Press Release

February 11, 2025

Contact: Sam Stockwell
samuel_stockwell@gse.harvard.edu
617.495.0342

Connecticut Ranked 37th Among States in Math Recovery and 29th in Reading Between 2019 and 2024

Average student achievement in Connecticut remains more than half a grade level below 2019 levels in math and in reading.

Chronic absenteeism has risen sharply in Connecticut, from 10% of students in 2019 to 24% in 2022, significantly slowing recovery efforts in some districts.

(February 11, 2025) In its third year of reporting on the pace of academic recovery measures in districts nationwide, the Education Recovery Scorecard (a collaboration between the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University and The Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford University) is issuing its annual report on district-level student growth in math and reading.

The latest report also provides the first high resolution picture of where Connecticut students’ academic recovery stood in Spring 2024, just before federal relief dollars expired in September. While the National Assessment of Educational Progress described changes in average achievement by state, we combine those scores with district scores on state assessments to describe the change in local communities throughout Connecticut. Here’s what we found:

• Connecticut ranks 37th among states in terms of the change in math achievement between 2019 and 2024, and 29th in reading.
• Average student achievement in Connecticut remains more than half a grade level below 2019 levels in math (.59 grade equivalents) and in reading (.54 grade equivalents). In other words, the loss in math achievement in Connecticut is equivalent to more than half of the progress students typically make annually between grades 4 through grade 8. Some districts, such as Bridgeport, New Haven, Danbury, Stamford and Stratford remain more than a grade equivalent behind in reading. The districts that are more than a grade level behind in math include Danbury, Stamford, New Haven, Waterbury and Hartford.
• Yet many Connecticut districts have made good progress. 11 percent of Connecticut students are enrolled in districts which are scoring above 2019 levels in math. 13 percent of students are in districts scoring above 2019 levels in reading, and 8 percent are in districts which have recovered in both subjects. Examples of districts which have recovered in math are East Hartford, Southington, and Greenwich. Examples of districts which have recovered in reading are East Hartford, Bristol, and Greenwich.
• Chronic absenteeism (students missing more than 10 percent of a school year) rose from 10 percent to 24 percent between 2019 and 2022, slowing the recovery in many districts. In 2024, chronic absenteeism declined to 18 percent.
• Connecticut received $1.7 billion in federal pandemic relief for K-12 schools—roughly $3,300 per student. (That is somewhat below the national average of $3,700 per student.) Nationally, our analysis suggests that the dollars did contribute to the academic recovery, especially when dollars were targeted at academic catch-up efforts such as summer learning and tutoring.

The federal pandemic relief dollars may be gone, but the pandemic’s impact lingers in many Connecticut schools.  States could be targeting continuing federal Title I dollars and state dollars to implement interventions which have been shown to be effective.  State leaders, mayors, employers and other community leaders should join schools to redouble efforts on the shared challenge of reducing student absenteeism.

One of the project leaders, Professor Tom Kane from Harvard, said: “Unless state and local leaders step up now, the achievement losses will be the longest lasting– and most inequitable– legacy of the pandemic.”

For the national press release and findings click here.

About the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University 

The Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University, based at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, seeks to transform education through quality research and evidence. CEPR and its partners believe all students will learn and thrive when education leaders make decisions using facts and findings, rather than untested assumptions. Learn more at cepr.harvard.edu.

Contact: Sam Stockwell, samuel_stockwell@gse.harvard.edu, (617) 495-0342