At the state level, 44.3 percent of all grade 11 and 12 students in Connecticut meet at least one benchmark for college and career readiness according to new data from the State Department of Education (SDE).
For the 2022-2023 school year, 44.3 percent of students statewide met that benchmark for at least one measurement. Measurements include the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), American College Testing (ACT), the International Baccalaureate (IB) test, on Advanced Placement (AP) exams, or earning three or more cumulative dual enrollment credits over the course of a student’s high school career.
Across all school types, public charter schools performed the best, with 87.9 percent of grade 11 and 12 students for the 2023-2024 school year meeting a benchmark for college readiness in at least one category at Capital Preparatory Harbor School, the top performing public charter school. Across public schools, Colchester School District performed the best, with 83.8 percent of grade 11 and 12 students meeting at least one benchmark of college preparedness.
Students at the Connecticut Technical Education and Career System, the only school with measured results in the category of technical education and career schools, performed the worst across school types, with 20.2 percent meeting at least one benchmark of college preparedness.
At the state level, the greatest number of students met the benchmark for college and career readiness through SAT testing. To hit the benchmark, students must score at least 480 on the Evidence-Based Reading and Writing portion of the Test and at least 530 on the Math portion.
23.4 percent of students across the state hit the benchmark through AP testing, which requires scoring a 3 or higher on an AP exam.
23.1 percent of students hit the benchmark by getting a C or better in at least 3 college credits through dual enrollment. The 2021-2022 school year marked the first time dual enrollment was used as a measure of students achieving the preparedness benchmark.
Few students across the state achieved the benchmark either through ACT or IB testing. 3.2 percent of students met the benchmark for the ACT, which requires hitting a benchmark score on 3 of the 4 exams. Only 0.4 percent of students at the state level met the benchmark through IB testing, which requires receiving a 4 or higher on the exam.
The SDE has used these testing metrics to evaluate students’ college and career readiness since 2014-2015.
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If less than 50% of the incoming freshmen met the standard for readiness to attend college, why were they admitted? Because the colleges need the tuition money! Will they be given passing grades in order to keep the tuition dollars flowing? My guess is that will become a factor.