Education and opportunity April 13, 2017

Schools and equal opportunity Ideal of equal opportunity High school grads: 80% (Texas) to 92% (Wyoming) College grads: 17% (WV) to 38% (Mass.) Grad degree: 6% (Ark.) to 16% (Mass.)

Connecticut vs Nation Connecticut United States Spending per pupil: $13,659 4th Math: 45% 4th Reading: 41% 8th Math: 35% 8th Reading: 37% HS graduation rate: 82% $9,683 39% 33% 32% 31% 74%

What affects academic performance? Spending on schools? Attempts to equalize Family Other students Teacher/Administrator “Quality”

Examples of variation (CT) Spending (000s) “Proficient” Writing (8th) Sharon 25.9 95% Hartford 21.7 67% New Haven 18.9 70% Wilton 17.3 98% Hamden 16.2 85% Bridgeport 13.9 63% Brooklyn 13.2 93% Danbury 12.7 84%

Education and equal opportunity Primary and secondary Sorting into schools Sorting within schools Higher education Trends in starting and completing Differences by type of institution Rise of for-profit higher education Local autonomy vs. equal opportunity