By Sarah Barrett Sarah Barrett is a Manager with our Human Capital Investments team. When we started Education Forward DC, we tried to capture a specific approach to grant-making. One of the core tenets of our approach is: We know that money matters, but money alone is often not enough. …
Mashea Ashton: Digital Pioneers Academy, Computer Science, and Character
A school focused on computer science? “Sometimes I think it isn’t even that innovative; it just makes sense,” says Mashea Ashton, Founder and CEO of Digital Pioneers Academy. Opening this fall in an unused wing of the East Washington Heights Baptist Church in Ward 7, it will be the first …
PARCC Testing and Using Student Data to Improve Instruction
By Caitlin Campbell-Hahn Caitlin Campbell-Hahn is a Senior Analyst with our Schools Investments team. Caitlin taught middle school students in Washington, DC and Boston for seven years prior to joining Education Forward DC. Grab a pencil – here’s a math problem for you: Jane went to the beach and brought …
A State Report Card For All Families
By Ryan Jones If you’re one of the thousands of families in DC who just submitted school choices in the citywide school lottery, My School DC, you know that finding information and comparing schools across the city’s traditional and charter public schools can be difficult and time consuming. This December, …
Urban Teachers Fellow Named “New Teacher of the Year”
This evening, Taylor Parson will be recognized as one of seven outstanding teachers at the Standing Ovation for DC Public Schools (DCPS) annual awards event hosted by the DC Public Education Fund. Ms. Parson, a fourth-grade teacher at Anne Beers Elementary School in Southeast, Washington, DC is receiving the New …
What We Know (and Don’t) About the Public Schools DC Parents Want
By Sujata Bhat Sujata Bhat is Senior Manager of Public Engagement at Education Forward DC. Parents in the District generally prefer schools for their kids that are close to home. But they will send them farther for schools that perform better and for schools that are more diverse. Interpreting those …
With New Middle School for DC Boys, Shawn Hardnett Follows His North Star
Shawn Hardnett has served as a chief academic officer and principal coach in DC since 2010 and in January 2016 decided he was ready to strike out on his own. With support from Education Forward DC and other funders, Shawn has spent the last 18 months building his vision for …
Collaborating to Develop Great Instructional Talent
At Education Forward DC, we aim to build community among DC education leaders and provide a forum for tackling collecting issues facing education organizations across the city. Last month, Education Forward DC convened school leaders from our portfolio of grantees. A central question for the day: Collectively, how might we …
Antwan Wilson Selected as Next DCPS Chancellor
Earlier today, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced that she was nominating Antwan Wilson to be the next Chancellor of DC Public Schools. Mayor Bowser made her selection after a multi-step process that included a set of recommendations from the DCPS Rising Leadership Committee (a group of citizens supporting the search effort) and …
Search for the Next DCPS Chancellor Begins
Kaya Henderson has spent her career serving DC’s public school students in various positions, and since 2007 has led efforts at DC Public Schools to improve achievement for all of DC’s students. In 2010, she became the Chancellor, and her tenure has seen growth of student enrollment, improved student achievement …