Baseline SBAC Results: A Starting Point for Growth

New Haven, Connecticut – Today, August 28th, the Connecticut State Department of Education released baseline results from the 2014-2015 Smarter Balanced Assessment. This is the first administration of the Common Core-aligned test, which was taken by Connecticut students in grades 3-8 and 10 during the spring of 2015. 55.4% of students met or exceeded grade-level expectations for English/Language Arts, and 39.1% met or exceeded expectations for Math. In response to the release of these results, Jeffrey Villar, Executive Director of the Connecticut Council for Education Reform (CCER), issued the following statement:

“Because the new assessment measures progress towards new goals, we view these results as our new baseline. We expect that our statewide scores will increase over time, as educators and students work together on achieving at the higher levels of rigor demanded by the Common Core.

“For parents, getting results that suddenly look different and lower than we are used to might be alarming. It’s important to understand that these results cannot be compared to Connecticut’s legacy exams in any way. The Smarter Balanced test is measuring students’ progress towards an entirely new and higher goal. To assist parents in understanding these new results, we have teamed up with ConnCAN to produce a website, ReadyCT.org, that we hope will help to answer parents’ questions about this assessment and what it means for their students. This year’s test results are a starting point from which parents should hope to see steady improvements in years to come.”

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 About the Connecticut Council for Education Reform

The Connecticut Council for Education Reform (CCER)–a statewide, non-partisan, 501(c)(3) not- for-profit organization–works to close the achievement gap and raise academic outcomes for all students in Connecticut. The achievement gap is the disparity in academic achievement between children from low-income families and children of color, and their peers. We advocate for state policies and local practices that research shows have the best chance of raising achievement for high-need student populations.

For more information on CCER, go to www.ctedreform.org