In a move to eliminate the achievement gap in Norwalk schools, an effort is under way to create a community partnership to improve the academic success of all students.

In his State of the City speech on Feb. 24, Mayor Alex Knopp announced the creation of Norwalk Achieves Partnership, a collaboration between the Chamber of Commerce, the mayor's office, the Board of Education, the Norwalk Education Foundation and other community groups.

The goal of the partnership is to eliminate the achievement gap that exists among various ethnic, racial, and socio-economic groups in the public school system, while improving the academic performance of all students.

This will be done by raising non-tax funds to develop, monitor, and implement the action plan in Norwalk, according to Knopp. Experts agree that expanding support for existing and new preschool programs is one way to raise the level of preparedness in elementary and middle schools.

In a similar experiment being conducted by Stamford, the community is considering providing preschools with sufficient resources to help minorities and poor families get a quality education before they go to elementary school.

"There is a huge difference in the level of preparedness that middle-class students and poor minority students receive," said Dudley Williams, former chairman of the Board of Education. "Kindergarten is not a level playing field. There exist differences in the cognitive ability of students based on their socio-economic level." In Norwalk, nearly 15 percent of kindergarten students have not had a preschool experience and remain at a disadvantage when they enter elementary school, according to Knopp.

School administrators have applied for funding through the Graustein foundation to create a systemic link between pre-kindergarten education and the school system.

"I want you to be aware of our strong support for efforts to create a strong linkage between pre-school education and the Norwalk Public Schools," said Superintendent Salvatore Corda to Knopp in a memorandum. "...Clearly the School Readiness Council and NEON would have an important role in this effort. If we are not successful in receiving these dollars, we can certainly explore through the Norwalk Achieves Partnership, fund-raising efforts." School officials are also looking to expand summer school and after-school programs so that low achieving students receive the attention they need beyond school. Minority and non-English speaking students have significant regression in their academic level over the summer. Bringing in summer camp programs that have an instructional component will strengthen their ability to compete with their peers during the school year, says Williams. Corda has requested to Knopp that the partnership identify raising funds for after-school and Saturday programs in Norwalk schools as its first project. "These programs would, through the Norwalk After School Alliance, provide a coordinated effort to provide the additional academic support so desperately needed for our students if they are to be successful," said Corda in the memorandum.

The new resources raised under the partnership will be used to support key education initiatives that are a necessity for schools to make adequate yearly process under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, but are outside the traditional budget. One example proposed by Knopp is to fund Spanish-speaking parent coordinators in each elementary school to assist Hispanic students. Knopp said he has had several discussions with members of the Chamber of Commerce, Board of Education, and Norwalk Education Fund. He will be renewing his contact with these individuals next week to put in place an agenda, and will be attending a meeting on Stamford's newly created Commission on Education Achievement at the University of Connecticut in Stamford on March 9.