Testimony of Dr. Michelle J. Walker-Davis, Executive Director DC Public Charter School Board
Testimony of Dr. Michelle Walker-Davis, Executive Director
DC Public Charter School Board Hearing on Academic Achievement
Committee of the Whole
December 6, 2023
Good afternoon, Chairman Mendelson and the members of the Committee of the Whole. Thank you for the opportunity to testify on academic achievement in the public charter sector. I am Dr. Michelle Walker-Davis, Executive Director of the DC Public Charter School Board.
I appreciate the opportunity to discuss how students are doing academically. We need to continue to shine a light on both the progress the District has made since the pandemic and challenges to academic recovery. Many students made modest progress last year on PARCC, and we are hopeful and strongly believe that we are heading in the right direction this school year. The charter sector results show that many students continue to improve. Six public charter campuses saw increases in both their ELA and math proficiency by at least 11 percentage points compared to SY21-22. Overall across the sector, there is evidence of growth to proficiency and there are campuses with strong growth, but sector-wide growth needs to accelerate.
Too many students are not progressing as quickly as we hoped. We need to focus on supporting them academically and ensuring they show up to school each day with their needs met. Public charter schools are deeply focused on these students and are employing intervention strategies to accelerate learning. LEAs provide robust summer learning opportunities. 50 public charter schools offered summer school, almost half of campuses extended their school years, and 9 middle or high schools offered summer bridge programs. Many schools also receive funding from OSSE to implement high-impact tutoring on their campuses. And in some cases, LEAs used ESSER funding to hire additional teachers’ aides or learning specialists to provide more one on-one time for students, especially those furthest behind grade level. Schools plan to continue providing these programs to their students, though some may need to downsize as ESSER funding runs out.
The academic challenges presented by the pandemic as well as historic inequities are why DC PCSB chose to revise our accountability system. The system will evaluate schools on a more granular level and focus on the academic proficiency and growth of all students, particularly those furthest from opportunity. The accountability system will highlight the performance of at-risk students, emerging multilingual learners, and students with disabilities. We want to set a high bar for our schools, recognize our bright spots, and highlight areas for improvement. DC PCSB expects all schools to be both excellent and equitable, with all students meeting grade level standards or growing toward proficiency.
Lastly, we must acknowledge that a school cannot meet all student needs alone. In order for a student to learn every day, they must have adequate housing, clean clothes, food, and safety in their neighborhoods. The District will not see significant academic growth if we do not address these large concerns that so many families have. Schools provide wrap-around services, and they create nurturing environments, but we must be realistic about the challenges students and families face which can make learning difficult.
I want to end by recognizing that learning acceleration would not be possible without dedicated teachers, principals, and leaders. I want to applaud them for their dedication and commitment to DC students. I am confident they will continue to support students to grow, but we must give them the resources to do that.
Thank you for allowing me to testify today. I am happy to answer any questions.