DC Prep board members discussed the charter network’s CAEP results on Sept. 17, with school and academic leaders saying overall city recovery after pandemic‑era declines has been slow and that outcomes vary substantially by campus and grade.

Laura, presenting CAEP data to the board, said the assessment "is administered to students in grades 3 through 8 and high school, and is meant to be an assessment of whether or not students are on track to be college and career ready in ELA, math, and science." She framed the results as an important accountability measure for families and the district.

The presentation reported that 33.7% of students citywide were proficient or better in English language arts and 22.5% were proficient or better in math. Laura noted that ELA proficiency was strongest in grades 6–8, while math proficiency tended to be higher in grades 3–5 and fell in later grades.

At the campus level, DC Prep highlighted several gains year over year: Benning Elementary increased ELA proficiency by 6.8 percentage points and Edgewood Elementary by 6.4; Anacostia rose 7.1 points; Edgewood Middle grew 4.6 points in ELA. In math, Benning posted a 4.7‑point gain. The presenter said these campus gains generally outpaced citywide averages.

Board members asked whether inflows of students at later grades — notably many students entering at fourth grade — help explain lower scores in those grades. Laura said that while incoming students contribute to variation, "the longer our students are with us... the stronger they tend to perform," and she emphasized the network’s focus on strengthening transitions and early elementary instruction.

To address variability, the academic team described three main levers: (1) stronger Tier 1 instruction and classroom culture through routine leader walkthroughs and an "act 1 checklist," (2) faster, more targeted Tier 2 interventions and revamped student support plans, and (3) weekly collaborative planning meetings where teachers use data to group students and monitor whether interventions are working.

The board heard that campuses with stronger outcomes tended to have more experienced leaders, higher classroom implementation fidelity, structured classrooms with clear routines, consistent use of data by co‑teachers, and stronger coaching. Members discussed how practices from higher‑performing campuses (AMC and EMC in the presentation) might be shared to raise results at other campuses such as BMC, which has had more turnover in leadership.

The board asked for follow‑up and Laura said the network will continue to report progress against its school plan at future meetings. The presentation materials and a data dashboard referenced in the meeting were offered to board members for further review.

Next step: DC Prep said it will track implementation of the classroom and intervention strategies throughout the school year and report back to the board on measurable progress.