Testimony Before the DC Council Committee of the Whole at the Public Oversight Hearing on Academic Achievement in the District of Columbia
By Ariel Johnson, Executive Director, DC Charter School Alliance
December 6, 2023
Good afternoon, Chairman Mendelson and members of the Committee. My name is Ariel Johnson, and I am the Executive Director at the DC Charter School Alliance, the local non-profit that advocates on behalf of public charter schools to ensure that every student can choose high-quality public schools that prepare them for lifelong success.
Earlier this year, the nation’s report card revealed that the math and reading performance of 13-year-olds hit the lowest level in decades, including the largest-ever decline in math (1). We know that student achievement has suffered significantly since the pandemic took its toll on the nation’s education system, but this troubling data confirms that our children are experiencing a learning crisis. And while we know pandemic learning loss is contributing to this crisis, we also know that chronic absenteeism more than doubled during the first year of in-person learning nationwide compared to pre-pandemic levels, taking a major toll on student performance (2).
We’re seeing many of the same trends in student performance across the District. 60 percent of students designated “at risk” citywide do not have adequate command of content in reading, and 72.4 percent don’t in math. 79 percent of students with disabilities in the District do not have adequate command of content in reading, and 84 percent don’t in math. Overall only 32% of schools have returned to or exceeded pre-pandemic proficiency in ELA, and 15% have done so in math.
While most schools are not back to pre-pandemic performance rates, we are seeing improvement over last year across the city: approximately three percentage points in both math and ELA. One bright spot is that students designated “at-risk” in DC are recovering at a similar pace to their peers who aren’t at-risk. That’s important because it shows that all our academic acceleration efforts aren’t increasing the achievement gap. Unlike in many places across the country, the achievement gap in DC slightly decreased by one percentage point in math and two in ELA over last school year –– and that’s a lesson we can learn from as we move forward.
This progress would not be possible without Mayor Bowser’s and the Council’s historic investments in education, including in UPSFF funding alongside other recovery strategies, as well as support from our partners at OSSE and the Public Charter School Board. For example, OSSE’s high-impact tutoring and literacy resources continue to support student growth.
Bright Spots
We also know that many strategies our school leaders are using are working. Notably, two charter schools received blue ribbons from the Department of Education this year, and seven were named Bold Performance Schools by EmpowerK12. Before I share more about the progress public charter schools have made, I want to note that our analysis (3) uses PARCC 3+ proficiency because a study from the Maryland State Department of Education established that a score of 3+ correlates to college success – the equivalent of a B- GPA (4). Our analysis also removes Ward 3 and selective high schools to show a more relative comparison with public charter schools. We did this because this set of affluent schools and schools that admit students based on specific eligibility criteria skew the District’s data overall and doesn’t show an equitable comparison.
I want to stress that while student performance is still unacceptably low, charter schools continue to provide some of the best options for families, especially in Wards 7 and 8. According to our PARCC analysis, public charter schools outperform in Ward 7 and 8 in math by 14.5 and 13.1 percentage points, respectively. Similarly, charter schools outperform in ELA in these wards by 6.6 and 10.5 percentage points. Additionally, in Ward 5, where many public charter schools are located, public charter school students also outperform in math and ELA, by 12.4 and 10.7 percentage points respectively.
Charter schools also continue to prioritize equitable outcomes for DC’s most historically marginalized communities. Data shows that a larger proportion of Black students attending public charter schools in grades 3 through 8 have adequate command of content in math and ELA than their peers across the city. The same trend holds for Black high school students.
As we look at growth and recovery from the pandemic, charter schools presented some of the greatest growth over the last year. Eight out of the 10 schools with the greatest growth in ELA were charter schools; seven out of the 10 schools with the greatest growth in math were charter schools. Overall, 20 percent of charter schools saw double-digit growth in ELA, and 22 percent saw it in math.
Promising Strategies Leading to Improvement
These bright spots are the result of a lot of collaboration and hard work from our charter schools. The DC Alliance regularly holds Summits for school leaders to come together to share best practices and strategies that work, and what we’ve learned from these convenings is that charter schools that perform above expected proficiency rely on strategies that fall into two buckets. The first are targeted interventions to ensure that students are getting the support they need to close the achievement gap. For example, schools like Harmony Public Charter School, Perry Street Prep, and The Social Justice School have added an additional intervention period in ELA and Math for all students. Other schools like Washington Global adopted a blended learning model with stations to incorporate interventions into classroom time in an exciting way. Regardless of the intervention structure, all of these schools collect and assess student data very frequently to assign small groups for these interventions.
The second strategy, which should come as no surprise, is having a well-trained staff. The schools that showed the most promise in closing achievement gaps are intently focused on developing, evaluating, and retaining high-quality educators leading classroom instruction. For example, Friendship Public Charter School has launched a Center of Excellence in Literacy to certify master teachers and credential paraprofessionals. DC Prep has a highly integrated general education and special education team, where the special education coordinator works with the assistant principal to run specialized training for staff.
Beyond having quality staff, many of our schools also reported implementing innovative models to adequately staff and structure their classrooms. For example, several schools rely on specialized staff, like tutors or EL teachers, who cohort students to build community. Additionally, many PreK and middle schools keep the same teacher with the same group of students for more than one school year, known as looping. Having students for two years or more helps build momentum and enables teachers to hit the ground running in the next year, which is a helpful tool for academic acceleration. Looping is also a mechanism that helps teachers and students develop strong, extended, meaningful, positive interpersonal relationships.
Moving Forward
We understand that improving academic outcomes for students requires a deep sense of urgency. It’s going to take all of us – school leaders, policymakers, teachers, parents, students, and advocates – working together on a coordinated plan. However, it’s not enough to simply acknowledge that students and educators need additional support. We must work to bring resources to the District that help identify and increase capacity for accelerated learning and growth. It is imperative that we loudly boast successes and learnings from across the District while demonstrating a dogged determination to find new resources to supplement those schools in need.
We are excited to continue collaborating with our schools and are grateful for our partnership with the Council and the city as we all work toward improving outcomes for students.
Thank you for your time and attention, and I welcome your questions.
Citations
National test scores plunge, with still no sign of pandemic recovery. Washington Post. June 21, 2023. https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/06/21/national-student-test-scores-drop-naep/
Two-thirds of schools struggle with high absenteeism after pandemic. Washington Post. October 12, 2023. https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/10/12/school-absenteeism-absence-pandemic-learning/
The State of Recovery: DC Charter Schools' Trends Based on PARCC. DC Charter School Alliance
Assessment Graduation Performance Requirement. Maryland State Department of Education. February 25, 2020. https://marylandpublicschools.org/stateboard/Documents/2020/0225/TabE_AssessmentGraduationPerformance.pdf
