Today, the Office of the State Superintendent of Education released the results of the DC state assessment, the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC). This spring was the second year that students took the PARCC assessment, which is aligned to the Common Core State Standards and measures whether students are on track for college and career.
The results this year show that while we are making strides, too many of our students are not reaching their full potential. Among all students in grades 3 through 11, only 27% of students scored as college and career ready in English Language Arts (ELA), and only 25% did so in Math. And the results for historically underserved students show a tremendous achievement gap that continues. Only 18% of economically disadvantaged students, 13% of at-risk students and 5% of students who receive special education services performed as college and career ready in ELA.
Although PARCC is just one way of looking at how students are being served in schools, these results remind us of the need to focus on the most underserved groups of students – a need that undergirds Education Forward DC’s goal to double the number of at-risk and special education students who are on track for college and career.
Below is a summary of how different groups of students performed on PARCC:
Percent of students who met or exceeded grade level standards on PARCC (Levels 4 and 5)
|
ELA (2016) |
Change Since 2015 | Math (2016) |
Change Since 2015 |
|
| DC Citywide | 27% | + 2% | 25% | + 3% |
| Low-Income | 18% | + 4% | 17% | + 3% |
| At-Risk | 13% | + 2% | 13% | + 2% |
| Special Education | 5% | + 1% | 6% | + 3% |
| Black | 19% | + 2% | 17% | + 2% |
| Hispanic | 25% | + 3% | 22% | + 2% |
| White | 74% | – 5% | 71% | + 3% |
While we have a long road ahead, we have incredible leadership in the city, and DC schools are poised to continue accelerating progress for our students. You can read more about our own strategy for improving DC schools on our website.
