New Report on State of DC Schools Released

Click Here to Access the Summary Results From the D.C. Policy Center’s Annual Report on the State of DC Schools

The D.C. Policy Center released its annual State of D.C. Schools report for school year 2023-24 in March of 2025. In school year 2023-24, D.C. showed some signs of strong system health, with rising public school enrollment and improvements to educator retention. Recovery for student outcomes have been slow, with modest improvements to learning outcomes and chronic absenteeism, both of which have yet to return to pre-pandemic levels. Like national trends, these metrics show that the pandemic’s impact on education is enduring and will require years and continued investment to reverse both in D.C. and nationally.

As context for these findings, the report took stock of the role of school, which contracted in some ways during the pandemic when families stepped in to support virtual learning, making it more expansive. Stakeholders shared their perspectives during listening sessions. Parents valued academic excellence, mental health, and safety as priorities. Teachers viewed school as critical for education, emotional growth, and fostering community. Students wanted school to focus on real-life skills, engaging teaching, and better preparation for the future.

Strong system health

With public school enrollment down nationally and districts struggling to retain educators, D.C. has a different story to tell. In school year 2023-24, 74 percent of teachers were retained in their same role and same school, 4 percentage points higher from the previous year. 83 percent of educators were retained overall at any school in D.C. More school leaders stayed in their schools as well. 78 percent of principals were retained in their same role and school as the previous year, and 79 percent were retained at any D.C. school.

Pre-kindergarten (PK) through Grade 12 public school enrollment increased by 2.3 percent while national enrollment decreased 0.2 percent. High school enrollment increased the most at 4.2 percent, with PK having the second highest enrollment at 3.4 percent. This growth promises to continue with the preliminary public school enrollment audit showing a 1.1 percent increase in school year 2024-25. 
D.C. also has stable student demographics in school year 2023-24. Most students that attend D.C. public schools (both District of Columbia Public Schools and public charter schools) are students of color, with Black students comprising the most students at 63 percent. The representation of other student groups is similar to the previous year apart from students designated “at-risk” decreasing by 3 percentage points to 49 percent. To be designated at-risk, students met one or more of the following criteria: experiencing homelessness, being in the District’s foster care system, qualifying for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program or the Supplemental Assistance Program (SNAP), or being overage in high school.

Modest progress during a tough recovery period

There was modest progress to student outcomes during school year 2023-24. 34 percent of students met or exceeded expectations in English Language Arts, no change from the previous year. 23 percent met or exceeded expectations in math, a 1 percentage point increase from the previous year but still 8 percentage points lower than pre-pandemic. However, compared to the rest of the country, the Nation’s Report Card showed that D.C. had stronger gains over two years than the nation in 4th grade math and stayed flat in 8th grade math and reading while the national average decreased or was flat—and that overall, D.C. ranked first among states in terms of recovery in reading and math from 2022 to 2024.

Chronic absenteeism improved by 4 percentage points to 40 percent of students missing 10 percent or more of the school year, but remains higher than pre-pandemic (29 percent). D.C. has joined other states in an ambitious goal of reducing chronic absenteeism by 50 percent by school year 2026-27 and will need to improve this metric by a little more than 5 percent points a year to meet its goal. There was also a larger improvement in truancy, decreasing 7 percentage points to 30 percent. Additionally, suspension rates remained unchanged with 6 percent of students being suspended at least once.

School year 2023-24 showed no change in high school graduation, but there was improvement in postsecondary enrollment for the class of 2023. 76 percent of the 9th grade cohort graduated in four years, 8 percentage points higher than pre-pandemic norms. 56 percent of students enrolled in postsecondary within six months of graduation, a return to pre-pandemic levels. Other measures of college and carer readiness showed some increases while others remained flat. A smaller share of students enrolled in advanced coursework (63 percent); however, a larger share in all high school grades who took an Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) exam) passed at 51 percent, 6 percentage points higher. 20 percent of students met the SAT College readiness benchmark, the same as the last school year.

Looking forward

Moving forward, some recovery efforts may take several years to show results. There is a need to assess recovery strategies and better target how schools can make progress. While school year 2023-24 showed strong system health and modest progress toward recovery, especially in terms of learning outcomes, we are at a time where there is an urgent demand for improvement.