''Did Rhee's DCPS erase its way to the top?''

''Did Rhee's DCPS erase its way to the top?''

''Did Rhee's DCPS erase its way to the top?''

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Written by Barbara Hollingsworth for The Washington Examiner. Read the entire article here.

“Educators were apparently doing the same thing [as Atlanta] in D.C. under another “miracle worker.” Chancellor Michelle Rhee became a national icon for education reform, appearing on the covers of Time and Newsweek magazines.

But her legacy is now in serious jeopardy as the U.S. Department of Education’s inspector general investigates unusually high erasure rates at more than 100 D.C. public schools between 2008 and 2010.

USA Today first reported the widespread problem at more than half of D.C. public schools during Rhee’s tenure, including the Crosby S. Noyes Education Campus, named one of just 264 federal National Blue Ribbon Schools
nationwide.

Rhee gave Noyes Principal Wayne Ryan and his teachers cash bonuses in 2008 and again in 2010, referring to the school as one of D.C.’s “shining stars.”

Falling star would have been a more accurate description. In 2009-10, Noyes’ reading scores plunged 23 points.

DC CAS scores fail to meet levels that Rhee had promised

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Written by Bill Turque for the Washington Post. Read the entire article here.
“Standardized test scores are supposed to bring the hammer of accountability down on teachers, principals and schools. When scores don’t grow as expected, evaluations suffer, career trajectories flatten, jobs can be lost. Schools that miss out on the still-coveted AYP seal of approval face questions from parents and elected officials.

But for the D.C. school system as a whole, this year’s so-so showing will come without cost–even though the District fell short of what it promised the federal government in its successful 2010 application for $75 million in Race to the Top funding. D.C. projected a statewide (DCPS and public charters) reading proficiency of 56.6 percent in 2011. It came in at 43.9 percent for the elementary grades and 48.2 percent at the secondary level.