On March 12, 2024, Education Policy Institute Director Chelsea Coffin discussed State of D.C. Schools 2022-23 on the I Hate Politics podcast:
“The areas where D.C. has returned to pre-pandemic levels are in things like educator retention, which was lower than national levels pre-pandemic, and suspensions, which again D.C. was somewhat of an outlier in that respect.
As well, we did see some bright spots starting with enrollment. This was the first year that enrollment in D.C. has increased since the pandemic began. We’re seeing that last school year 44% of students were chronically absent, which means they missed 10% or more of the school year. This is a decrease from that first year back from the pandemic by about four percentage points, but it’s much higher than it was pre-pandemic.
In the big picture in terms of the outcomes on the statewide assessment in D.C., we see that in math 22% of students meet or exceed expectations, compared to 31% before the pandemic. The gap is smaller in English Language Arts, where 34% of students meet or exceed expectations compared to 37% before the pandemic. A really important distinction that we draw in the larger report is the difference in recovery outcomes for elementary and middle school students, who did see those gains, and for high school students for whom results remain flat.”
Listen here: I Hate the News March 12
Read more: State of D.C. Schools, 2022-23: Challenges to pandemic recovery in a new normal