Seven DC Public Charter Schools Identified with Small or Non-existent Achievement Gaps

A new index released today identified seven DC public charter schools with small or nonexistent achievement gaps. The two high schools, two middle schools, two elementary schools, and one special education school serve a student population where the majority are from low-income families, as measured by free and reduced lunch participation.

Developed by Education Cities and GreatSchools, the Education Equality Index (EEI) is the first national comparative measure of the achievement gap featuring school, city and state-level data covering the nation’s 100 biggest cities in 35 states. The EEI proportionally compares low-income students who scored proficiently on a state assessment to all students across the state who took the same assessment.

According to the EEI, most US cities have a big or massive achievement gap. For DC, the achievement gap is smaller than nearly 90 percent of the nation’s biggest cities and four of 10 students from low-income students attend schools that are closing the achievement gap, whereas the national average is only two of 10 students. However, between 2011 and 2014, DC’s achievement gap grew slightly by three percent.

“This is an important tool to show how students from Washington, DC are doing compared to their counterparts in other major cities.” DC PCSB Board Chair, Darren Woodruff, told Education Cities and GreatSchools in a statement. “While we are pleased with the progress we have made, we know that there is much work to be done which is why we have strengthened our oversight and are holding public charter schools accountable for providing a quality education.”

The seven public charter schools closing the achievement gap in DC are:

  • DC Prep PCS – Benning Elementary
  • DC Prep PCS – Edgewood Elementary
  • DC Prep PCS – Edgewood Middle
  • KIPP DC PCS – College Preparatory
  • KIPP DC PCS – KEY Academy
  • St. Coletta Special Education PCS
  • Thurgood Marshall Academy PCS

A new index released identified seven DC public charter schools with small or nonexistent achievement gaps.