DC VOICE

DC VOICE strives to build the community’s capacity to make informed decisions about our children's education. Central to promoting sustained system reform is the availability of good data and ongoing research. So too is informing and empowering diverse sectors of the community to critically examine data and use it to initiate and monitor reform at the classroom, school and district levels.

To help community activists in the District of Columbia make stronger arguments and implement more effective strategies for change, DC VOICE focuses on expanding the community’s knowledge of the state of quality teaching and learning, especially certain systemic factors or conditions and supports that affect teacher quality.

Our community action research projects and our survey or focus group reports are intended to lead the community to a deeper understanding of what quality teaching is and what additional supports are needed for it to occur in every classroom.

The 2007 Ready Schools Project Report

Each school year parents and community members ask: “Will D.C. Schools be ready for the students in the fall?” Last fall, over 490 people responded to help DC VOICE answer that question. 191 of them actually visited a school and interviewed the principal as members of a DC VOICE community audit team, with many of them visiting more than one school. The Ready Schools Project 2007 was community action research at its best, with those most affected by public education gathering the data needed to take action that will improve our schools for all students.

The 2005 Master Education Plan recommended a realignment to place all ninth graders in High School so that they could “have access to a full range of high school offerings and teachers, as well as student support staff, such as counselors and other advisors. As part of the Ready Schools Project 2007, community auditors interviewed 17 High School Principals to focus on this new transition as well as research the key aspects of high school readiness, The recommendations in this report are particularly important because of issues unique to current high school reform in Washington, D.C. DC VOICE was joined by SHAPPE, YEA and Parents United in producing this Special Report.

This special report was conducted in conjunction with 21st Century School Fund and focuses on the basic condition of all DCPS school buildings and principal priorities for maintenance and modernization. It analyzed DCPS principals’ assessment of the 2007 summer repair program, what was done and how it was managed, and provided some background on the importance of school facilities to teaching and learning. Recommendations cover present and future operations, as well as the need for improved communication so that principals and the community can be involved in facilities discussions.

The DCPS School Reorganization Plan, announced in mid-November, caused anxiety and frustration among students, teachers, parents and education activists because of a lack of good information and insufficient community engagement. The community demanded more information about the proposed school closings, the intended new academic programs, the concurrent school restructuring requirements under NCLB, and the budget implications for all these changes. The Campaign for Good Information is sponsored by several local education advocacy organizations to provide information needed before decisions are made, and to ensure that the community is involved in that decision-making.

DC youth describe their educational experience in seven discussion groups conducted during December 2003-January 2004. Their concern was that they are not learning what they need to successfully function in today's society. Youth emphasized two areas of need that should be addressed in high school reform efforts: (1) explicitly and constantly make high school classroom work relevant and connected to students' present and future lives and (2) meet individual student needs through addressing different learning styles and giving special attention to those students who have fallen behind and need help to catch up.

This study, conducted at the end of the 2002-2003 school year, reveals critical need for supports and conditions in all public schools to promote quality teaching for every child. The DC VOICE New Teacher Study is the most comprehensive feedback from DCPS teachers available. DC VOICE is also planning to conduct in-depth exit interviews with teachers leaving the school system, particularly new teachers.

You Have a Right to Know Brochure (2003)

Parents and community members have a right to know what's going on in their local schools and to be involved in local school decision-making. DC VOICE's You Have a Right to Know brochure includes questions parents can ask at their schools about supports for quality teaching issues, and actions they can take to make a difference and help improve student achievement. You may also download the brochure in Español.

At the request of the State Education Office and with support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, DC VOICE released this report, which became a progressive step in documenting the conditions in the District of Columbia and addressing the needs for better information to build quality teaching for all children. The study identified what exemplary states are doing to handle data collection and dissemination.

The voices of parents, teachers, youth, and policy makers from the SEO study are included in this abridged version.

This report highlights the way in which standards are being used in a superficial way: standards are put in place without the resources needed to ensure that each child can reach them. Standards are often treated as if they are the end. Rather, they should be the beginning.