Valerie Jablow Testimony – DME and PCSB Performance Oversight Hearing – February 13 2018

My name is Valerie Jablow. As a DCPS parent and Ward 6 taxpayer, I want to ask you some questions, as you are charged with oversight of our education agencies.

Last week[1], council members spoke with the DCPS chancellor about pressure on teachers to pass students and attendance policies not being followed. I appreciate the scrutiny.

1. But does the relative lack of scrutiny of our charter high schools mean that what happened at Ballou hasn’t happened there? We know from the OSSE report on all our high schools[2] that there has been no oversight of charter schools’ adherence to attendance policies; how those policies (or any attendance) affects credits earned; public reporting of charter school graduation requirements; and charter credit recovery. This means that what happened at Ballou could very well have happened at our charter high schools.

2. Our city has embraced test scores and graduation rates as barometers of learning, teacher performance, and adults’ financial rewards. We know that resulted in immense teacher pressure at DCPS.[3] How is it possible that our charter schools are immune to those same pressures, given that the charter board has reported that its average promotion rate for SY16-17 was 97%?[4]?

3. When will graduation rates, absences, and credits be similarly accounted for in each LEA, so we can have reliable, apples to apples data?

4. Has anyone explored connections between teacher attrition and pressures on teachers to pass students? Teacher attrition averages about 20% annually in DCPS.[5] Using reported attrition rates for SY16-17, I calculated that average teacher attrition in our charter schools was almost 26%, with a fifth of DC’s charter schools having teacher attrition rates greater than 60%.

5. If the mayor is in charge of our public schools, why hasn’t her deputy been called before you in the graduation accountability hearings to address the questions I just mentioned? Unlike Chancellor Wilson, both the mayor and her deputy have been overseeing our schools for years.

6. Among her duties, the deputy mayor oversees the cross-sector collaboration task force, which is currently promoting its recommendations[6]. At the same time, someone in our city government apparently offered DCPS’s Kenilworth Elementary to North Star charter school without a word to the public.[7] Who made that offer and what does it consist of? My requests to the deputy mayor about this have gone unanswered.

7. And what does collaboration mean if the public is excluded from decision making by public bodies? My ward—along with wards 1, 4, and 8—is being targeted by the charter board as a “green zone” for charter school development. I found this out only because a document created for new charter operators says so[8]—not because anyone in city government informed me.

8. And why make such promotional efforts when there are currently 21,000 empty seats at charter and DCPS schools?[9]

Thank you for sharing publicly whatever answers you may have or find to these questions.

 

[1] This was during the graduation accountability hearing, held by the council committee on education, February 8, 2018.

[2] This was the first of two reports issued in the wake of Ballou, dated January 16, 2018, and available here:

Click to access Analysis%20of%20Attendance%20and%20Graduation%20Outcomes%20at%20Public%20High%20Schools%20in%20DC%20-%20Jan%2016%202018%20-%20sm.pdf

On page 2 of OSSE’s executive summary, we learn that “information related to graduation requirements at individual charter schools/LEAs is not consistently made publicly available in an accessible way” and “PCSB current policies and procedures do not currently include a review of student attendance data to determine if schools comply with their own attendance policies to the extent they impact earning credits” and “PCSB current policies and procedures do not currently include a review of school- or LEA-level policies related to credit recovery or other alternative opportunities to earn credit and compliance with these policies is not included the 12th grade transcript audit process.”

[3] This was fully outlined in the final Alvarez & Marsal report from January 30, 2018, available here:

Click to access Report%20on%20DCPS%20Graduation%20and%20Attendance%20Outcomes%20-%20Alvarez%26Marsal.pdf

[4] See the performance oversight responses to the council from the charter board here:

Click to access D.C.%20Public%20Charter%20School%20Board

Information about promotion rates is in response to question Q12, on p. 19.

[5] Courtesy of Mary Levy, who has extrapolated teacher data from annual DCPS budgets for years running, we know that teacher attrition in DCPS averages about 20% a year, with the newest hires having higher rates of attrition and staff with good ratings leaving at higher rates from schools with the most impoverished students. (See https://educationdc.net/2016/04/20/does-testing-produce-better-teachers-or-just-more-contracts-for-consulting-about-them/ and https://educationdc.net/2016/12/12/the-crumbling-tower-of-pisa/ for more information.)

More recently, I collected from the annual reports of our charter schools the self-reported teacher attrition rates for each DC charter school, available here:

http://www.dcpcsb.org/report/evaluating/charter-school-annual-reports

In SY16-17, for the 110 charter schools for which there is reported teacher attrition data, I counted that 37 charter schools had attrition rates of 20% or less (33.6% of the total); 21 schools had attrition rates between 20-29% (19% of the total); and 52 schools had attrition rates equal to or greater than 30% (47% of the total).

For that school year, I found that 23 charter schools had attrition rates of 60% or more (20.9% of the total), with 10 having teacher attrition rates at or above 80%. All of the latter were Friendship schools except for DC Bilingual; Shining Stars; and Washington Mathematics, Science, and Technology.

This breakdown is similar to what I recorded last year from the same source:

Um, Teacher Retention Is Not Just A DCPS Problem

[6] For more information, see here: https://educationdc.net/2018/01/24/keep-the-public-in-our-public-schools-sign-up-for-focus-groups-on-cross-sector-task-force-recommendations/

[7] On February 1, 2017, at a Ward 7 Education Council meeting, a representative from North Star College Preparatory Academy for Boys shared that their school had been offered the closed DCPS Kenilworth Elementary starting SY18-19. This was the first time anyone in the community had heard about this offer. Many in the community had hoped DCPS would reopen this school because they had lost many by-right schools to charters.

[8] See here: http://www.dcpcsb.org/file/charter-programs-need-and-growth

This document is accessible, as far as I can see, ONLY from this web page for new charter operators:

http://www.dcpcsb.org/report/charter-applications/start-charter-school

For more information, see here:

Just Tell Me: Who Voted For This?

[9] The 21st Century School Fund analyzed empty public school seats across DC using recent enrollment numbers:

Click to access excess.pdf

Join CHPSPO’s Strategic Planning – Feb 24

To enhance our efforts to develop common goals, facilitate collaboration, and drive real change among public schools in Ward 6, to improve the education received by all children, the Capitol Hill Public Schools Parent Organization (CHPSPO) is engaging the DC education community in a strategic planning process.

All CHPSPO members, as well as families, principals, and engaged community members are invited to participate in this strategic planning (working) meeting where we plan to develop long-term and short-term priorities for our work supporting Ward 6 schools.

Please register via Eventbrite.

When: Saturday, February 24, 9 AM – 1 PM

Where: Northeast Library’s Conference Room Mezzanine – 330 7th Street NE

Register via Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/chpspo-strategic-planning-meeting-registration-43120497569

CHPSP Meeting Notes– January 16, 2018

Brent Elementary School, January 16, 2018, 6:30 p.m. – 8 p.m.

 

Michelle Edwards, Executive Director of Learn It, Live It, Love It gave a great presentation. Her non-profit organization partners with DCPS Title I schools to bring structured, standards-aligned field trips experiences to students leveraging the museums and organizations in DC and the surrounding areas. She encourages schools and families to reach out to her if you are interested in learning more, contact Michelle at edwards@liveitlearnit.org. You can learn more about the organization at www.liveitlearnit.org.

Gene Pinkard, Chief, School Design and Continuous Improvement joined for a discussion about issues of interest to CHPSPO members. He started off with a brief introduction of his office. His office is new since June 2017 and is focused on the following:

  • Enrollment and Enrollment Growth
  • School Performance
  • Innovation and School Design

Their core question to address is: what is going to make DCPS a world-class district?

The discussion moved to questions from attendees:

Question: The Public Charter School Board analysis on charter programs, need and growth, encourages charter school applicants to consider opening Montessori, language immersion, and schools in Ward 6 (calling it a “green zone”). Yet DCPS has those schools already in Ward 6 –  why is DCPS not targeting or supporting that kind of growth? Is DCPS thinking about these kinds of things?

Answer: Chancellor Wilson has made it clear he is not a fan of wait lists; he wants to focus on the need for making the space bigger or replicate programs in other places. So, Gene’s office is thinking more about how we connect successful programs to schools or communities that want and need them. Some examples could be:

  • Bruce Jackson Miner Principal and LSAT want to talk about some additional programming and working to decide what is best for the students today and the future.
  • Looking at enrollment growth and facilities is a key aspect – and we need to have smart solutions to that – even potentially serving students with partners.
  • Think about the equity we create with our students. Opportunities to open high-quality experiences for students including perhaps more citywide programs. Families in DC value diversity and citywide schools may offer that option.

Question: Can you talk about the data you use on citywide programs? In DC, being a citywide school does not mean you are a diverse school necessarily.

Answer: The data we used was national data.

Question: Will you communicate short and long-term plans to address growth across school communities? People want to know what is ahead so they know whether they want to also stay and invest in a school instead of leaving for a charter.

Answer: We do need to improve communications, but we are working hard on this area and improving planning. We want to bring more schools into the portfolio so that there are more choices in DCPS; we want to increase capacity to capture demand now and in future; and we want to improve how we communicate about all of it. Need to do more to communicate about all of this

Question: Can you talk more about the role of DCPS in increasing enrollment as this is the first-year enrollment has gone down? And, we encourage more meetings like this one in order to address the gaps between parents and DCPS and to use more of a common language. CHPSPO is about investing in our school particularly neighborhood schools and less about choice; and we know that quality is not just test scores.

Answer. I want to make clear is that test scores are important but don’t define quality. Quality is outlined in the Excellent Schools Framework we are developing. It’s achievement, talent and leadership, culture and climate, equity and engagement.

OSSE has PARCC and test scores tackled in the conversation. We want to also look at formative data and whether a school feels right for my kids and my community. We want to capture what families feel when they are valued and feel safe and welcomed.

Choice and neighborhood schools are not a contradiction. Primary investment has to be in our neighborhood schools. The city is only going to function if its neighborhoods have strong quality schools. So, we are looking at strengthening feeder patterns, culture/climate and other aspects of quality.

Question: Will DCPS support a Challenger Center at Elliot Hine?

Answer: We have mixed thoughts on whether it works, and whether it’s what the community wants. But I want to talk more about it with you offline.

Question: We need to focus on retaining teachers and leadership. But some school leaders are not collaborative and problems with school leadership can fester for a long time. Teachers don’t have a way to give robust feedback on principal performance. There isn’t a safe way for teachers to bring feedback that is taken seriously. Principal evaluation is set up with an incentive to manipulate the system and to encourage fraudulent reporting of data. What is the plan for supporting transparent data, better systems for teachers to report concerns, and for teachers to be an integral part of principal evaluations.

Answer: Yes, everybody in the school community should have a voice in its success. I agree on the general concerns. But we do have some mechanisms – the INSIGHT survey is anonymized and goes to quality of leadership and instructional culture, student/parent surveys. Every school has areas for improvement.

My office checks and collects that data. Principals are half evaluated on outcome data. And they choose other areas they want to be evaluated on – but they can’t control the data.

But, there is more that we can do around principal development. We have a periodic leadership academy – but don’t yet have ongoing, robust support that helps principals become more successful on all aspects of leadership.

On family engagement, we recommend that principal engagement with the LSAT is the norm. That needs to be the expectation and how they are responding.

Comment: Concerns were raised that LSAT is implemented differently in every school and is not enough to garner authentic, robust engagement of families. Need support for principals on family engagement and communications across the board.

Question: Gene asked to the group: what would you like to see as the DCPS response to high demand of a limited number of sites in a geographic region?

Answer from Suzanne: I appreciate the work DCPS has to do in this area is hard. Conversations and communications with our community are key. We have talked about a strategic plan for Ward 6 with Claudia Lujan. The current DCPS strategic plan doesn’t get into details. I’d like to see decisions made on where and when we are going to open x school and expand y program and add program to school x. To do this in a way that will work, we should have citywide and neighborhood conversations.  For example, Historic Miner could be an early childhood center. We should generally have much more project-based learning – ask every school to do more. But we can’t just give our ideas, we need a broader conversation with a plan and a process.

Gene: Claudia, Michael and myself will embark on a portfolio retreat around the composition of the schools itself. We will look at options like a complimentary layer of citywide schools for the next 5-10 years with citywide conversations to ensure equity.  It’s also likely that we need to be more present in communities around what we are doing.

Idea from Erin Roth: Schools need to really market themselves and be slick about it in order to compete with charters that have high marketing budgets it seems. DCPS could help schools with simple communication and marketing tools and templates that would get across the basic mission and messaging statements for each school in a packaged way for parents.

Idea from Sara Carr: I would argue for a little more ad hoc action. Charters will be here in five years with five new Montessori schools. We need quick action and keep our schools and not give up buildings to charters. The long-term planning is needed, but we need action now too.

Caryn Ernst, CHPSPO Member, and Member of the Cross Sector Task Force

Over the course of two years, the Deputy Mayor of Education (DME) has allowed the Task Force to only focus on a small set of areas that would result in little or no push back from DCPS or charters. They are releasing soon a set of recommendations for public input and are releasing meeting dates for feedback.

Generally, they have proposed the following core issues which are generally the right issues:

  • Opening, closing and siting of schools
  • Serving at-risk students
  • Enrollment stability

But within each category the recommendations are very narrow and parents on the Task Force, including Caryn, have concerns the Task Force should recommend more:

Opening, closing and siting of schools

Issue: Charters are opening schools without citywide strategic plan and without community input. Areas with dozens of schools and other areas with dirth of schools. No coordination re: closing schools or siting of schools.

Recommendation: Have a citywide strategic plan on where schools are, where excess capacity is, how are programs spread throughout city, where are achievement levels different, etc. This is a good recommendation however there is no overarching criteria around that nor any requirement that charters abide by it. Charters have said that they will continue to open schools regardless of plan as long as there is one child not achieving at proficient. There has been no pressure put back on the charter board to stop opening schools without the plan. No agreement to put caps on the amount of charters or collaborative planning – they are allowed to open as many as they want whenever.

Issue: On school sitings parents have pushed for community involvement. Currently, charters simply notify an ANC commissioner within a month of the opening of a school and count that as community engagement. They believe that is sufficient.

Issue: The recommendations do not acknowledgement that neighborhood schools and charters are different and should be treated differently around closings. Neighborhood public schools should not be closed based on ESSA metrics/test scores. Yet DME is pushing very hard to replicate what Denver does – when a school scores below a certain level on the quality score, they are closed after 3 years of warning. Then there is a notice to open new schools. Denver however even acknowledges that schools in low-income communities get closed first and that creates churn and that is not good for those communities.

Serving At-Risk Students

Issue: Of the 10-15 recommendations that will be released for input, the vast majority are about promoting school choice. To improve options for at-risk kids, they recommend giving preference in the lottery if you are at-risk. DME data shows this policy would impact less than 1,000 at-risk students which means it’s not a solution. It doesn’t solve the problem of educating at-risk students better. We need to figure out which schools are beating the odds, look at those schools and what they are doing, and then replicate them. The DME refused to do that.

Enrollment Stability

Recommendations to centralize the mobility process are included to address the problems we have now that you can walk out and go to another school, and there is no data or funding transfer and it creates many issues. So, the recommendation is to centralize the mobility data and the parents on the Task Force support that recommendation. But it’s not enough. The recommendation doesn’t address enrollment stability. It helps smooth mobility and data collection, but doesn’t solve it.

Parents recommended (but were rejected) that after October, wait lists be eliminated and the decisions about mobility go to a centralized system so that movement can be distributed evenly. A centralized wait list would increase stability.

The recommendations from the Task Force also include instituting that the funding follows the student if they transfer.

The parents encouraged other parents and community members to attend the meetings and give feedback. (Confirm here, in case of changes –> https://dme.dc.gov/collaboration)

  • School Leader and Principal Focus Group
    • Wednesday, February 7, 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm at Capitol View Library (5001 Central Ave SE)
    • Register Here
  • Family and Advocacy Focus Groups
    • Friday, February 9, 9:30 am – 11:00 am at Mt. Pleasant Library (3160 16th St NW)
    • Tuesday, February 13, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm at Capitol View Library (5001 Central Ave SE)
    • Register Here
  • Policy Expert Focus Group
    • Wednesday, February 14, 9:30 am – 11:00 am at Shaw Library (1630 7th St NW)
    • Register Here
  • Teacher and School Staff Focus Group
    • Wednesday, February 28, 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm at Benning (Dorothy I. Height) Library (3935 Benning Rd NE)
    • Register Here
  • Citywide Meetings
    • Tuesday, March 13, 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm (Location TBD)
    • Wednesday, March 21, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm (Location TBD)

 

Upcoming Events

Cross Sector Collaboration Task Force

  • General Meeting: Tuesday, January 30, Education Counsel (101 Constitution Ave, NW, Suite 900)
  • Focus Groups: (see above)

JO Wilson’s 4th Annual DC Summer Camp Fair (http://www.dccampfair.com/)

Thursday, January 25, 6 – 8pm, J.O. Wilson (660 K Street, NE)

CHPSPO Strategic Planning Meeting

Saturday, February 24, 9:30 am – 1 pm, Northeast Library (7th & Maryland Avenue, NE)

 

Next CHPSPO meeting is on Tuesday, February 20, 2018

 

National Park Service – Frederick Douglass Bicentennial Call for VOLUNTEERS

Great for HS students looking for volunteer hours…..

The Frederick Douglass National Historic Site is celebrating the Bicentennial of Frederick Douglass’ birth all year long, however, we plan to "kick-off" the event on Saturday, February 17th and Sunday, February 18th. In order to make these events a smashing success, we are looking for VOLUNTEERS!

You can come be apart of history if you decide to assist us on these special days for these special events. See attached the Volunteer Flyer and the Volunteer Interest Form. Should you have any questions, comments, or concerns, feel free to contact the historic site at (202) 426-5961. All forms can be emailed to Volunteer Coordinator Delphine Gross at Delphine_Gross.

Please disseminate the flyer among your contacts.

Follow on the Web and Social Media!

www.nps.gov/mamc
www.facebook.com/NPS.MAMC
Twitter: @BethuneNHS
Instagram: @bethunenhs

www.nps.gov/cawo
www.facebook.com/NPS.CAWO
Twitter: @WoodsonNHS

www.nps.gov/frdo

www.facebook.com/FrederickDouglassNHS
Twitter: @FredDouglassNPS
Instagram: @frederickdouglassnps

Volunteer Interest Form (1).pdf

birthday volunteer flyer v2 (2).pdf

CHPSPO Meets Tuesday, January 16 @ Brent

On Sunday, January 14, 2018 8:32 PM, Suzanne Wells <m.godec@att.net> wrote:

Dear Capitol Hill Public Schools Parent Organization members,

CHPSPO will meet on Tuesday, January 16, from 6:30 – 8 pm at Brent Elementary (301 North Carolina Ave., SE). We will be joined by Michelle Edwards, Executive Director of Live It Learn It, a non-profit organization that partners with schools and cultural institutions to create experiential learning opportunities for students, Caryn Ernst who will be discussing the Cross-Sector Collaboration Task Force and the upcoming focus groups the Deputy Mayor for Education is holding, and Heather Schoell who serves on the Chancellor’s Parent Cabinet. We will also have an open discussion on the upcoming renovations, and budget issues.

Hope to see you on Tuesday.

Suzanne Wels

011618 CHPSPO Agenda.docx

Testimony of Danica Petroshius – Committee on Education Roundtable Graduation Rate Accountability – December 15, 2017

Thank you for the opportunity to speak today at the Roundtable on Graduation Rate Accountability. I am Danica Petroshius, a parent of a second grader and a fourth grader at Capitol Hill Montessori at Logan (CHML) and a co-Vice President of CHPSPO.

As a future high school parent on the outside looking in on this topic, I’m so glad to learn so much from the student, parent and community testimony today. We have an opportunity to take this entire situation and all we are learning and finally tackle the high school challenges in our city. My message to the Council is: now is the time for strong, consistent, heavy-handed oversight and leadership. My message to the Mayor and her Administration is: shame on you. These practices and policies were known and you turned your back on our city’s high school teachers, parents and students and let them down, missing opportunities along the way for progress. The solutions moving forward should not just to focus on attendance and graduation rate policy. Accountability measures are for keeping an honest dialogue going – they are not substitutes for new resources and improvements in teaching and learning. We need more support and more attention to all of the factors that influence high school success.

From my vantage point, I see the following key problems:

  • Teachers testified as early as March 2017 about the issues at Ballou and city leaders didn’t listen – you only listened when media reported on it;
  • The Mayor and Chancellor made rising graduation rates more important than ensuring students are being supported, engaged and taught well, caring more about city leader reputation than our students’ futures; and
  • The Mayor’s response to have OSSE – one of the agencies that manages the data in question – oversee a limited investigation into Ballou is unequivocally the wrong response if you want full transparency and change.

The evidence of the city’s failures is clear. We hear city leaders herald high and quickly increasing graduation rates.

In a November 6, 2017 press release, Chancellor Wilson said, “DC Public Schools is thrilled to see six continuous years of progress with rising graduation rates, DCPS has made great strides in the last few years to prepare students for postsecondary success…”

We have heard them try to minimize the Ballou story by talking about increases in PARCC scores.

On November 29, 2017 in a letter, Chancellor Wilson said, “We have…made progress across the city on several measures including the PARCC assessment…”

In isolation, these data points sound promising and I don’t deny us the opportunity to celebrate successes. But when you unpack both data points together for high schools, you get a different, troubling story. While I believe that we need many more indicators than just graduation rates and test scores to tell the story of a school, I also believe that just these two data points should have been signals to our city leaders a long time ago to sit up, take notice and start to ask questions and act.

In DCPS, 13 of our 19 high schools have graduation rates above 60% in the 2016-17 school year. However, in that same school year, only 1 DCPS high school had more than 60% of students achieving at levels 4 and 5 (the college and career ready standard) on PARCC in math. And only two high schools had more than 60% of students achieving at levels 4 and 5 in English Language Arts. Of our 19 DCPS high schools, a whopping 10 high schools had zero or one percent of students at levels 4 and 5 in math; and 10 of our high schools had 10% or less college and career ready in ELA. If you take out selective high schools, almost all of the scores are in single digits. This is a significant crisis of equity and broken trust. I’ve attached the data. Anyone can get this data, it’s public available and easy to find. And it’s been available to all of us for a long time.

It doesn’t appear to be any better in our charter high schools. 12 of the 16 charter high schools have graduation rates above 60% yet the percent of students achieving a college and career ready standard on average is 22% in ELA and 13.5% in math.

I’m not saying this is the perfect test for judging whether a high school is successful for students. But it certainly makes me want to learn more and not to sit by and be complacent. The moral of the data is not that students are failing. The moral of the data is that:

  • when tests scores are terrible and graduation rates are high, it’s a loud signal that we need to take a look immediately because there is likely something wrong and we may be failing our students;
  • since this data is publicly available, none of us – not the Mayor, not the Council, not the Chancellor, not the State Superintendent – should have been surprised by the NPR story;
  • the same issues are present at other high schools in both the charter schools and DCPS, not just Ballou High School;
  • this is a system that has gotten complacent and focused only on headlines that make our elected officials look good; and
  • we need to do something now to forward an honest dialogue and not let up until significant change is made.

I ask that the Council do better than the Mayor did. Insist on a full, independent investigation that is not run by any agency that has decision-making power over the schools. Investigate charters and DCPS for practices and policies that affect our high school success. Provide full transparency. And dig in and provide ongoing, intensive oversight. Only when we truly know where we are can we come together to develop the solutions that will turn the corner.

I am not testifying to blame or tear down the system. I am a believer in the potential of DCPS and I work countless hours to help it succeed. But we all need to be able to have confidence in the system and its leaders. I stand with the students, teachers, principals and parents who want to get this right. Councilmembers, I hope you will join us. Thank you.

DC 2017 4-year Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rates,
by School
 School Graduates Cohort Total 2016 ACGR
Overall 3436 4748 72.4%
Charter Cohorta 1047 1427 73.4%
BASIS DC PCS n<25 n<25 N/A
Capital City PCS – High School 59 65 90.8%
Cesar Chavez PCS for Public Policy – Capitol Hill 57 75 76%
Cesar Chavez PCS for Public Policy – Chavez Prep n<25 n<25 N/A
Cesar Chavez PCS for Public Policy – Parkside High School 61 70 87.1%
E.L. Haynes PCS – High School 85 99 85.9%
Friendship PCS – Collegiate Academy 177 212 83.5%
Friendship PCS – Technology Preparatory High School 42 44 95.5%
Goodwill Excel Center PCS n<25 n<25 N/A
IDEA PCS 35 60 58.3%
KIPP DC – College Preparatory Academy PCS 77 95 81.1%
Kingsman Academy PCS 19 47 40.4%
Maya Angelou PCS – High School 36 71 50.7%
National Collegiate Preparatory PCHS 48 82 58.5%
Paul PCS – International High School 82 118 69.5%
Perry Street Preparatory PCS n<25 n<25 N/A
Richard Wright PCS for Journalism and Media Arts 45 58 77.6%
SEED PCS of Washington DC n<25 n<25 N/A
Thurgood Marshall Academy PCS 60 75 80%
Washington Latin PCS – Upper School 79 87 90.8%
Washington Mathematics Science Technology PCHS 51 68 75%
DCPS Cohort 2385 3258 73.2%
Anacostia High School 96 163 58.9%
Ballou High School 160 251 63.7%
Ballou STAY High School 14 79 17.7%
Benjamin Banneker High School 96 96 100%
Cardozo Education Campus 119 199 59.8%
Columbia Heights Education Campus 247 282 87.6%
Coolidge High School 69 98 70.4%
Duke Ellington School of the Arts 114 123 92.7%
Dunbar High School 148 194 76.3%
Eastern High School 195 248 78.6%
H.D. Woodson High School 154 185 83.2%
Luke C. Moore High School 49 139 35.3%
McKinley Technology High School 119 124 96%
Phelps Architecture, Construction and Engineering High School 86 91 94.5%
Roosevelt High School 103 171 60.2%
Roosevelt STAY High School 10 52 19.2%
School Without Walls High School 147 150 98%
Washington Metropolitan High School 35 60 58.3%
Woodrow Wilson High School 385 427 90.2%
State Cohort 4 63 6.3%
       
a Graduation rates are not reported for the following schools due to the schools being closed: Booker T Washington, Options PCS,  Perry Street Preparatory PCS, and Hospitality PCS; however, the students attending these schools are included in the overall State and applicable PCS, DCPS or State Cohort graduation rates; the number of students who belong to the cohort for these individual schools was below the minimum n-size of 25 students.
b Graduation rates are not provided for individual non-public schools; however, the students attending these schools are included in the overall State and applicable PCS, DCPS or State Cohort graduation rates; the number of students attending non-public education providers was below th minimum n-sze of 25 students for all LEAs except DCPS where there were 39 graduates out of 126 students attending non-public educational providers.

DCPS High Schools

  ELA   Math
2015 2016   2017 Change (20162017) 2015 2016 2017 Change (2016-2017)
# Takers % L4 + L5 # Takers % L4 + L5   # Takers  % L4 + L5 # Takers % L4 + L5 # Takers % L4 + L5 # Takers    % L4 + L5
Anacostia HS 97 2% 149 3%   79 4% 1.1% 96 0% 152 0% 87 1% 1.1%  
Ballou HS 122 0% 245 3%   247 9% 6.0% 87 0% 251 0% 240 0% -0.4%  
Ballou STAY n<10 n<10 14 0%   16 0% 0.0% n<10 n<10 15 0% 22 0% 0.0%  
Benjamin Banneker HS 109 74% 125 98%   129 90% -8.5% 111 32% 130 62% 132 54% -7.8%  
Cardozo EC 142 5% 236 7%   242 10% 2.7% 186 2% 183 2% 246 4% 1.5%  
Columbia Heights EC 507 13% 541 19%   508 24% 5.5% 463 8% 696 5% 499 14% 8.5%  
Coolidge HS 71 8% 90 11%   73 15% 4.0% 53 0% 128 0% 72 1% 1.4%  
Dunbar HS 97 8% 231 5%   148 6% 1.3% 89 0% 237 1% 157 1% -0.2%  
Eastern HS 233 11% 251 18%   170 20% 2.5% 248 2% 261 1% 195 1% -0.1%  
Ellington 125 50% 124 39%   137 47% 8.0% 100 3% 125 9% 145 10% 0.9%  
Luke C. Moore 24 4% 52 0%   33 0% 0.0% 31 0% 46 0% 31 0% 0.0%  
McKinley Tech HS 135 30% 147 36%   185 41% 5.0% 157 6% 212 10% 169 19% 8.6%  
Phelps ACE HS 118 17% 75 13%   61 23% 9.6% 109 3% 91 1% 66 9% 8.0%  
Ron Brown College

Preparatory High School

 – – – –   – – – – – – – n<10 n<10 –  
Roosevelt HS 65 0% 155 7%   117 9% 2.3% 74 0% 159 1% 128 4% 3.3%  
Roosevelt STAY n<10 n<10 15 0%   11 9% 9.1% n<10 n<10 14 0% 11 0% 0.0%  
School Without Walls HS 143 97% 157 84%   140 85% 0.9% 100 76% 313 52% 134 69% 16.6%  
Washington

Metropolitan HS

 n<10 n<10 44 0%   33 0% 0.0% n<10 n<10 51 0% 31 0% 0.0%  
Wilson HS 317 50% 411 21%   449 54% 33.2% 279 8% 695 18% 437 22% 3.3%  
Woodson, H.D. HS 118 0% 192 4%   167 8% 4.7% 75 0% 215 1% 172 0% -0.9%  

 

CHPSPO Meets December 19 @ Stuart-Hobson

On Thursday, December 14, 2017 10:14 PM, Suzanne Wells <m.godec@att.net> wrote:

Dear Capitol Hill Public Schools Parent Organization members,

CHPSPO will have its last meeting of 2017 on Tuesday, December 19, at Stuart-Hobson (410 E Street, NE). We have been invited by the Capitol Hill Cluster School to attend a reading group discussion on the topic of race, class and equity in school communities. We will be discussing a chapter (attached) from the book Despite Best Intentions: How Racial Inequality Thrives in Good Schools by Amanda E. Lewis and John B. Diamond. This is part of CHPSPO’s effort to learn how our schools are addressing issues dealing with diversity and closing the achievement gap. The discussion will be from 6 – 8 pm.

A special thank you to the Capitol Hill Cluster School for opening up their discussion to CHPSPO.

Suzanne Wells

Despite_the_Best_Intentions_How_Racial_Inequality_…_—-_(4._Its_Li ke_Two_High_Schools_ Race%2c_Tracking%2c_and_Performance_Expec…).pdf

CHPSP Meeting Notes– November 21, 2017

CHPSPO Meeting

Payne Elementary School

November 21, 2017

6:30 p.m. – 8 p.m.

Brent Diversity Working Group & Town Hall Meeting— Alicia Dorsey, Parent at Brent ES

Provided an overview of the diversity working group and recent town hall on the new efforts targeted at closing the achievement gap at Brent ES. The parent-driven working group started as a way to address concerns around the racial dynamics and inequities at the school. The group determined that an initial focus would be on closing the achievement gap by starting targeted supplemental tutoring for students most in need of academic support.

The program required resources to pay tutors and for other supports from the overall PTA budget. Brent raises about $300K per year so the program leads needed to convey the importance of this program to the whole school in order to get PTA buy-in. They named the program “Rising Tides” to convey that an investment in a smaller group of students would help the entire student body. The PTA did choose to provide support for the tutoring program by funding some outside staff; some internal staff are paid by DCPS through administrative premium. They relaxed the definition of the achievement gap so the net could be cast more broadly, but the program still turned out to serve 100 percent African-American students.

The program is all voluntary, but five teachers rotate through and one teacher provides the coordination. The program runs on T, W, Th with 16-20 students gaining additional instructional time in their days. The first hour is reviewing academic support work and the second hour is focused on structured play and whole child support. They provide homework support (plus snacks) focused primarily on math support. While it is early to see all of the results, the students participating are engaged and responding well.

Ongoing Challenges

Parental engagement in the tutoring program— Realize that parental involvement is critical to the success of the program and Brent is still struggling to engage parents. They want to work on some additional ideas for doing so this Spring.

Although the initial goal was to address concerns around poor racial dynamics, the program has done little o really bring the community out in support and underlying racial divisions persist. The Brent town hall meeting was not well attended by Brent families, an indication that support/enthusiasm is generally not high.

Ward 6 Master Facilities Planning— Nancy Huvendick, 21CSF

Received an update on the city’s Master Facilitations Planning (MFP) process and changes that may impact Ward 6. With the PACE (Planning Actively for Comprehensive Education facilities Amendment Act), the Council Ed Committee tasked the deputy mayor for education (DME) with developing a longterm MFP for all publicly funded schools in DC.

In the past, the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) was often ad hoc and fluid, and schools that were in the plan did not always stay in the plan because it was very political. The Ed Committee’s plan for how to do the CIP using data and criteria has helped, and is an improvement to how the CIP was handled in the past.

MFP Schedule

The MFP is behind schedule, but this is not unusual. The PACE Act originally called for it to finished in March 2018 with a budget, but it is now scheduled for completion in June 2018. The MFP scope is ambitious and requires substantial community input, which takes time. The city has not yet selected a contractor.

Cross-sector Planning

DME’s guidance memo to LEAs requests charter participation and promises nondisclosure of charter data since the charter sector is autonomous. This makes cross sector planning difficult and the Cross-Sector Task Force has had a hard time establishing a coordinated planning process.

Ward and feeder-based planning is a foundational piece of the MFP. Local knowledge is crucial, especially within the complex sector landscape. Ward 6’s 2010 initiative with middle school planning was an example for Wards 1, 5, and 7. Also pertinent to Ward 6 is that a new PCSB report identifies it as a “green zone” where prospective/expanding charter schools are encouraged to consider opening new charter schools.

Discussion about how the overpopulating in Ward 3 schools and lobbying for expansions impacts the planning process across the city. Concern that the context of “providing more accessibility to higher performing schools” is framing the process and not better utilization of buildings and pushing quality across the city.

Discussion about Miner historic building as one on the list of “vacant but on an active school site,” and interest in exploring ways to ensure the building is utilized to support the community rather than make it into an excess building. Also, raised the importance of maintaining green space even when schools undergo renovations.

Decision to draft a sign-on letter from CHPSPO to invite DCPS and DME to plan with us as they committed to doing. Plan to share the CHPSPO letter with other Ward-based educational councils to see if there is interest in a city-wide letter.

CHPSPO Strategic Planning Proposal — Danica Petroshius and Suzy Glucksman

Discussed a proposal to conduct a half-day retreat in an effort to create a strategic plan for CHPSPO. The purpose is to level set knowledge in the group given the influx of new members, leverage new energy and excitement, and collectively identify future goals and objectives over the next few years. Also, interest in thinking more about how to recognize 15 years of CHPSPO (in 2021) and how to market and celebrate it.

All agreed it would be a great opportunity to do so on a weekend afternoon with potential timing set in late January. If you are interested in helping to plan the retreat, contact Danica or Suzy.

Upcoming Events

Cross-Sector Collaboration Task Force, Tuesday, Nov 28, 2017 EdCounsel (101 Constitution Ave, NW, Suite 900)

Chancellor Community Forum, Tuesday, Dec 12, 8:45am – 10:00am, Eastern HS

Next CHPSPO meeting is on Tuesday, December 19, 2017

CHPSPO Meets Tuesday, November 21 @ Payne

CHPSPO will meet on Tuesday, November 21 at Payne (1445 C Street, SE, in the library) at 6:30 pm. Alicia Dorsey with the Brent Diversity Working Group will join us to discuss the working group and the recent town hall meeting with Chancellor Wilson. Nancy Huvendick and Will Perkins from the 21st Century School Fund will be sharing information that will inform the Ward 6 Master Facilities Planning. We will also be seeking your input on plans to hold a CHPSPO strategic planning meeting (attached). I hope you will be able to join us.

Suzanne Wells

112117 CHPSPO Agenda.docx

Draft Strategy for CHPSPO 2018.docx

Backpack Full of Cash Screening

Backpack Full of Cash Screening

The Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, the Coalition for DC Public Schools and Communities (C4DC), and Teaching for Change are hosting a FREE screening of the film Backpack Full of Cash on Thursday, November 16, at 6 pm at the Columbia Heights Educational Campus (3101 16th St., NW). This feature-length documentary explores the growing privatization of public schools, and the resulting impact on America’s most vulnerable children. You must RSVP to attend the screening.

Invitations, Free eCards and Party Planning Ideas from Evite