Race to the Top. District of Columbia Report. Year 1: School Year 2010-2011. [State-Specific Summary Report]
Author: Department of Education (ED)
Date: 2012-01-10
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: Academic Achievement,Academic Standards,Accountability,Achievement Gains,Achievement Gap,Administrator Effectiveness,Administrator Evaluation,Best Practices,Budgets,Career Planning,Charter Schools,Competition,Data,Disabilities,Educational Assessment,Educational Change,Educational Improvement,Elementary Secondary Education,English Curriculum,Federal Legislation,Federal State Relationship,Graduation Rate,Grants,Higher Education,Language Arts,Leadership Effectiveness,Mathematics,Measurement Objectives,Models,Outcomes of Education,Performance Based Assessment,Poverty,Principals,Professional Development,Program Evaluation,Program Implementation,School Districts,School Effectiveness,School Turnaround,State Government,STEM Education,Systems Approach,Teacher Effectiveness,Teacher Evaluation

This State-specific summary report serves as an assessment of the District of Columbia's Year 1 Race to the Top implementation, highlighting successes and accomplishments, identifying challenges, and providing lessons learned from implementation to date. The Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) manages the District of Columbia (District) educational system. The District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) is the largest local educational agency (LEA) in the District. There are also over 50 public charter schools that operate as independent LEAs. OSSE, DCPS, and charter schools have come together to implement the reform efforts that the District outlined in its Race to the Top grant. The District is receiving a total of $74,998,962 in Race to the Top funds. The District's broad goals under Race to the Top include building capacity to support LEAs, moving swiftly to adopt the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), funding the development of instructional improvement systems (IIS) for LEAs to support data-driven instruction, building and supporting stronger pipelines for effective teachers and principals, and creating conditions of support and attracting effective educators to the District's persistently lowest-achieving schools. In its Year 1 Annual Performance Report (APR), OSSE reported 30 participating LEAs (DCPS and 29 charter LEAs) as of June 30, 2011. This represents 90 percent of the District's K-12 students and over 92 percent of its students in poverty. OSSE included DCPS and charter schools in the planning and implementation of its reform work. OSSE established task forces focusing on the CCSS; human capital; student growth measures; and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The State Board of Education adopted the CCSS for the 2011-2012 school year (SY), and all participating LEAs developed a transition plan for implementing the CCSS and received professional development on it. OSSE also awarded major competitive subgrants to LEAs for work in such areas as developing an IIS, professional learning communities, and teacher residency programs. During the first year of the grant, OSSE experienced significant turnover among leadership and staff. Multiple individuals have served as the lead for Race to the Top, each one for fewer than six months. Additionally, no one who was involved in writing the original application remains with the OSSE team responsible for administering the District's Race to the Top grant. Despite changes in leadership and staff during the first year of the grant, the District has made strides toward accomplishing its Race to the Top goals and has leveraged other senior OSSE staff to keep work moving forward. There have, however, been delays in finalizing a District-wide education research agenda; releasing CCSS resources; providing support to intervention efforts in chronically lowest-achieving schools; and receiving, reviewing, and approving LEA plans for teacher and leader evaluations. Because of the turnover in staff during Year 1 of the grant, OSSE did not spend all of its Year 1 funding allotted for personnel. OSSE will hire additional staff in Year 2 with the personnel funds remaining from Year 1. Also, OSSE plans to identify a permanent Race to the Top lead in Year 2. Finally, OSSE will continue recent efforts to better align its Race to the Top intervention efforts with its School Improvement Grant (SIG) efforts, both at OSSE and DCPS. A glossary is included. (Contains 6 footnotes.) [For the parent document, &quot;Race to the Top Annual Performance Report,&quot; see ED529267. For the full report, &quot;Race to the Top. District of Columbia. State-Reported APR: Year One,&quot; see ED529307.]