This story was originally published by the Connecticut Mirror.