In D.C., school reform is working

Almost four years ago on this page, I expressed reservations about whether mayoral control was the best way to improve the D.C. Public Schools and whether D.C. residents, already deprived of a vote in Congress, would feel further disenfranchised if they had to give up the right to elect school board members [op-ed, Nov. 26, 2006]. To this day, I remain an advocate for elected school boards, and I resist the tendency to automatically view mayoral control as the panacea for what ails urban schools. In more than 30 years of working with big-city school districts, I have seen mayoral control produce good results, but not in all cities. I have seen traditional governance models work in some school systems, but not in others. I have concluded that governance changes in big-city school systems mean little on their own. They appear to work when the change in governance allows school leaders to address underlying instructional problems faster or to make structural changes that lead directly to better teaching.

That is what we appear to be witnessing in the D.C. Public Schools, confounding the initial skeptics, including me.

When Adrian Fenty became mayor, it was not clear that he had a well-defined vision for education reform. It was, however, evident that he understood someone needed to end the tug of war over schools that had historically resulted in the D.C. educational system going nowhere. Fenty had the good fortune of having had Michelle Rhee recommended to him as someone with the toughness and foresight to shake up the system.

As chancellor, Rhee has become a controversial figure for reasons that are partly of her own making. But it should not be under serious dispute that she has made a positive difference for D.C. children.

The fourth-grade reading and math results released Thursday by the National Assessment of Educational Progress underscore this point. From 2007 to 2009, D.C. Public Schools' fourth-grade reading scores on the "nation's report card" increased by the fastest rate of any of the major-city school districts giving the exam.

D.C. fourth-grade reading scores rose six points during this two-year period of Rhee's administration, while large cities on average did not post a statistically significant gain and the nation overall posted no improvement. D.C. eighth-grade scores jumped four points, compared with the large-city average gain of two points and a national gain of one -- making the District the only city to have posted significant gains between 2007 and 2009 in both grades.

The District's fourth-grade math scores, moreover, showed a six-point gain from 2007 to 2009, while large cities on average improved by one point, and the nation showed no improvement. Among major cities, the D.C. school system is behind only those in Atlanta and Boston in the speed of its reading and math gains at the elementary-school level since the tests were first given. Atlanta's fourth-grade reading scores are up 14 points since 2002, and the District's have gone up 12 -- half of that in the past two years. Large cities, in general, have improved eight points over the same period, and the nation has gained three.

In math, scores in Boston have jumped 16 points since 2003 -- the first year these data were reported -- and the District's scores have gone up 15. The large cities have improved seven points, and the nation picked up five.

To be sure, overall student achievement in D.C. schools is still below par, and the school system still faces formidable challenges. But it is moving in the right direction at a convincing clip and, despite what some have claimed, is doing so without widening achievement gaps to any significant degree.

The gains achieved since the "mayoral takeover" of the schools were not accidental. As chancellor, Rhee has built on the good work of Clifford Janey, but her team added substantially to the previous administration's efforts. She developed a template for what good teaching should look like, established clear lines of accountability, defined and strengthened professional development, and established extended-time programs for students who were performing poorly.

These strategies have led to higher scores. Perhaps more important, the capacity that is being developed among District personnel is likely to sustain gains well into the future -- if the city doesn't lose its focus. And that's an important "if."

Many in Washington have had a hard time warming to the chancellor, even as they see improvements in the school system. This dynamic is not unusual in cities needing to revamp and improve their schools. Urban school leaders often have to balance the imperative to improve their organizations with creating enough community backing to sustain the reforms.

Rhee might want to think about how she could build more parent support for her reforms, but the citizenry needs to consider whether its adult sensitivities trump how much better their children's future will be with a stronger school system. After all, this is about the kids. Right?

Michael Casserly is executive director of the Council of the Great City Schools.