Thousands More Charter Students Testing Proficient and Advanced

Most of the discussion about the 2013 DC CAS results has been about percentages.   We’ve all heard that the percentage of charter school students scoring proficient or above jumped 3.9 percentage points in both reading and math.  58.6% of charter school students taking the DC CAS* now score proficient in math, and 53.0% in reading.

But another way to look at the results is by sheer numbers.  Looked at that way, the impressive results from 2013 are even more so.

Consider the following:

In 2012, 6,308 DC charter students scored proficient or advanced in math.  In 2013 7,998 did, for an increase of 1,690 students, or 27%  (charter enrollment grew by 8%).

It’s even more impressive in reading. 

In 2012, 5,610 charter school students scored proficient or advanced in reading.  In 2013, 8,312 did.  That’s an increase of 2,522 students – or 45% growth in the number of students!

Most encouraging of all is the growth in students testing at the “advanced” level.  The total number of advanced students grew from 1380 to 2104 in math and from 837 to 1512 in reading.   That’s almost a doubling in the number of charter students reading at an advanced level.

Many charter schools contributed to these impressive results.

Here’s the schools with the greatest numerical growth in the number of proficient and advanced students.

Growth in the number of proficient and advanced students in math

Growth in number of proficient and advanced students in reading

* Because the DC CAS is given only to grades 3-8 and grade 10, just under half of charter school students take the 

Most of the discussion about the 2013 DC CAS results has been about percentages.   We’ve all heard that the percentage of charter school students scoring proficient or above jumped 3.9 percentage points in both reading and math.  58.6% of chart...