Average student proficiency rates on the District's annual standardized tests inched up in 2014, increasing 1.4 percentage points in math and less than one percentage point in reading, according to a summary of citywide results provided by D.C. officials.
The incremental increase comes one year after city leaders announced 4-point gains in both subjects that they said were "historic" and showed the District's approach to improving schools — including the advent of mayoral control and the rapid growth of charter schools — is working.
Underneath the 2014 uptick were some unsettling data points: Proficiency rates among students learning English as a second language declined in both subjects and in both traditional and charter schools. Latino students' reading proficiency rates also dropped in both sectors, while the traditional school system saw reading proficiency fall among its economically disadvantaged students.
Citywide, 54 percent of students scored high enough to be considered proficient in math, and just shy of half — 49.9 percent — were considered proficient in reading. The city's wide achievement gaps did not narrow and in some cases grew: 44 percent of African American students were proficient in reading, for example, compared to 92 percent of white students.
Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D) and education officials were scheduled to release more detailed results of the D.C. Comprehensive Assessment System, or D.C. CAS, on Thursday morning at Stanton Elementary School in Southeast Washington.
Chancellor Kaya Henderson said in a statement that she was "proud that the results of the DC CAS show we're continuing on an upward trajectory" but "somewhat disappointed that we weren't able to demonstrate greater growth this year."
"Our educators are working urgently to change outcomes for students, and our students are responding to the more challenging work that we're putting in front of them," Henderson said. "We are on the right track and now we just need to accelerate our progress."
State Superintendent of Education Jesús Aguirre said in a statement, "We have now seen multiple years where both sectors have experienced growth in enrollment and student performance.
"The bottom line is that families are choosing our public schools, and our students continue to make progress. However, we must continue to move with a sense of urgency to scale-up the reform efforts that we know are working so that we can accelerate our progress toward greater student success."
Traditional and charter schools posted similar increases in proficiency rates in 2014, though charter schools, as a group, continue to outperform the traditional school system.
Among charters, nearly 60 percent of students are proficient in math, an increase of one point since 2013; 53.4 percent of students are proficient in reading, up 0.4 percentage point.
Among traditional schools, 51 percent of students are proficient in math, up 1.6 percentage points, and close to 48 percent are proficient in math, up 0.3 percentage point.
Students also took science and composition, or writing, tests. Citywide science proficiency grew nearly 3 points to 45 percent, while writing proficiency dropped a point to 50 percent.
D.C. CAS proficiency rates were determined the same way this year as they were in 2013; i.e., students had to answer the same number of questions correctly in order to be deemed proficient, according to data provided by the Office of the State Superintendent of Education.
Prior to 2013, students at most grade levels had to answer more questions correctly in order to be deemed proficient. But the test was revised to become more difficult in 2013, and the number required to be correct declined as city officials sought to preserve the ability to compare proficiency across years. It was a move that testing experts called reasonable, but it wasn't communicated publicly and it drew criticism, particularly from D.C. Council Education Committee Chairman David Catania (I-At Large), who is now running for mayor.
Since 2007, proficiency rates among all D.C. students have increased 23 percentage points in math and 14 percentage points in reading.
This is the last time that the city will announce D.C. CAS scores and therefore the last year that policymakers and the public will be able to easily compare students' performance on city tests over time.
Next year, the CAS will be replaced by an exam known as the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC.
The PARCC exams are aligned to the Common Core State Standards and will be administered in multiple states across the country. They are expected to be more difficult than most states' current tests, and proficiency rates are widely expected to drop in the District and elsewhere.
About the Ward Five Council on Education
The Ward Five Council on Education is a 501(c)3 organization dedicated to improving the quality of education in Ward 5. The Council provides a forum for community stakeholders to share and resolve issues surrounding Ward 5 schools and works closely with the District of Columbia's education community to ensure that the quality of public schools – both traditional and charter – is exactly what Ward 5 students, parents, and the community at large deserve. Learn more at www.w5coe.org.
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