CCER: State Report Underscores Power of Data

New Haven, Connecticut – Today, the State Department of Education released a study of Choice programs in Connecticut. The analysis is based upon the academic growth and performance outcomes on the Connecticut Mastery Test in four of Connecticut’s largest cities over the two-year period of 2010 to 2012. In response to the study’s release, Jeffrey Villar, Executive Director of CCER, made the following statement:

“First and foremost, I want to congratulate the State Department of Education for its effort to produce a meaningful and scholarly report that can help to inform state policy on public education. This is exactly the type of attention to data that will drive high-quality decision-making in our state.

“Although only an ex post facto study, this analysis does suggest that public school charters, interdistrict magnets, and the Open Choice program may have meaningful impacts on the educational outcomes for groups of students who typically do not perform as well academically. The data from 2010-2012 show statistically meaningful improvement.

“Despite these improvements, however, there is clearly still much more work to be done before every Connecticut student receives the education he or she deserves.

“It’s also important to note that this study only looked at data through 2012. We hope that the collection of data this year and in future years will help the State Department of Education to continue conducting these types of analyses, so that we are able to determine which programs meet the needs of our students.”

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