TUDA victor go the spoils?
The recently published 2013 Trial Urban District Assessment has received a great deal of attention, especially in regards to the District of Columbia Public Schools. Although leading education reform advocates express cautious optimism, they claim the results as “evidence” that the 2008 education reforms in D.C., vis-à-vis former DCPS Chancellor Michelle Rhee, were, not only necessary, but also valid. Moreover, Mayor Gray has gone as far as to state that these results prove a need to “stay the course.” Is the Mayor correct? Do these gains prove a need to “stay the course,” or, as far as Mayor Gray’s concerned, to re-elect his administration? Let’s examine the data beyond the first glance, and analyze the results a bit further.
In order to analyze the data beyond the first glance, I’ve separated DCPS’ 4th and 8th grade students’ performance into two categories: 1) scores recorded between 2003 through 2007, and 2) scores recorded between 2009 through 2013. Using the data available on this website, I simply calculated the percent change (growth rate) between the years mentioned above. The main purpose of separating the overall trend into two categories is to analyze the growth rate of student performance, before and after the Chancellorship of Michelle Rhee. Given the political season in D.C., i.e. 2014 mayoral election, the current administration has taken credit for D.C.’s public school students’ performance on standardized tests. But, is he correct in his assertion? Should we stay the course in D.C.?
4th Grade Trends
4th Grade Growth Rate
