School Improvement Designations

Part of the Office of the State Superintendent of Education’s (OSSE’s) role in school improvement is to ensure low performing schools carry out the strategies needed to improve academic outcomes for students.

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires each state educational agency receiving funds under Title I, Part A, section 1003 notify each local education agency (LEA) in the state of any school served by the LEA that is identified for comprehensive support and improvement under subsection (c)(4)(D)(i). Upon receiving such information from the state, the LEA shall, for each school identified by the state and in partnership with relevant parties (including principals and other school leaders, teachers, and parents), locally develop and implement a comprehensive support and improvement plan for the school to improve student outcomes.

OSSE is federally required by the US Department of Education (USED) to designate DC’s lowest performing schools for improvement and additional support, under the 2015 Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). This designation process must use methodologies detailed in OSSE’s ESSA State Plan as approved by USED.

OSSE made school improvement designations for the first time under its 2022 ESSA State Plan Amendment in December 2024. These designations were made using OSSE’s statewide accountability framework, and include four (4) designations based on school-wide accountability scores, as well as one (1) designation for schools that are consistently underperforming for a particular student group, as follows:

Designation	Definition
Comprehensive Support and Improvement Schools (CSI)	Title I schools that score in the bottom 5% of total number of points on the accountability framework within the same grade span/accountability system level. As in previous years, the lowest-performing 5% of elementary/middle schools and high schools will be calculated separately. Eight (8) elementary/middle schools and two (2) high schools will comprise the lowest-performing 5%.
Comprehensive Support and Improvement – Graduation (CSI-Grad)	High schools where both their 4-year Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate (ACGR) and 5-year ACGR fall below 67%.
Intensive Support and Improvement (ISI)	Any school that was designated as CSI in the previous designation cycle, and remains in the lowest performing 5% of schools, as determined by accountability score. This designation is officially a subset of CSI.
Monitored Improvement Status (MIS)	Schools will receive this designation if they were designated as CSI in 2018 and do not have an accountability score in the lowest-performing 5% in 2024, but did not demonstrate improvement in academic achievement by raising ELA and math proficiency on the statewide assessment by at least one percentage point since 2018. Please note that this designation does not apply to schools identified as CSI only in 2022, as the state plan addendum under which those schools were designated did not state the same exit criteria.
Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI)	Schools with a student group accountability score that is at or below the threshold identified for the lowest performing 5% of schools within the same grade span/accountability system for two consecutive years (SY2022-23 and SY2023-24).

The following public charter schools received school improvement designations in December 2024 based on accountability scores given during the 2023-24 school year. These schools are in a three-year school improvement cycle that will span school years 2024-25, 2025-26, and 2026-27.

Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI)

Bridges Public Charter School
Friendship Public Charter School – Online Academy
Rocketship Public Charter School – Legacy Prep
Roots Public Charter School
Shining Stars Montessori Academy Public Charter School

Comprehensive Support and Improvement – Graduation (CSI-Grad)

Goodwill Excel Center Public Charter School
IDEA Public Charter School
Kingsman Academy Public Charter School

Intensive Support and Improvement (ISI)

N/A

Monitored Improvement Status (MIS)

N/A

Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI)

Capital City Public Charter School – Middle School (Students of Two or More Races)
Capital Village Public Charter School (Black/African American Students)
Center City Public Charter School – Capitol Hill (Economically Disadvantaged Students, Black/African American Students)

Note: The next time OSSE will make school improvement designations will be December 2027, using accountability scores in school year 2026-27.

Related Content:

Every Student Succeeds Act

Accountability Under ESEA

Accelerate DC: Requirements, Resources, & Supports for Designated Schools.