(HARTFORD, CT) — Governor Dannel P. Malloy, joined by Commissioner of Education Stefan Pryor, today announced that Connecticut’s high school graduation rate increased for the fourth consecutive year and that several persistent graduation rate gaps are closing.

Since 2010, the black-white gap in graduation rates reduced by 4.3 percentage points (21.5 percent) and the Hispanic-white gap reduced by 3.5 percentage points (14 percent). Over the same time, the graduation gap between economically disadvantaged students and their more affluent peers reduced by 4.5 percentage points (17.5 percent).

“Four consecutive years of increases in the graduation rate is a great thing, one for which all of our teachers should be proud,” said Governor Malloy. “This combined with the first-ever narrowing of our reading achievement gap is proof that when we invest in our children and our educators, we will achieve success. While we still have work to do, this is a clear sign that by equipping our schools and districts with additional resources, we are moving in the right direction.”

The statewide average increased by 0.7 percent in 2013 as compared to 2012, representing a cumulative increase of 3.7 percent over the 2010 graduation rate.

In 2013, black, Hispanic, and free-lunch-eligible students substantially outpaced the statewide average increase at 2.7 percent, 1.6 percent, and 2 percent, respectively. The 2013 graduation rate for students in the Alliance Districts, 30 of the state’s lowest performing districts, is up by 1.3 percent. The Educational Reform Districts[1], a subset of the Alliance Districts and among the 10 lowest performing in the state, showed the greatest gains with a 2.8 percentage-point increase — from 66.3 percent in 2012 to 69.1 percent in 2013.

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