What in the world is an SSP?

SSP is an acronym which stands for Strategic School Profile. The SSP is, as the name suggests, a profile of the school meant for strategic planning by the State, local Boards of Education, and district administration. However, these SSP’s are made available for the public and anyone who may be interested.  In May 1990 the Connecticut General Assembly passed a law that ““…each local and regional board of education shall submit to the commisioner of education a strategic school profile report for each school under its jurisdiction and for the school district as a whole. Each profile report will contain information on measures of student needs, school resources, and student and school performance” (Section 10-220(C) ).  These reports contain a wealth of valuable information and data that should be of interest to not only the school administration but to savvy parents and teachers as well, after all, knowledge is power.

Each year every public school in Connecticut must submit both an individual Strategic School Profile for each school and a district Strategic School Profile to the State. Each individual school collects and reports their specific data, then this information is summed up in the District Strategic School Profile. According to the Connecticut State Department of Education these profiles serve at least two purposes, “to serve as an accountability system which informs the public about what is happening in Connecticut schools and to stimulate school improvement through shared information.” The SSP’s are available on the Connecticut State Department of Education website and are freely available to interested viewers. These profiles are an often overlooked piece of documentation that can provide a rich in depth look at a particular school, or district, and impact decision making in important ways.

For an in depth look at District profiles and their specific content click here. To find out more about the individual school profiles and their specific content click here.