D.C. Public Schools’ progress in math and reading mostly stalled this year, as students failed to make progress on several areas of the 2011 “Nation’s Report Card,” a trend seen across most urban districts and the nation.
The city’s school system was, however, among just six of 21 urban districts profiled by the National Assessment of Educational Progress that significantly increased its eighth-grade math scores.
That growth, with generally flat scores in reading and in elementary math, mirror the results of the District’s own standardized tests, which came under a microscope this year over allegations that teachers changed answers to increase their classrooms’ scores.
| How D.C. students fared | ||||
| 4th-Reading | 8th- Reading | 4th-Math | 8th-Math | |
| D.C. Public Schools | 201 (-2) | 237 (-3) | 222 (+2) | 255 (+5) |
| Large cities | 211 | 255 | 233 | 274 |
| Nation | 220 | 264 | 240 | 283 |
On the reading exam, DCPS fourth-graders scored a 201, down two points from a score of 203 in 2009. Eighth-grade students scored a 237, a drop of three points. Neither was considered a statistically significant change.
In fourth-grade math, DCPS students increased their scores by two points to 222, but that was considered flat as well. However, the five-point jump in eighth-graders’ math scores, to 255, was called progress by the National Assessment Governing Board. All of DCPS’ scores were below average for large cities and for the nation.
The District’s performance on NAEP has been mostly improving over the years, with fourth-graders making steady progress on the reading exam from 2003 to 2009, but eighth-graders’ scores staying flat. Math students in both grades have seen steady climbs, even before the reforms of former Chancellor Michelle Rhee.
DCPS officials described the scores as “mixed results.” Chancellor Kaya Henderson said the performance “reinforces our decision to aggressively improve interventions, expand and develop the level of instruction in our classrooms and, most important, aggressively implement a rigorous, new curriculum.”
Of the 21 urban districts, the District had the highest achievement gaps between its white and black students, as well as its white and Hispanic students. On the fourth-grade reading exam, for example, there was a 64-point spread between white students’ 255 and black students’ 191.
Black students also helped drive the uptick in eighth-grade math scores, increasing from 244 to 249. Although white students scored a high 322, it took them six years to rise five points.
But the fact that the gaps generally widened was a cause for concern, Henderson said.
Not everyone was convinced that the flat scores reinforced the needs for reforms introduced in the past few years by Rhee and her successor, Henderson.
“There’s a need to revisit these broad promises of progress, based upon prescriptive educational practices,” said Nathan Saunders, president of the Washington Teachers’ Union. “I believe that we will not see significant progress until we get back to creative teaching … as opposed to individuals who create textbooks, and avant-garde education entrepreneurs.”
