Press Releases
02/09/2018
More students demonstrate college and career readiness
Overall state accountability results stable in 2016-17
(HARTFORD, CT)—Today the Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) released the 2016-17 results from the Next Generation Accountability System. This system takes a broad view of school and district performance based on a set of 12 indicators. Two of the indicators focus on college and career readiness: they expect students to participate in rigorous coursework while in high school; and meet benchmark on college readiness exams. Both those indicators showed promising improvements.
In particular, the percentage of Connecticut’s 11th and 12th graders who met the benchmark in a college and career readiness exam (i.e., SAT, ACT, Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate) increased from 40.7 percent in 2015-16 to 43.5 percent in 2016-17. Contributing to this is the notable increase in the number of students who took at least one AP exam in
2016-17 (28,961) – up 4.9 percent from 2015-16. These students took 53,106 exams – an increase of 5.1 percent from the prior year. Additionally, we are proud of our students who have scored a three, four, or five on the exams. Here we saw an increase of 3.6 percent from 2015-16. These improvements were evidenced among students from all racial/ethnic backgrounds.
The overall state report based on the 12 indicators is on page 2. Though the state accountability index was relatively stable (73.1 in 2015-16 to 73.2 in 2016-17), there are other bright spots.
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The six-year graduation rate for high needs students (i.e., English learners, students with disabilities, or those from a low-income family) increased from 78.6 percent (2012- 13 cohort) to 82.0 percent (2013-14 cohort). These students are demonstrating that they can complete high school with additional time and support.
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The CSDE is identifying 124 Schools of Distinction for overall high performance, substantial improvement in overall performance, or high matched student cohort academic growth for all students or high need students. It is commendable that 23 of these schools are located in Alliance Districts.
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In March 2016, the CSDE identified a cohort of Focus schools. Focus schools are those with among the lowest subgroup achievement in the entire state. This is the first year that Focus schools are eligible to exit by showing sustained progress among their student groups. Based on the established criteria, 16 Focus schools are being exited from the Focus category.
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The table below shows the State’s 2016-17 performance on every indicator and the reported change compared to 2015-16 results.
|
No: |
Indicator |
Index/ Rate |
Target |
Points Earned |
Max Points |
% Points Earned |
Change from 2015-16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1a. |
ELA Performance Index – All Students |
67.1 |
75 |
44.7 |
50 |
89.5% |
 -0.8% |
|
1b. |
ELA Performance Index – High Needs Students |
55.9 |
75 |
37.3 |
50 |
74.5% |
 -1.1% |
|
1c. |
Math Performance Index – All Students |
62.2 |
75 |
41.5 |
50 |
82.9% |
 1.1% |
|
1d. |
Math Performance Index – High Needs Students |
50.5 |
75 |
33.7 |
50 |
67.3% |
0.8% |
|
1e. |
Science Performance Index – All Students |
55.3 |
75 |
36.9 |
50 |
73.7% |
-2.9% |
|
1f. |
Science Performance Index – High Needs Students |
45.2 |
75 |
30.1 |
50 |
60.3% |
-2.4% |
|
2a. |
ELA Avg. Percentage of Growth Target Achieved – All Students |
55.4% |
100% |
55.4 |
100 |
55.4% |
-8.4% |
|
2b. |
ELA Avg. Percentage of Growth Target Achieved – High Needs Students |
49.8% |
100% |
49.8 |
100 |
49.8% |
-8.5% |
|
2c. |
Math Avg. Percentage of Growth Target Achieved – All Students |
61.7% |
100% |
61.7 |
100 |
61.7% |
-3.3% |
|
2d. |
Math Avg. Percentage of Growth Target Achieved – High Needs Students |
53.7% |
100% |
53.7 |
100 |
53.7% |
-3.7% |
|
4a. |
Chronic Absenteeism – All Students |
9.9% |
≤ 5% |
40.2 |
50 |
80.4% |
-1.0% |
|
4b. |
Chronic Absenteeism – High Needs Students |
15.8% |
≤ 5% |
28.4 |
50 |
56.8% |
-0.9% |
|
5 |
Preparation for CCR – % taking courses |
70.7% |
75% |
47.1 |
50 |
94.2% |
4.1% |
|
6 |
Preparation for CCR – % passing exams |
43.5% |
75% |
29.0 |
50 |
58.0% |
3.8% |
|
7 |
On-track to High School Graduation |
87.8% |
94% |
46.7 |
50 |
93.4% |
2.9% |
|
8 |
4-year Graduation All Students |
87.4% |
94% |
93.0 |
100 |
93.0% |
0.2% |
|
9 |
6-year Graduation - High Needs Students |
82.0% |
94% |
87.2 |
100 |
87.2% |
3.6% |
|
10 |
Postsecondary Entrance |
72.0% |
75% |
96.0 |
100 |
96.0% |
0.1% |
|
11 |
Physical Fitness |
51.6% |
75% |
34.4 |
50 |
68.8% |
35.1% |
|
12 |
Arts Access |
50.5% |
60% |
42.1 |
50 |
84.2% |
5.0% |
|
State Accountability Index |
988.8 |
1350 |
73.2% |
 0.1% |
Note: Change between ±1 percent on the “% Points earned” is indicated as .
“Improving statewide performance on the accountability indicators requires collective effort,” said Commissioner Dianna R. Wentzell. “We are achieving this by operationalizing the State Board of Education’s Comprehensive Plan across the agency and by partnering closely with districts. While I’m pleased to see that some indicators are showing improvements, we have more work to do to achieve even greater improvement on all indicators.”
Many districts are aligning local improvement plans with the full range of accountability indicators and are using the system for what it was designed to do—identify strengths and challenges, recognize progress, and inform improvement efforts. The CSDE is supporting districts and schools by providing greater access to data and increasing local capacity to understand and use vital information from the Next Generation Accountability System to produce great schools for all Connecticut students.
These results and additional support materials for districts are available on the CSDE’s data portal EdSight at http://edsight.ct.gov
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Peter Yazbak, Director of Communications
Office: 860-713-6528
Mobile: 860-471-3518
Email: Peter.Yazbak@ct.gov