Modest Gains In D.C. Schools

Passing Rates In Math, Reading Still Less Than 40%

Most of the District's public school children still have poor reading and math skills, but students have made modest academic gains, most notably in math, according to results released yesterday in the 2006-2007 D.C. Comprehensive Assessment.

Overall, 42 schools met performance targets in reading and math, compared with 33 schools the previous year.

About 38 percent of elementary students achieved proficiency in reading, an increase of 1 percentage point over last year. The proportion of secondary-school students who met the reading benchmark rose 2.4 percentage points during the same period, from 32.3 percent to 34.7 percent, according to the office of the state superintendent.

In math, 30.5 percent of elementary students reached proficiency, an increase of 3.7 percentage points. Students in secondary schools made bigger gains, with 32.8 percent proficiency, 6.5 percentage points higher than last year.

Those results cover students at 191 public schools, including 141 schools within the D.C. school system and 50 charter schools, which are taxpayer-funded but independently run. Students in grades 3 through 8 and 10 took the test in April. They were required to write explanations for their math answers and to write responses on English test questions.

The scores are a critical starting point for Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee as she lays out her academic vision for improving the low-performing urban school system. Although the teaching and learning that led to the scores happened before she was named June 12 to lead the school system, Rhee said in an interview that the scores will be used as a way to "benchmark growth possibilities."

Rhee said principals have discussed the scores this week during orientation sessions, where principals at higher-performing schools were teamed up with principals of other schools to talk about how they had improved their results.

"They were analyzing and pulling the scores apart," Rhee said. "When you have your own peers talking to you about it, it gives a different level of understanding."

This was the second year of the Comprehensive Assessment, and education officials have said they expect to see modest gains each year as students grow accustomed to the test and teachers adjust their lessons.

Michael Casserly, executive director of the Council of the Great City Schools, said this year's results reflect the difficulty of the test more than the comfort level of District students and teachers. Casserly said it is difficult to gain more than 3 points annually on the Comprehensive Assessment, which is based on a Massachusetts test.

"It looks like the gains in math are solid," Casserly said. As for reading, the results show the need for more intervention programs, he said.

"Whether under [previous superintendent Clifford B.] Janey or Rhee, this system is going to have a hard time seeing dramatic jumps on the test because of how difficult a test it is," Casserly said.