School Performance Index: Nearly All Branford Public Schools Below "Goal"

How are Branford schools performing in recent years and what's expected of them?

The CT State Department of Education has announced the launch of an online database to provide information on school performance according to their recent press release.  The website provides the School Performance Index (or “SPI”) and the graduation rate (for high schools), two measurements central to Connecticut’s new school accountability and support system, according to the release.

“The state’s new school accountability and support framework enables more precise, more helpful snapshots of school performance,” Connecticut Commissioner of Education Stefan Pryor states in the news release. “By heralding schools making significant progress and highlighting schools in need of greater support, the system will also help districts and the state focus our efforts where they are needed most.”

According to the database, which has SPI measurements for all Branford schools over the past three years as well as a target SPI for this year, Mary R. Tisko School is performing the best. The SPI for Tisko is a 92.4 average over three years (highest being 100). CT State Department of Education is setting a target to "maintain" that number for Tisko according to the database. 

Branford High School's SPI has shown a steady decline since 2009 from having an SPI of 86.3 to currently having an SPI of 80.3.; their target is 83.

John B. Sliney School has show a steady rise over three years and is averaging at 80.2 with a target of 80.8 for 2012-13. 

Mary T. Murphy students have shown a steady increase over the past three years growing from 73.4 to 79.2. 

Francis Walsh Intermediate School studnets have maintained and average of 87.4 over the past three years. 

A SPI of 33 means, on average students are performing at the ‘basic’ level across all tests they take, the state metric explains. An SPI of 67 means students are performing at the ‘proficient’ level and an SPI of 88 students are at ‘goal’ level on the majority of tests they take. 

"A school’s SPI—an average of student performance in all tested grades and subjects for a given school—allows for the evaluation of school performance across all tested grades, subjects and performance levels on the Connecticut Mastery Test (CMT) and Connecticut Academic Performance Test (CAPT)," the release states.  "The SPI and graduation rates are among the inputs for the new school classifications – including Schools of Distinction, Turnaround Schools, Focus Schools, and Review Schools – announced by the Connecticut State Department of Education last week."

According to the release, the state was able to get a federal application for a waiver from certain aspects of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) enabling the new school accountability and support system to use the SPI and graduation rates.   "The new system improves upon NCLB’s less flexible approach by incorporating student growth and performance across all levels (rather than merely tracking the percentage of students scoring at the proficient level, an approach that masked school progress with students at other performance levels); integrating Science and Writing (rather than merely focusing on Mathematics and Reading); and raising expectations for schools to address achievement gaps between students subgroups," the release states.

"The development of the school performance reporting system is an evolving process," the press release explained.  "Enhancements will be made in the future..."

Information from the above news release comes from the state Department of Education.

BRANFORD SCHOOLS