Staff and students’ confidence in D.C. Public Schools has increased slightly under Chancellor Michelle Rhee, according to a just-released comprehensive batch of surveys conducted last spring by an independent firm.
Nearly 70 percent of teachers agreed that “the principal at my school is an effective manager who makes the school run smoothly,” up from 63 percent in 2007-08. About 84 percent of students said that the principal “sets high standards for student learning,” up from 80 percent one year earlier.
More teachers also were satisfied with the amount of classroom materials and resources, though overall satisfaction remains low. About 59 percent of teachers agreed that supplies were adequate in 2009, up from 53 percent in 2008.
Rhee called the results “an essential piece of our commitment to garner the type of unfiltered feedback we need to guide our decision-making process.”
Despite mostly positive results, only 55 percent of school employees agreed that DCPS “is on the right track for student achievement,” down from 64 percent in 2008. Those numbers contrast with a steady 74 percent of staff who believe that their individual schools are “on the right track.”
A gauge of overall satisfaction at the high school level revealed familiar fault lines between higher-performing schools in Northwest D.C. and long-struggling counterparts elsewhere in the city.
Five high schools — Wilson, Columbia Heights, Banneker, Ellington and School Without Walls — showed above average “overall satisfaction” for both students and teachers. Each of them is in Northwest’s wards one, two or three, and each of them except for Wilson is an application-only school with vaunted academic programs.
Banneker, Ellington and School Without Walls had about 90 percent satisfaction or higher, compared with the city average of 73 percent for students and 67 percent for staff.
Six high schools — Roosevelt, Eastern, Dunbar, Cardozo, Ballou and Anacostia — showed below-average satisfaction for both staff and students. Anacostia Senior High had the lowest approval ratings — only 39 percent of students and 29 percent of staff felt the school was moving in the right direction.
Rhee pointed out by e-mail that some of the lower-ranking high schools, like Anacostia, came under new management this fall in an effort to address past years’ poor performance.
“It doesn’t surprise me that the applications schools have higher rates of satisfaction,” she said. “And we’re working to get our comprehensive high schools there as well.”
