DC Charter Schools Continue to Outperform State Average

Audrey Williams 301-351-6259 (cell); 202-328-2748 office

Washington, D.C. — Students in DC public charter schools continue to perform above the state average in both reading and mathematics on the District of Columbia Comprehensive Assessment System (DC CAS) tests, according to state-level results released today.

The state average proficiency rate in math is 49.3% and in reading is 45.6%. The DC charter schools average proficiency rate in math is 55% and in reading is 49.4%. These results came despite charter schools serving a higher percentage of low-income students than the District average: 72% of students in DC charters are low-income compared with 61% of students in DCPS.

DC CAS scores are one of the indicators in the DC Public Charter School Board’s (PCSB) Performance Management Framework (PMF), which is used to evaluate school performance. While there were modest DC CAS gains in math among charter schools, reading scores declined slightly. Overall charter school combined math and reading results were up 0.5%, the sixth consecutive year that charter school proficiency rates have climbed. These DC CAS results will be used to calculate charter schools’ 2012 PMF results, which the PCSB will release in October.

“Parents should be encouraged with the promising results of some individual schools who took DC CAS for the first time this year,” said Brian W. Jones, PCSB Board Chair.  “Excel Academy, an all-girls charter school in Ward 8 had 62.8% proficiency in math and 53.5% proficiency in reading.  DC Prep Edgewood Elementary in Ward 5 had 72% proficiency in math and 76% proficiency in reading.  And Washington Yu Ying, a Chinese language immersion school also in Ward 5, had 62.5% proficiency in math and 72.2% proficiency in reading.”

“We congratulate those schools whose scores improved and recognize that those schools whose scores declined must redouble their efforts,” said Scott Pearson, PCSB Executive Director. “But we also know that year to year variations are less important than the long-term trends. The big picture remains the same: our Tier 1 schools performed at very high levels. We need more schools like these. And the performance of most of our Tier 3 schools declined from already very low levels. These schools need to either close or radically transform themselves.”

Proficiency Rates (%) for Tier 1 Public Charter Schools

Proficiency Rates (%) for Tier 2 Public Charter Schools

Proficiency Rates (%) for Tier 3 Public Charter Schools

Proficiency Rates (%) for Non PMF Tiered Schools that took DC CAS in 2012*

Updated Chart

*These schools do not have a PMF Tier either because they were not open in 2010-2011,

they did not have students in the tested grades (3 -8 and 10), or their students take a different version of the DC CAS [St. Coletta]. 

About the PCSB: The DC Public Charter School Board (PCSB) currently oversees 53 public charter schools on 98 campuses serving nearly 32,000 students living in every ward of the city. Seventy-two percent of the students attending public charter schools qualify for free or reduced price meals. Public charter schools serve 41% of all public school students in Washington, DC. Learn more about the PCSB at www.dcpcsb.org