(Washington, DC) – Today, Mayor Muriel Bowser and the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) released the results of the District’s statewide assessments in English language arts/literacy (ELA) and math that were taken in spring 2024 by students in grades 3-8 and high school. Overall, proficiency rates in math and ELA for school year 2024 are consistent with and ticking up slightly from 2022-23 school year proficiency rates, while some schools across the District experienced meaningful increases in proficiency rates.
“This data not only helps us create a roadmap for the work ahead, but it also helps us understand which of our investments and strategies are working for students,” said Mayor Bowser. “We have phenomenal school communities in all eight wards, we have great teachers who love and challenge our students, and I’m grateful that we have educators and school leaders who will take this data and use it to ensure we have the best curricula and learning supports in place for our students. We’re excited about the upcoming school year, and we’re focused on making sure our students have everything they need to succeed.”
Overall, 34.0% of District students are meeting or exceeding expectations in ELA, a 0.3 percentage point increase over results from the prior year, and 22.8% of students are meeting or exceeding expectations in math, a 0.7 percentage point increase over results from the prior year.
- In ELA, 32.3% of students in grades 3-5 met or exceeded expectations, up from 31.4% the prior year; 36.3% of students in grades 6-8 met or exceeded expectations, down from 36.4% in the prior year; and 33.2% of students in grades 9-12 met or exceeded expectations, down from 33.6% the prior year.
- In math, 28.4% of students in grades 3-5 met or exceeded expectations, down from 28.6% the prior year; 22.2% of students in grades 6-8 met or exceeded expectations, up from 20.6% the prior year; and 11.2% of students in grades 9-12 met or exceeded expectations, up from 10.8% the prior year.
Results also show areas of encouraging improvement where students and schools improved ELA proficiency rates in the past school year. For example, students in third grade in 2023-24 had a proficiency rate 2.3 percentage points higher than that of third grade students the previous year. And, overall, a third of schools (33%) increased ELA proficiency by at least 3 percentage points, and about a quarter of schools (25%) increased math proficiency by at least 3 percentage points. These successes will be used to better understand which programs and investments show the most promise to replicate elsewhere.
“The data highlights where we, as a state education agency, can provide targeted resources and additional support to our local public and public charter schools,” said Interim State Superintendent Dr. Antoinette S. Mitchell. “These results show that we are seeing some student growth, and we look forward to sharing out best practices.”
The 2024 statewide assessments in ELA and math included the District of Columbia Comprehensive Assessments of Progress in Education (DC CAPE) and the Multi-State Alternate Assessment (MSAA). Similar to last year, participation rates continue to be high, with 95.9% of eligible students participating in ELA assessments and 95.9% participating in math. High participation rates ensure that trends are representative of the overall student population.
Each spring, DC students in grades 3-8 and in eligible high school courses complete statewide assessments in ELA and math. These assessments measure mastery of grade-level content standards. From 2015 to 2023, the District was a member of the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) and administered PARCC assessments in ELA and math. In 2024, the District transitioned from the PARCC assessments to DC CAPE, a rigorous assessment that measures proficiency of the District’s high grade-level expectations. This was a change in name and governance only. DC CAPE uses the same design – number of questions, types of questions, and length of assessment – as PARCC, and scores are comparable across years.
The assessments have five performance levels that are based on student scaled scores – with level 4 and level 5 indicating that a student meets or exceeds proficiency expectations for their grade level. Performing at these levels means that students have met the District’s rigorous grade-level academic expectations, indicating they are building necessary skills for success in a wide range of post-graduation options. Level 3 indicates that a student is approaching expectations, while level 2 indicates a student has partially met expectations and level 1 indicates a student did not meet expectations. It is important to note that these are absolute scores and do not reflect student growth or movement within these levels. That information will be released later in the fall as part of DC School Report Card data.
In 2024, most race/ethnicity student groups had a proficiency rate within one percentage point of their 2023 rate. There were three exceptions: in ELA, students who identified as two or more races had a decrease in proficiency of 1.4 percentage points. In math, Asian students had an increase of 1.8 percentage points and white students had a decrease of 1.1 percentage points. Overall, the differences in proficiency rates among race/ethnicity student groups remains sizable and remained similar between 2023 and 2024.
“More than before, these data points have helped us to pin down the grade levels and student bands that missed key transition or foundational years during the pandemic. We are also delving into cohorts that are recovering at a faster rate so we can replicate the interventions that have aided their improvement at other schools across the district,” said DC Public Schools Chancellor Dr. Lewis D. Ferebee. “As we work to accelerate progress, this year’s results show that our priority needs to remain focused on our students furthest from opportunity.”
“The results of DC CAPE confirm what we at the DC Public Charter School Board and school leaders have seen across the District, which is that the pandemic has had lingering effects on student proficiency,” said Executive Director of the DC Public Charter School Board Dr. Michelle Walker-Davis. “This is why initiatives and tools like the ASPIRE academic evaluation system are so important – as they emphasize achieving excellent schools for all students, particularly those from communities which have been historically marginalized.”
While federal recovery funding will expire at the end of September, the Bowser Administration has maintained funding in the District of Columbia’s fiscal year 2025 (FY25) budget for programs that support student academic growth. In addition to $349 million to support a 12.4% increase to the Uniform Per Student Funding Formula (UPSFF), the FY25 budget also includes $4.8 million to maintain American Rescue Plan Act-level funding for High-Impact Tutoring in ELA and math for our most vulnerable learners and $2 million for high-quality instructional materials for teachers.
Schools will receive individual student reports in September and distribute them to families. OSSE will post a suite of resources on its website in December to help schools, parents, and teachers understand the assessment and results.
To view the full report, visit the OSSE website: https://osse.dc.gov/assessmentresults2024.
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