Although we have seen improvement in recent years, public schools in Washington, DC still grapple with how to close the achievement gap between black and white students. In fact, DC has one of the most dramatic racial achievement gaps of all urban public school systems in the country. For a host of reasons, public school students in DC are not receiving the same opportunities or the same quality of education.
In 2007, former Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee spearheaded the reform movement of DC public schools. Her bold leadership sparked hope for positive reforms and brought attention to the changes that need to happen. Rhee was not afraid to clash with union leaders and fight for major policy changes. Rhee succeeded in creating the DC Public Schools Amendment Act of 2007. This amendment restructured the way DC public schools are evaluated, created a State Board of Education, a deputy mayor for education, and the Office of the State Superintendent of Education position.
Under this amendment, the DCPS system became a subordinate agency under the mayor. Some of her policies were more polarizing, including the dismissal of 400 teachers who were not performing well enough after being evaluated by the IMPACT program. One of Rhee’s main goals was to ensure that all students have access to the best teachers, no matter what school they go to. Because of this change, DC has improved the retention rate of top performing teachers dramatically. Aside from improving the quality of teachers, all students have improved their test scores. Rhee’s successor, Kaya Henderson continues to build and strengthen Rhee’s powerful reforms.
Despite these improvements, DC public schools still have work to do. The federal National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and the Trial Urban District Assessment results for 2015 show that for fourth-grade reading, black students averaged 55 points lower than white students and Hispanic students scored 42 points lower than white students. Students who were eligible for free or reduced-price lunches, indicating low family income, scored an average of 47 points lower than students who were not eligible.
These results are disappointing, especially considering that within each of these groups, the achievement gap has either not improved or widened since 2002. Even though test scores have improved for all groups, the achievement gap itself has not improved. Also, even though DC is retaining better teachers, the top performing teachers are more likely to work in affluent schools over struggling schools.
So what is the cause of this achievement gap, or as some have called it, “achievement gulf?” A report from DC Action for Children attributes these disparities to a combination of race, place and income. The gap cannot just be a result of differences in socioeconomic status, because data shows that the achievement gap between black and white students is about double the gap between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged students.
Where students go to school is connected to how students achieve. Students in Wards 2 and 3 have better test score results than students in Wards 7 and 8. Research also shows that low-income families are more likely to live in neighborhoods with high concentrations of poverty, and that these neighborhoods are more likely to have under-resourced schools and produce under-performing students. Inequality in the quality of education results in inequality of educational opportunity.
Successful leaders give us hope that we can build on past successes. This work requires time and patience, but this issue is urgent. As the capital of the United States, we cannot allow these disappointing statistics to represent how we value education and equality. To join this reform and support education in DC, you can join programs like DC Reads, which allows you to serve as a tutor to elementary school students in DC. Students can also become interns for the DC Public Schools system.
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