City Connects has a significantly positive effect on standardized test scores in elementary school. As shown in the table below, grade 3, 4, and 5 unadjusted SAT-9 Reading and Math scores were significantly higher for City Connects students than for comparison students on the Stanford Achievement Test (SAT-9).
The SAT-9 is a “low-stakes” test because performance is not used by schools to make important decisions such as promotion for all students. For “low-stakes” tests like the SAT-9, teachers tend not to teach to the test—and thus the outcomes represent more generalized academic skills. Nonetheless, long before high school, scores on the SAT-9 have proven to predict high school graduation rates.
Source: The Impact of City Connects: 2014 Progress Report from the Boston College Center for Optimized Student Support.