Connecticut’s Next Generation Accountability Index for public schools showed modest improvement across most categories in the 2025-26 school year, the State Department of Education said Tuesday.
The index combines 12 factors, including test scores and chronic absenteeism, to produce one number representing the performance of Connecticut schools. For the 2025-26 school year, the statewide index came out to 72.2, a slight improvement over the previous year’s 71.8 but below its pre-pandemic 2018-19 score of 74.2.
Among the highlights were the 4-year graduation rate, which reached 91.2%, and the proportion of students demonstrating postsecondary readiness, which reached 49.9%. Both numbers were the highest for their respective categories since the index was introduced for the 2014-15 school year.
CSDE opted to focus on the latter measure during its press conference.
According to Chief Performance Officer Ajit Gopalakrishnan, postsecondary readiness has been rising thanks to recent state investments in dual credit courses. Connecticut used some of its federal COVID relief funding to expand those courses, and the General Assembly recently gave the program a line item in the state budget, allowing it to continue after federal dollars dried up.
However, Gopalakrishnan said the program needs further investment from the General Assembly to meet demand. His comment drew a laugh from Education Committee Ranking Member Rep. Lezlye Zupkus, R-Prospect, who was also in attendance.
Education Commissioner Charlene Russell-Tucker said CSDE is still determining just how much additional funding it needs for the dual credit programming.
In the 2025-26 school year, 34.6% of 11th and 12th graders earned three or more college credits through dual credit courses. That’s a more-than 12% increase over what it was during the pandemic.
“It’s not a promise of a credit. It’s actual college credit that goes on a transcript,” Gopalakrishnan said.
At the press conference to highlight the impact of dual credit programming were two high school students, Bena Mejia Romero of Stratford and Evan Gaudio of Wallingford.
Romero, who immigrated with her family from Honduras when she was six, said the dual credit courses she’s taken in medicine have encouraged her to explore becoming a nurse practitioner or doctor.
“I feel more prepared to take on that next step because I’ve begun exploring the field,” Romero said.
Gaudio said he learned how to use CAD software in his dual credit coursework to design a load-bearing structure and a 3D-printed car. He said the class taught him how to work on a timeline and was a “phenomenal confidence booster.”
Students also meet the postsecondary readiness threshold if they meet certain benchmarks on ACT, SAT, AP or IB tests. Postsecondary readiness among high needs students has risen 8.9% since the pandemic. Among Hispanic and Latino students, it has risen 10.2%, and among Black students, it has risen 12.2%.
Chris Todd, executive director of the Office of Early College Programs at the University of Connecticut, said last year, 43% of dual credit students at UConn identified as first generation, and 41% received fee waivers to attend at no cost.
One key use of the accountability index for CSDE is to identify schools that need additional support. If schools score particularly poorly, the state offers them administrative support from the department’s turnaround office, and they also become eligible for additional funding through Title I.
This year, the state identified 72 schools for this enhanced support. Those include nine from Bridgeport and 15 from Hartford — both districts that have been the subject of state intervention regarding their finances. New Haven, which has also reported severe funding challenges, has eight schools on the list.
Although most factors on the accountability index improved, growth in Math and English Language Arts moved in the opposite direction. According to Gopalakrishnan, growth measures how much individual students’ test scores improve from one year to the next. A lower growth number on the accountability index means those scores didn’t rise quite as quickly as they did the previous year.
CT Mirror reporter Sasha Allen contributed to this story.
