Big Gains Made, but Most Still Struggle to Meet Benchmarks

by Mary Lord and Laura McGiffert Slover

If every cloud has its silver lining, then the stunning gains on the latest DC Comprehensive Assessment System test – or DC-CAS – are pure Tiffany in the District of Columbia, the nation’s lowest performing “state.”

The nation’s lowest performing “state.” The test, required by the Federal No Child Left Behind Act, was first administered in the spring of 2006. It seeks to measure how well students in grades three through eight, as well as high school sophomores, have mastered the core concepts in English and mathematics that they are expected to learn each year.

Between the spring of 2007 and 2008, the percentage of pupils in both public and public charter schools that performed at or above grade level in reading and math increased significantly at both the elementary and secondary levels. The percentage scoring proficient or above in math jumped an average of 10 percent. Average reading scores improved 7.3 percent. As the State Board of Education heard at its July 16 meeting, these are the biggest gains DC has seen in many, many years.

Mayor Adrian Fenty, schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee and State Superintendent of Education Deborah Gist rightfully celebrated what the mayor called a “milestone achievement.” Indeed, although the journey is far from over (too many students still fall below the bar, and the gap between rich and poor, black and white, stubbornly persists), the upward trend is what counts: Overall, DC schools clearly are heading in the right direction.

The gains are even more impressive at the individual school level. While some lost ground, a number of District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) schools doubled or even tripled the proportion of students reaching or exceeding grade level benchmarks. Hendley Elementary School surged from 14 percent of students performing at or above the proficient level in math to 45 percent, while Shaw Middle School boosted reading profi ciency from 20 percent to 39 percent, and Stevens Elementary saw math scores jump from roughly 26 percent to 45 percent.

Public charter schools showed widespread gains as well. Thurgood Marshall Academy, a law-themed high school in Southeast, zoomed from 42.6 percent in reading profi ciency to over 70 percent. E. L. Haynes, an innovative Columbia Heights elementary school with a large, economically disadvantaged student population, saw math profi ciency rise from 47.8 percent to 67 percent.

So why did scores advance so much? State education officials will be drilling down into the data to look for answers as to why some schools succeeded while others stalled out or even lost ground. Experts, however, point to several broad factors that may have contributed to this year’s successes, which mirror strong gains in Baltimore, Prince George’s County and other urban school districts.

Consistency over Time
When the DC-CAS was first introduced in 2005-2006, it was hailed by experts such as Michael Casserly, executive director of the Council of the Great City Schools, as a challenging test. Not only was the content difficult, so was the grading, since the Board of Education adopted rigorous performance standards (i.e., cut scores). As a result, the first year the test was administered, achievement scores were quite low. The public was dismayed, and many asked whether the tests were too hard. Yet rather than lower the bar, education officials held the course, maintaining
the same challenging assessment system and the high performance standards. This “if you build it, they will come” approach paid off this year – showing that students can achieve at high levels if much is expected of them. This is consistent with results in other states that have experienced a third or fourth year “bump.”

Familiarity with Content
As teachers get more familiar with their subject matter, they get better at teaching it. The DC academic standards were new just a year before the DC-CAS was introduced, so by now they have had more experience with the content and have likely adapted their teaching. Some may call this “teaching to the test,” but really it’s a matter of teachers “teaching to the standards.” Since the tests reflect the standards, better teaching of the content will have direct payoff in improved test scores.

Familiarity with Test
As students get more familiar with the test format, they get more comfortable taking the test. One important feature of the DC-CAS is its emphasis on “constructed response” questions. These are questions that require students to formulate their own answer – not just fill in a bubble – so they are considered to be more reflective of important critical thinking and problem solving skills. Typically, these kinds of test items are challenging for students, especially if they are not experienced at taking them. This year, after several years of taking the test, students could have anticipated these questions and been more prepared for them.

Tracking Progress throughout the Year
In school year 2006-2007, a regular assessment program was introduced, which included quarterly baseline or “formative” tests that were closely aligned to the spring DCCAS. Teachers could use the results to pinpoint which students needed extra help and to target instruction on improving whatever weaknesses were revealed. Th is past school year, the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) worked closely with DCPS and charter schools to improve these formative assessments – better aligning them with the standards and the spring tests, and including constructed response items for the first time.

Special Programs
Many schools instituted tutoring programs, after-school community partnerships, Saturday academies and other extra learning opportunities. These probably helped improve achievement as well.

Focus on Data-Driven Decision Making
At every level of the system, educators focused on data. DCPS Chancellor Rhee helped spur a new culture of data-driven decision-making by underscoring the importance of assessments as a tool in tailoring instruction and determining classroom practice. Many successful charter schools also use data to improve instruction and pinpoint strugglers before they fail. Similarly, State Superintendent Gist will be digging into the DC-CAS assessment data over the next few months to identify what programs and practices are having an impact so that they can be replicated and supported. In addition, the OSSE is about to launch its efforts around developing the Statewide Longitudinal Education Data (SLED) Warehouse, which will help track individual student performance so that improvement strategies can be targeted toward students’ needs. Stay tuned!

Ultimately, the results speak for themselves – and teachers and students should be proud of the work they have done this year. Even so, it is not time to pop the champagne just yet. Despite this year’s dramatic improvement, significant achievement gaps between ethnic and income groups persist and almost two-thirds of our students still fall short of the benchmarks. A case in point is Anacostia High School, which saw its 10th grade reading proficiency soar from roughly 6 percent to 21 percent, which is great – but that still means 4 in 5 students fall below grade level. Moreover, some schools lost ground while others barely budged. Th e pervasive low achievement shows that while we are on the right track, there is still much ground to cover for our students to really get the education they need and deserve.

Still, good news is good news. Indeed, in many ways, the upward trend line is more important than the annual tick up or down of each individual school. As the old Asian adage holds, the journey of 1,000 miles begins with the first step. The latest footprints suggest the District’s public and public charter schools are headed in a good direction.

For school-by-school results, please visit the Office of the State Superintendent for Education’s special website www.nclb.osse.dc.gov.