December 08, 2009

DCPS Student Growth Outpaces Urban Peers in Math 

Contact: Jennifer Calloway | (202) 535-1096

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Fourth and eighth grade District of Columbia Public School (DCPS) students are increasing their math proficiency at a faster rate than their big-city peers, according to new findings from the U.S. Department of Education. The results are from the 2009 Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) report, which analyzes the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores of 18 urban school districts nationwide.

“We are truly proud of our students’ growth and grateful for the collective will and dedication of parents, teachers, and principals who have set the expectation for success,” said Mayor Adrian M. Fenty. “The TUDA results continue to show and prove what is possible in education reform.”

Outpacing Growth in Other Urban School Districts
In 2009, DCPS was the only district to grow more than five scale score points in both fourth and eighth grade math --outpacing all other urban school districts. Only Boston and San Diego have posted similar gains and not since 2005.

DCPS fourth graders showed the greatest improvement compared to all other TUDA districts by growing six scale points in math from 214 to 220, ranking number one in growth among TUDA districts for first time. Both low-income and Hispanic fourth grade students lead the nation in gains as well, and black fourth graders achieved the second highest gains within TUDA districts.

According to DCPS Chancellor Michelle Rhee, “Everyday our school communities battle a long-standing prejudice against students in urban school districts –and reports like this shed a necessary light on how hard our students are working and it recognizes the remarkable efforts of our teachers and school leaders.”

While fourth graders were number one in growth nationwide, DCPS eighth graders nearly matched their stride coming in second only to San Diego, increasing 7 scale score points from 244 to 251.*

Historically, DCPS has never grown at this rate in both fourth and eighth grade. This solid growth is an important indicator that DCPS students are continuing to make significant academic progress --and it validates the gains seen on DC Comprehensive Assessment System (DC CAS).

Moving All Students Forward
An integral part of the reform effort is ensuring that all students receive the instruction and supports they need to be successful. The 2009 TUDA results mirror the DC CAS scores and clearly demonstrate that DCPS students from every subgroup are better-off academically than in 2007.

*“According to the National Center for Education Statistics, which collected and analyzed the data for the 2009 TUDA report, the report only included schools that are managed by the local Superintendent/Chancellor. Therefore, charter schools are not included in the District of Columbia Public Schools results. This change had minimal impact on every district except for D.C., which has a significant number of charters. For example, if charters are removed from DCPS results in 2007, 8th grade black students increased by 4 points, from 240 in 2007 to 244 in 2009 and 8th grade low income students increased from 236 in 2007 to 243 in 2009.”

Hispanic 4th Graders

• Hispanic fourth graders increased by 8 scale points closing the achievement gap with their urban and suburban peers nationally.
• In 2003, 40 percent of Hispanic 4th graders were basic or above and in 2009, 69 percent are basic or above. This brings DCPS students 1 percentage point below the national public average.

Hispanic 8th Graders

• Hispanic 8th graders increased by 15 scale points from 248 to 263 landing just 3 points below their peer group’s national average.
• The percentage of Hispanic 8th graders at basic or above increased more than 20 percentage points closing the achievement gap our students and their urban and suburban peers nationally.

Black 4th Graders

• Black 4th graders increased their score by 4 scale points, achieving the second highest growth within TUDA districts.

Black 8th graders

• Black 8th graders increased their scale score by 4 points.

The percentage of black 8th graders at basic or above increased from a quarter to nearly a third increasing 7 percentage points.

Overall Proficiency Rates
DCPS is no longer the worst performing school district in the country. For the first time ever, more than half of DCPS fourth graders have rates of basic and above and more than a third of DCPS eighth graders are scoring the same.

At the fourth grade level DCPS ranked 11th out of 18 in proficiency and eighth graders ranked 13th out of 18 jumping ahead of Chicago and Atlanta --respectively.

Increasing math proficiency at the fourth grade level from 14 to 19 percent and at the eighth grade level from 8 to 12 percent is significant, but it also underscores the urgency of the task at-hand. Supporting long-term student achievement growth is still the cornerstone of this reform effort.

As DCPS moves beyond the operational improvements which dominated the first two years of reform, the focus will continue to be on what is happening in the classroom.

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