DC School Report Card Results Show More 4 and 5 STAR Public Charter Schools

On November 26th, 2019, the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) announced the release of the SY 2018-19 DC School Report Cards, including ratings for all public schools in DC on the School Transparency and Reporting (STAR) framework.  They provide more evidence that public charter schools continue to improve and to deliver quality educational choices to DC residents.

Here are the highlights:

More Top-Rated Schools

The number of top-rated DC public charter schools is on the rise, with 30 schools earning a rating of either 4 STAR or 5 STAR (the highest rating on the STAR framework) compared to 26 in SY 2017-18.  (Last year was the first year of the DC School Report Card.)  Over 70% of public charter schools earned 3 STAR or above.

The First 5 STAR Schools East of the River

For the first time, families in Wards 7 and 8 each have a 5 STAR school among their school options.  KIPP DC Promise Academy Public Charter School, in Ward 7, and Center City Congress Heights Public Charter School in Ward 8 are DC’s first-ever five-STAR schools in these Wards.

1 STAR Charter Schools: Just One Remaining

The OSSE report lists five 1 STAR public charter schools.  However, four of these schools were closed by the DC Public Charter School Board at the end of last year, leaving just one one-star school still operating.

Public Charter School STAR Results by Rating: SY 2017-18 to SY 2018-19 (% of schools) 

Excluding Closed Schools

Public Charter School STAR Results by Rating: SY 2017-18 to SY 2018-19 (# of schools)

Excluding Closed Schools

More than half (52.6%) of the public charter schools with STAR results in each of the past two years showed improvement from last year, including 16 schools posting double-digit gains in the overall score. Center City PCS - Congress Heights in Ward 8 and KIPP DC - Promise Academy PCS in Ward 7 both made the jump from a 4 STAR to 5 STAR rating in SY 2018-19, and Washington Global PCS led the sector in improvement from last year with an overall increase of more than 21 points (out of 100).

Public Charter Schools with Most Improvement in STAR Score: SY 2017-18 to SY 2018-19

Several public charter middle schools also earned STAR ratings during their first year of operation in SY 2018-19. Digital Pioneers Academy PCS earned a 3 STAR rating in year one, exceeding an overall score of 50, and earning a student group score of more than 60 for its Students with Disabilities. Statesmen College Preparatory Academy for Boys PCS, another first-year school, came in just under the 3 STAR threshold; the same goes for Friendship Southeast Middle, a newly opened campus operated by Friendship PCS. We look forward to seeing these new middle schools grow and improve as we continue our commitment to offering quality seats to families across the city.

As for comparing the STAR results with scores on our Performance Management Framework (PMF), the data driving our School Quality Report, we continued to see that for schools educating state-tested (PARCC) grades, the relationship between PMF scores and STAR results is fairly strong. For PK-8 programs ending in grades 4-8 (charted below), this relationship is notably strong, with a correlation of about 0.9 between SY 2018-19 STAR scores and PMF scores. In other words, for this cohort of schools, the PMF and STAR do not tell different stories about school quality but illustrate both common and different areas where public charter schools are showing similar progress.

We encourage prospective students and families to use the insights available to them on the DC School Report Card and the School Quality Report to compare and evaluate school performance across measures of achievement, student progress, school environment, chronic absenteeism, and more. The public charter schools that did not receive STAR ratings in SY 2018-19 include early childhood programs, adult education campuses, and alternative schools; our Compare Schools tool will allow you to view the School Quality Report for those schools to see how they perform compared to one another or on the charter goals unique to the program offerings at each school.

To read more about and see the STAR results for your student’s current or future school, visit www.dcschoolreportcard.org. 

STAR Rating and PMF Tier Crosswalk (# of schools)*

* Schools serving grades on the Middle School and High School frameworks (e.g. a school serving grades 6-12) receive two separate scores on the PMF and one overall STAR rating; these schools are counted twice in the chart above.

PMF and STAR Scores: PK-8 Schools Serving State-Tested Grades