Opening Statement of Councilmember David Grosso, Chairperson

Joint Committee on Education and Committee of the Whole Public Oversight Hearing on
Academic Achievement in D.C. Public and Public Charter Schools
November 22, 2019

The purpose of this public oversight hearing is to discuss Academic Achievement in DC Public
and Public Charter Schools by examining and discussing the performance and plans for growth
of District public schools on the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and
Careers (PARCC), the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), as well as
Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate (ACGR). Due to the nature of this hearing, the witness list
will be limited to government witnesses and witnesses requested by the Committees.

While testimony is limited to invited and government witnesses, the public and organizations
are welcome to submit written statements.

Over the past few months, OSSE has released a number of data points that highlight where DC
is in terms of academic achievement. This hearing is dedicated to having a public discussion
about that data with practitioners and expert researchers.

As an aside, I have visited nearly every school in the District of Columbia. I have visited every
school in Wards 7 and 8 multiple times and when I visit, I don’t simply stop by for a photo op
and leave. I talk with teachers and principals about their needs - their struggles both
academically and with climate, and the role Council can play in supporting their work.

This is what led me to invest in early childhood literacy – a grant that supports the work of
Literacy Lab and Reading Partners, two groups working with targeted literacy intervention in
many of our schools across the district.

Over the course of my visits, I can say that I have seen more and more consistent high-quality
instruction today than when I started. Just yesterday on a visit to Hart Middle School, I
observed a 7th grade science class. The topic was the digestive system. Every student was
involved and participating. Students knew which part of the body participated in the digestion
of food and could explain the role of each body part.

I believe that hard work has been born out in the data we are here to discuss today.

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I say this not to discount the amount of hard work that is left to do – but we must never forget
exactly the state of our schools before stronger and more rigorous standards, better
professional development, and a laser focus on academic outcomes were put in place.

Today, I want to hear about how we got to this place and our strategy for accelerating growth,
particularly for those furthest behind. We will hear from researchers, principals doing the work
in schools, and from our agency heads.

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