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 04, 2024

Good afternoon, Chairman Mendelson and members of the Committee of the Whole. Thank you for the opportunity to testify on academic achievement in the public charter school sector. I am Dr. Michelle Walker-Davis, Executive Director of the DC Public Charter School Board. Our agency sets the policies and conditions that allow public charter schools to best educate students, and we provide academic, financial and organizational oversight of all public charter schools.

I am grateful for the opportunity to discuss the academic progress of our students. Many schools made modest progress last year on DC CAPE, and we are hopeful to see positive outcomes from the initiatives implemented by our public charter schools and the efforts we are making. The charter sector results indicate that the number of students who are proficient remains steady or shows a slight increase. Six public charter campuses saw increases in their ELA proficiency by at least 9 percentage points compared to the 2022-2023 school year. Additionally, four public charter campuses saw increases in their math proficiency by at least 10 percentage points compared to the 2022-2023 school year.

While overall proficiency rates are not at pre-pandemic levels, they have increased every year since testing resumed. And we know our schools are working tirelessly to accelerate learning and continue the upward trajectory.

As students continue to make progress post-pandemic, the sector remains deeply focused on academic achievement and growth, and our schools are continuing to employ intervention strategies to accelerate learning. Many schools have implemented high-impact tutoring programs, small-group instruction methods, and hired more instructional aides to focus on individual student learning. This past summer alone, more than 35 public charter schools offered summer school and summer enrichment programs to their students to curb summer learning loss. Twenty-seven campuses ran summer camps, and 13 campuses held summer bridge programs.

While it’s important to shine a light on the progress the District has made since the pandemic, I would also like to discuss how the DC Public Charter School Board plans to raise the bar for our schools and students, recognize our bright spots, and highlight areas for improvement. We all want excellent and equitable schools with strong academic programs for our students in DC. Keeping this in mind, this past June our Board approved an academic evaluation system, which we call ASPIRE. The Board also approved the ASPIRE Policy & Technical Guide and the Charter Goals Policy.

The ASPIRE Policy & Technical Guide outlines DC PCSB's approach to the annual academic evaluation of public charter schools. The accompanying Charter Goals Policy provides a framework for adopting the academic evaluation tool as goals for charter reviews (conducted every five years) and renewals (conducted every 15 years). Additionally, the Charter Goals Policy defines the criteria for establishing unique charter goals for every public charter LEA.

ASPIRE's approval came after more than two years of deep engagement with school leaders and researchers to ensure the system's metrics reflect key indicators of school quality, that the newly introduced student group weights reflect DC PCSB's commitment to equity, and that the overall system is aligned with charter authorizer best practices and responsive to the feedback and recommendations we gathered.

ASPIRE emphasizes all students having access to excellent and equitable schools, particularly those from communities that have been historically marginalized. We created ASPIRE to increase visibility for students who are furthest from opportunity, raise performance standards by increasing the bar for proficiency, and place greater emphasis on growth in response to the impact of COVID-19. ASPIRE also expands school performance distinction levels by having five levels, as opposed to three, and considers additional disaggregated data by race and ethnicity so we can highlight successes with student groups and see gaps in school performance.

ASPIRE evaluates all grades - PK-Only, PK-8, High School, Adult, and Alternative. These five frameworks use four main categories: School Progress, School Achievement, School Environment (includes chronic absenteeism and re-enrollment), and School-Specific Performance. We included School Specific Performance since we at DC PCSB value schools’ unique missions, and we want to factor them into the results, scoring, and levels. Ultimately, we developed a system that evaluates schools in the areas DC PCSB believes are most important: helping students grow, preparing students for college and career success, and building a learning environment that supports all learners.

ASPIRE will serve as an informational resource for various relevant groups. DC PCSB will use it when making school oversight decisions. It will communicate to school leaders where there are areas of improvement that impact student success, and it will support families and communities in showing how schools serve students. We realize that understanding the system requires understanding the inputs and how it is meant to be used, which is why we have held learning sessions on ASPIRE with LEA staff and LEA board members, school funders, families and caretakers, LEA-Retained Attorneys, and a Ward Education Council so far.

School Achievement, School Environment (includes chronic absenteeism and re-enrollment), and School-Specific Performance. We included School Specific Performance since we at DC PCSB value schools’ unique missions, and we want to factor them into the results, scoring, and levels. Ultimately, we developed a system that evaluates schools in the areas DC PCSB believes are most important: helping students grow, preparing students for college and career success, and building a learning environment that supports all learners.

Now that our Board has approved the system and we have begun working with schools to create their School Specific Performance goals, we will spend the next year implementing it. We are designating the 2023-2024 school year as a pilot year for ASPIRE. During this time, ASPIRE outcomes will be shared exclusively with schools and DC PCSB staff to ensure data validity. This pilot year provides us with an opportunity to review the data and reflect on our processes. ASPIRE outcomes using 2024-2025 school year data will be available to the public, but the outcomes will not include data for School Specific Performance Measures, and we will not apply a summative rating, or level for schools. Ultimately, ASPIRE outcomes using 2025-2026 school year data will be available to the public, and the outcomes will include data for School Specific Performance Metrics as well as a summative score and level. This process will continue each year thereafter. We intend to continuously analyze ASPIRE outcomes and propose updates as needed to ensure equity, transparency, and alignment with academic evaluation best practices.

Lastly, I want to commend the dedication of our teachers, whose efforts have contributed to an excellent start to the 2024-2025 school year. During my visits to several schools, I’ve observed students deeply engaged in their learning and teachers delivering lessons with enthusiasm and expertise. I also want to acknowledge the outstanding leadership of our public charter school principals and LEA leaders. They are not only cultivating strong academic environments within their schools but also ensuring students have access to essential wrap-around services, promoting safety both inside and outside of school, and fostering professional growth among their teachers and staff. Despite the challenges schools face, it’s inspiring to see educators rise to the occasion, advancing both student achievement and educational excellence.

Thank you for allowing me to testify today. I am happy to answer any questions.