Nonprofit wants 25 new or revamped D.C. city of charter schools in five years

04/03/2017

By Alejandra Matos
April 3, 2017

A local philanthropic group wants to revamp low-performing public schools and open others, 25 in all over the next five years. There are 233 public schools in the District with 90,000 students, counting city and charter schools.

Science-Loving Teens From Ghana And D.C. Geek Out Together

03/25/2017

By Sasha Ingber
March 23, 2017

Team work makes the dream work! Team "McKwiny," comprised of high schools students from McKinley Tech and Winneba Senior High School in Ghana, competed for the first World Smart STEM Challenge. The team of self-described science nerds designed a water purifier that used a variety of innovative materials to filter the water, ultimately taking second place in the competition!

Is your school worth one star or five? D.C. officials approve new rating system

03/24/2017

By Alejandra Matos
March 23, 2017

In a 6-to-3 vote, the D.C. State Board of Education approved the new ratings plan from the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) on Wednesday evening. Parents will now be able to compare all D.C. public schools, traditional and charter, under a newly approved rating system that assigns each school in the district one to five stars based on test scores, attendance and other measures.

The Supreme Court Rules In Favor Of A Special Education Student

03/23/2017

By Anya Kamenetz and Cory Turner
March 22, 2017

School districts must give students with disabilities the chance to make meaningful, “appropriately ambitious” progress, the Supreme Court said Wednesday in an 8-0 ruling.

The decision in Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District could have far-reaching implications for the 6.5 million students with disabilities in the United States.

Do Healthy Lunches Improve Student Test Scores?

03/22/2017

By Melinda Anderson
March 22, 2017

For more than a decade, standardized-test scores have been the dominant metric for measuring what public-school students know and are able to do. But according to a new study, there’s one option that may have been overlooked: the ubiquitous school lunch. As detailed in a recent paper, economists set out to determine whether healthier school lunches affect student achievement as measured by test scores.

A New Effort To Put D.C. High School Students On The Path To Graduation

03/17/2017

By Martin Austermuhle
March 17, 2017

DCPS says there are over 1,300 high school students across the city that are at least two years behind their expected graduation date. To address that group, last year DCPS invested $4 million to hire Pathways Coordinators in all of the city’s high schools, who will help struggling students graduate on time.

Read more about the initiative: http://bit.ly/2nDTRxJ

Trump seeks to slash Education Department but make big push for school choice

03/16/2017

By Emma Brown and Danielle Douglas-Gabriel
March 16, 2017

The Trump administration is seeking to cut $9.2 billion — or 13.5 percent — from the Education Department’s budget, a dramatic downsizing that would reduce or eliminate grants for teacher training, after-school programs and aid to low-income and first-generation college students.

Besty DeVos said Jefferson Middle teachers were in ‘receive mode.’ Here’s how they responded

03/09/2017

By Alejandra Matos
March 9, 2017

Schoolteacher Ashley Cobb spends her evenings in what might be called “receive mode.” The eighth-grade math teacher receives dozens of texts and phone calls a day — at all hours — from students with questions about homework.

The New DCPS Chancellor Is Going Ward By Ward, Asking For Input On D.C.'s Schools

03/09/2017

By Christina Sturdivant
March 9, 2017

A month into the job, D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Antwan Wilson is making his rounds across the city to get public input as he makes plans for the next several years.

The first of eight community meetings took place last night in Ward 7, as residents expressed concerns about motivating students who attend schools in some of the city’s most impoverished communities.

D.C. Officials Offer Details On Proposed Walkability Preference For Charters, But Concerns Remain

03/08/2017

By Martin Austermuhle
March 8, 2017

D.C. officials this week unveiled new details about Mayor Muriel Bowser’s proposal for a walkability preference for charter schools, which would allow some students preferential access to a charter school that’s closer to their home than their neighborhood public school.

Read more about Mayor Bowser’s proposal for a walkability preference for charter schools at: http://bit.ly/2lZlZpT

Entire senior class at D.C.'s Ballou High School applies to college for first time

03/07/2017

By Sam Ford
March 7, 2017

The entire senior class at Ballou High School in Southeast Washington has applied for college for the first time. Several seniors at the school have already received acceptance letters.

"We have 189 seniors and this time 100 percent of them have applied to schools and we're just waiting for acceptance letters to roll in," says Ballou Principal Yetunde Reeves.

Just What Is A Charter School, Anyway?

03/01/2017

By Claudio Sanchez
March 1, 2017

We’re all familiar with the term “hidden in plain sight.” Well, there may be no better way to describe the nation’s 6,900 charter schools. These publicly-funded, privately-run schools have been around since the first one opened in St. Paul, Minn., in 1992.

Here, the author sits down with three charter experts to gain greater insight into how these institutions operate.