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By Lauren Outlaw
The Office of the State Superintendent has at long last posted the DC-CAS subgroup data and FOCUS has conducted its own analysis, which shows that public charter schools continue to do a better job than DCPS of educating their students, especially their at-risk populations. (Click here to view the FOCUS graphs.) Overall, 49 percent of charter students scored proficient or advanced in reading and 55 percent in math compared to 44 percent of DCPS students in reading and 46 percent in math. Over the past six years, public charter schools have increased the number of students who score proficient or advanced on the DC-CAS by 24 percentage points in math and 9 points in reading, bringing the charter average to above 50 percent.
The public charter schools also continue to excel in educating their African-American students and the economically disadvantaged students that qualify for free and reduced lunch (FARL). This year, 48 percent of African-American students attending charter schools scored proficient or advanced in reading and 53 percent in math. Meanwhile, only 35 percent of their DCPS counterparts scored proficient or advanced in reading and 37 percent in math. The same holds true for the charter schools’ economically disadvantaged student population, with 45 percent of FARL students scoring proficient or advanced in reading and 52 percent in math. Conversely, only 33 percent of similarly situated DCPS students scored proficient or advanced in reading and 36 percent in math. This result highlights the steady increase over the last six years of public charter schools’ FARL students scoring proficient or advanced on the DC-CAS.
Taken together these results demonstrate that public charter schools consistently outperform DCPS. Congratulations charter schools and keep up the good work!