We celebrate Pi day to bring awareness to the importance of a STEM Education. The National Science Board report shows the need to bring attention to STEM:
- Average mathematics scores for fourth, eighth, and twelfth graders declined slightly for the first time in 2015.
- The average NAEP mathematics score in 2015 declined for fourth, eighth and twelfth grades.
- NAEP science assessment results show that average scores increased slightly in 2015 for fourth and eighth graders but stayed similar for twelfth graders.
The Connecticut State Department of Education measures Math Performance of all the schools in CT. The average performance for the high schools in the state 83.6%. The scores of the high schools closest to Milford are:
| School | Score | GraduationRate | PostSecondary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amity Regional High School | 91.59% | 100.00% | 100.00 |
| Trumbull High School | 89.13% | 100.00% | 100.00 |
| Engineering - Science University Magnet School | 88.57% | 100.00% | 100.00 |
| Achievement First Bridgeport Academy | 87.33% | 85.79% | 100.00 |
| Amistad Academy | 86.13% | 86.59% | 100.00 |
| Fairfield Warde High School | 82.27% | 100.00% | 100.00 |
| Shelton High School | 79.93% | 100.00% | 100.00 |
| Jonathan Law High School | 79.67% | 100.00% | 100.00 |
| Joseph A. Foran High School | 78.24% | 100.00% | 100.00 |
| Aerospace/Hydrospace, Engineering and Physical Sciences HS at the Fairchild-Wheeler Magnet Campus | 74.46% | 93.19% | 95.83 |
| Stratford High School | 67.63% | 97.24% | 94.28 |
| Information Technology and Software Engineering High School at the Fairchild-Wheeler Magnet Campus | 67.51% | 99.49% | 100.00 |
| Bunnell High School | 67.16% | 100.00% | 100.00 |
| Sound School | 65.90% | 98.60% | 100.00 |
| Ansonia High School | 65.38% | 96.77% | 80.70 |
| Common Ground High School | 65.35% | 91.54% | 82.88 |
| Highville Charter School | 64.09% | NA | NA |
| Biotechnology, Research and Zoological Studies HS at the Fairchild-Wheeler Magnet Campus | 62.66% | 99.59% | 100.00 |
| Platt Technical High School | 61.31% | 100.00% | 64.80 |
| West Haven High School | 60.96% | 90.93% | 90.42 |
| High School In The Community | 60.70% | 72.26% | 76.60 |
| New Haven Academy | 60.15% | 81.83% | 100.00 |
| The Bridge Academy | 60.03% | 96.71% | 91.67 |
| Derby High School | 59.56% | 95.07% | 81.48 |
| Hill Regional Career High School | 58.92% | 96.97% | 100.00 |
| Cooperative High School - Inter-District Magnet | 58.66% | 100.00% | 100.00 |
| Central High School | 58.13% | 81.64% | 75.83 |
| Bullard-Havens Technical High School | 56.96% | 100.00% | 73.62 |
| Emmett O'Brien Technical High School | 56.49% | 100.00% | 51.85 |
| Metropolitan Business Academy | 54.61% | 100.00% | 100.00 |
| Eli Whitney Technical High School | 50.88% | 100.00% | 54.78 |
| James Hillhouse High School | 48.52% | 77.01% | 62.22 |
| Bridgeport Military Academy | 46.50% | 100.00% | 53.03 |
| Bassick High School | 46.03% | 62.45% | 63.45 |
| Warren Harding High School | 44.58% | 66.78% | 54.32 |
The top five high schools for Connecticut are Staples High School, Darien High School, New Canaan High School, Weston High School, and Avon High School.
Some other interesting facts about STEM education in the United States:
- Approximately one-quarter of students stopped with algebra 2 as their highest mathematics course, another quarter stopped with trigonometry or other advanced mathematics, 22% advanced to pre-calculus, and 19% finished with calculus or higher.
- In addition to taking biology, 76% of ninth graders who began high school in 2009 took chemistry and 42% took physics by the time they completed high school in 2013.
- Calculus AB is the most common mathematics AP exam. The number of students who took an AP exam in calculus AB increased from 197,000 in 2006 to more than 308,000 in 2016.
- Biology is the most common science AP exam. The number of students who took an AP exam in biology increased from nearly 132,000 in 2006 to 238,000 in 2016.
- Computer science A is the fastest-growing AP exam, with the number of students taking the exam growing nearly four-fold from just under 15,000 in 2006 to nearly 58,000 in 2016.
- Passing rates for the mathematics and science AP exams in 2016 ranged from lows of 40% for physics 1 and 46% for environmental science to highs of 77% for physics C: mechanics and 81% for Calculus BC.