Schools

Chancellor: DC Middle Schools in a Rebuilding Phase

DCPS Chancellor Kaya Henderson expects continued growth and better retention at middle school level in years to come.

Chancellor Kaya Henderson believes the District's public middle schools are making the progress needed to enroll and retain students from high-performing elementary schools.

"I think that we're just in a rebuliding phase. I actually think that fairly shortly — in the next two to three years — I think that we're not going to have the same middle school problem that we've had with people fleeing at the middle school level," she said during a press briefing Wednesday.

Elementary schools in Northwest Washington continue to thrive, attracting local students and parents and ranking among the top public schools in the city.

But there's a common refrain of concern over the middle schools, which tend to have achievement levels and overall testing scores lower than nearby high-scoring elementary schools. 

For instance, for our readers, both Hyde-Addison and Stoddert elementary schools were ranked as "Reward" schools this year, meaning they are among the best in the city. Hyde-Addison had a composite proficiency score of 78.7 percent and Stoddert came in at 87.4 percent proficiency. Hardy, the middle school into which both elementary schools feed, was ranked "rising," which is a step below "reward". Hardy's composite score was 68.9 percent proficiency

But Henderson emphasized that when you compare the scores between the 2013 District of Columbia Comprehensive Assessment System exam (DC CAS) and the scores from 2007, you can see the progress.

"Middle schools have the strongest gains of any of our schools over the last six years," she said.

And she credits a change in mindset about how DCPS approaches middle school, and specifically strong students in middle school. 

"I think for a really long time DCPS kind of ignored our high performing students we didn't actually program to them," said Henderson.

Henderson said she has changed that.

Last year DCPS hired a director of gifted and talented academic programming.

They recently rolled out the school-wide enrichment model (SEM) program at a few schools.

Hardy was one of two DCPS middle schools to pilot that gifted and talented program this past school year. The new program generally targets academically gifted and talented students to engage them and develop their existing strengths.

"We actually have seen more parents choosing these schools in part because we are able to offer that programming," said Henderson. 

Another thing Henderson thinks is working to improve the quality of middle schools across the city is the "full-service schools model" which identifies students who need academic interventions and targets services to the students most in need.

"If you look at the cluster that did the best this year in terms of growth, it was our middle schools," she said. 


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