Connecticut Technical High School Students Achieve Significant Gains
on 2005 Connecticut Academic Performance Test (CAPT)

Tenth Grade students in the state's technical high schools achieved the system's highest scores ever on the Connecticut Academic Performance Test administered in April. 

Average scores improved for the second consecutive year by as much as ten percentage points when measuring the percentage of students who scored at or above proficient level in Reading , Mathematics, and Science.  In Writing, students were able to maintain 2004's sharply increased scores which had jumped by more than 14 percentage points.

Highlights:

Mathematics:             The percentage of students scoring at or above proficient level increased from 56.8 percent in 2004 to 67 percent in 2005 - an increase of 10.2 percentage points from last year and 16.2 percentage points above 2003 levels.

Reading:                     The percentage of students scoring at or above proficient level increased from 61.8 percent in 2004 to 70 percent in 2005 - an increase of 8.2 percentage points from last year and 16.1 percentage points above 2003 levels.

Science:                       The percentage of students scoring at or above proficient level increased from 67.6 percent in 2004 to 76 percent in 2005 - an increase of 8.4 percentage points from last year and 15.4 percentage points above 2003 levels.

Writing:                      The percentage of students scoring at or above proficient level decreased slightly from 74.5 percent in 2004 to 74 percent in 2005 - a  decrease of .05 percentage points from last year and an increase of 13.8 percentage points above 2003 levels.          

According to CTHSS Superintendent of Schools Abigail L. Hughes, "The gains were the result of many factors, including really hard work by staff and students, the introduction of math and language labs in every school, new strategies and collaborations among teachers, administrators and specialists, and new text books and other resources. We are very pleased with the progress, it shows we are really moving forward as a school system."

"While we need to continue to help our students improve their performance, this news demonstrates that we can make a difference in our classrooms and that our students are capable of making great progress."

Meeting CAPT standards is an important indicator of future success in high school, college and in the workplace. Students studying a technical curriculum need to master these critical academic skills.

CTHSS CAPT SCORES RISING

Percent of students at or above CAPT proficient level

Percentage of Students Achieving State Goal and Advanced Levels

The percentage of students achieving the higher standards of State Goal and Advanced improved as well, although these percentages continue to be below state averages;  (see attached chart.) Highlights:

Mathematics:               The percentage of students scoring at goal or advanced levels increased from 17.9 percent in 2004 to 27 percent in 2005 - an increase of 9.1 percentage points over last year.

Reading:                      The percentage of students scoring at goal or advanced levels increased from 17.5 percent in 2004 to 23 percent in 2005 - an increase of 5.5 percentage points over last year .

Science::                     The percentage of students scoring at goal or advanced levels increased from 21.2 percent in 2004 to 25 percent in 2005 - an increase of 3.8 percentage points over last year.

Writing:                      The percentage of students scoring at goal or advanced levels increased from 23.7 percent in 2004 to 26 percent in 2005 - an increase of 2.3 percentage points over last year.

Performance of White, Black and Hispanic Students on CAPT

Performance of white, black and Hispanic students, as well as English Language Learners (ELL), improved for the second consecutive year in virtually all content areas. (The only category showing a decrease was the math performance of white students- down approximately 3 percentage points from 2004, but up by more than 10 percentage points over 2003.) While scores of black and Hispanic students lag behind those of white students, the percentage gains for minority groups were greater; "To continue our progress, we will need to concentrate on the performance of all students," said Hughes.