More minority and white students in Connecticut’s public schools are graduating high school on time, but Connecticut still has among the largest achievement gaps in the nation when it comes to which students graduate high school in four years
According to a report released Monday by the U.S. Department of Education’s research arm, nine of every 10 white students in Connecticut will graduate on time, but fewer than seven in 10 Hispanic children will finish on time.
Only three states — New York, Massachusetts and Minnesota — have larger graduation gaps between their Hispanic and white students.
While 94 percent of students from middle- to high-income families will graduate on time, only 70 percent of students from economically disadvantaged families will finish by then. Minnesota is the only state to have a larger graduation gap among these students than Connecticut, reports the coalition that releases the annual Building a Grad Nation report that dissects the federal data.
Seventy-three percent of black students will graduate in four years — an 18 percent gap when compared to their white peers. Eleven states have a larger graduation achievement gap between black and white students than Connecticut, according to the the federal data.
Among the nation’s largest school districts, Bridgeport and Hartford rank in the middle with about two-thirds of their students graduating on time.
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a statement released Monday, “Our students have limitless potential and we owe it to all of our children to work together so they all can achieve at higher levels.”