Connecticut charter school districts show strong proficiency rates on 2024-2025 SBA

As The Mind Trust works to support existing Connecticut charter schools and leaders who want to grow new schools across the state, analyzing student achievement data helps us understand how well schools are serving their students. 

While an individual child cannot be summed up by their score on one standardized test, understanding data on a system-wide level can tell us important information about schools as a whole. In Connecticut, the Smarter Balanced Assessment (SBA) is given to students in grades 3-8 each year, measuring student learning in Math and English Language Arts (ELA). 

Students can score within four achievement levels, with levels 3 and 4 indicating they are at or above proficiency in that subject for their grade level. 

Majority of Connecticut charter school districts outperform their Host District

Connecticut measures overall school performance with the Next Generation Accountability System, which uses indicators like achievement data, attendance, graduation rates, and more to score districts. If a district receives one of the lowest Next Generation scores in the state and has at least 1,00 students, the district is classified as an Alliance District. Charter schools must be located in an Alliance District, allowing families an option outside of their traditional school district. Currently, there are charter schools located in ten of the 36 Alliance Districts.

Next Generation Accountability index scores are calculated using 12 factors, some of which include SBA proficiency scores. While index scores show a broad view of district performance, drilling down into SBA proficiency can help us have a clearer understanding of student learning for elementary and middle school students within a particular district. 

As of the 2024-2025 school year: 

• All nineteen Connecticut charter school districts serving students in grade 3-8 outperformed their host Alliance District on the SBA ELA assessment. 
• Sixteen of the nineteen charter school districts outperformed their host district on the Math portion of the SBA.
• Four charter school districts outperformed the state proficiency rate in ELA and three outperformed the state proficiency rate in math. 

The table below shows proficiency scores for each charter school district and Alliance District. Cells shaded in green indicate where a charter school district has a higher proficiency level compared to their host Alliance District. 

Table 1: 2024-2025 SBA ELA and math proficiency comparisons between charter school districts and host Alliance Districts

Connecticut Charter Black and Latino students outpace state and Alliance District peers

Black and Latino students attending Connecticut charter school districts are outperforming not only the Alliance District average, but the state averages for each group on both the ELA and Math portions of the SBA test. 

Table 2: 2024-2025 SBA ELA and math proficiency comparisons for Black and Latino students by charter, Alliance District, and state averages 

Out of nineteen Connecticut charter school districts serving students in grade 3-8: 

• Fifteen had Black students outperforming their Alliance District average for Black students on the SBA ELA or math section. 
• Fifteen had Latino students outperforming their Alliance District average for Latino students on the SBA ELA or math section. 
• Eleven had Black students outperforming the state average for Black students on the SBA ELA or math section. 
• Thirteen had Latino students outperforming the state average for Latino students on the SBA ELA or math section. 

For families who have access, Connecticut charter schools are a strong school option for families, even with a significant funding disparity. According to their respective funding formulas, traditional district schools receive 100% of per pupil funding while charter schools receive 56%. 

The Mind Trust will continue to analyze student achievement and enrollment data for Connecticut charter schools to understand what strategic supports our team can offer. We also continue to support leaders who are interested in growing high-quality charter schools through the North Star Fellowship. We look forward to continued partnerships with schools, community organizations, and families to ensure every student, without exception, has access to a great school.