The ASPIRE System
ASPIRE is DC PCSB’s academic accountability system. It enables us as DC’s only charter authorizer to evaluate and review schools’ performance in service of their mission and students.
How Does ASPIRE Work?
ASPIRE has five main frameworks, which are separated based on the grade bands that a school serves: PK-Only, PK-8, High School, Adult, and Alternative.
Most schools will be evaluated based on their success in four main categories: School Progress, School Achievement, School Environment, and School-Specific Performance. DC PCSB has determined various metrics for each category, including state assessments and CLASS data. PK-Only schools will be evaluated based on just three categories: School Progress and Achievement, School Environment, and School-Specific Performance.
Schools’ evaluation based on these frameworks will determine their level. ASPIRE has five levels. DC PCSB will use these levels to inform decisions about school oversight. School leaders will be able to use their ASPIRE evaluation to understand their impact on students’ success, and make improvements. Families and communities will use ASPIRE to understand how well their local school serves their students.
How Schools Are Evaluated
ASPIRE evaluates schools across multiple frameworks and categories that together paint a complete picture of school quality.
School Progress
This category measures how well schools are helping students grow academically.
School Achievement
This category measures how well schools prepare students to meet college and career
readiness benchmarks.
School Environment
This category measures a school’s learning environment and provides information about
how well schools are engaging their students.
School-Specific Performance
This category measures qualities that are important to a school’s mission, program, or
model.
ASPIRE Documents & Reports
Frameworks & Categories
Learn about the five frameworks and four categories of ASPIRE and how we will use them to evaluate schools.
ASPIRE Policy & Technical Guide
Below, you’ll find links that explain how ASPIRE applies across all five frameworks, detailing the measures and methods in use. Both the SY25–26 and SY26–27 technical guides are relevant this school year:
SY26–27 Guide: Helps schools project performance on ASPIRE during this school year.
SY25–26 Guide: Supports schools with data validation requirements for the current academic production cycle.
DC School Report Card vs ASPIRE
Both us and the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) have an academic evaluation system. Public charter schools in Washington, DC are subject to both systems. Learn more about the differences and similarities between the systems, and why we each have our own.
PMF and ASPIRE: Comparison
What is the difference between our old academic evaluation system, the Performance Management Framework (PMF) and the now-approved ASPIRE? Learn more in this quick guide.
Charter Goals Policy
As an element of our broader ASPIRE System, the Charter Goals Policy supports schools in setting goals that will help them best serve their students, and details how DC PCSB will hold schools accountable to those goals.
White Paper
Read a more detailed overview of the origin of ASPIRE.
ASPIRE Resources
Watch a quick video which explains how to interpret the 2024 – 25 SY ASPIRE Measure-Level results.
Find the notes and presentations from ASPIRE Working Groups below:
To help guide your decision about whether to adopt ASPIRE, we’ve prepared step-by-step guidance for a smooth transition. You can access the ASPIRE packet.
Have questions or want to discuss your school’s options? Contact Starling Temp, Senior Specialist of School Quality and Accountability, at [email protected].