Victor Horton
Deputy Director, DC
Education Reform Now Advocacy
DC Council’s Committee of the Whole Performance Oversight Hearing on:
Office of the State Superintendent of Education
Good morning, Chairman Mendelson, Members, and Staff of the Committee of the Whole. My name is Victor Horton. I am a ward seven resident and the Deputy Director of the D.C. Chapter of Education Reform Now Advocacy (ERNA), an organization fighting for a just and equitable public education system for all students. At ERNA, we always put the needs of students first and we’re steadfastly focused on improving literacy, math, secondary pathways to college and career, and attendance, which is what I am here to talk about with you all today.
Literacy is the foundation for learning as it is the key to accessing all subjects, from science to history, and is essential for lifelong learning. ERNA’s deepest desire is for every child to read on grade level by third grade regardless of where in the city they live and what school they attend. I would like to applaud the work that the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) has done in terms of providing DC educators with training in structured literacy instruction. Investments like these are why we have seen remarkable results in reading with D.C. posting the highest gains from 2022 to 2024.[1] In fact, DC is ranked number five in the country for reading recovery in the full period between 2019-2024. DCPS deserves a ton of credit for the tremendous effort they’ve made in training their educators via the DC Reading Clinic, so does KIPP DC and Friendship for their efforts in adopting the science of reading.
However, not every student is receiving excellent instruction. 66% of D.C. students are not meeting grade-level expectations in English Language Arts per the latest DC CAPE exam. While we have seen remarkable progress we will not meet our full potential until the Early Literacy Education Taskforce recommendations are fully implemented. Recently:
- Last October, OSSE announced it had received another 5-year $50 million grant to continue accelerating literacy outcomes for DC students.[2] This is great news! 95 percent of funds go to LEAs through a competitive grant. Year 1 of this grant will be used to support all LEAs with their literacy plan. OSSE will need to ensure LEAs most in need of the assistance applying, have the support to apply.
- From our understanding OSSE is working to understand which educators have demonstrated competency in structured literacy already and to stand up the Kindergarten coaching pilot, literacy grant, and to expand that work and sustain it.
We urge the Mayor and the DC Council to fully implement the Taskforce’s recommendations at approximately $9M over the financial plan – the cost of first through fifth grade educators, first through 12th grade special education educators, and administrators of all of these educators to be trained in structured literacy training.
Math
According to the 2024 NAEP report, only 21% of DC’s eighth graders scored proficient or above in math, while 33% of our fourth graders reached proficiency[3]. While this marks the biggest improvement in the country on any NAEP assessment, we still have much more work to do to ensure every student can do math on grade level.
OSSE is currently convening the Math Taskforce, for which I am an advisory member of, to develop a set of strong recommendations to build a statewide comprehensive plan. Still, those recommendations won’t come out until later this year with implementation beginning next year. Our students cannot wait. We are urging the Mayor and DC Council to invest $9 million in evidence-based practices that we know works. These practices are the following:
- High-Quality Instructional Materials and Professional Development: Fund a pilot program in six DCPS and six public charter schools, each receiving a math coach ($2M total).
- High-Impact Tutoring (HIT): Support evidence-based HIT programs – small-group, intensive tutoring tailored to individual student needs – for students across ($4.8M).
- Math Teacher Pipeline: Strengthen the pipeline of math teachers trained by local D.C. universities and sustain funding for current programs (ie. OSSE’s Apprenticeship in Teaching ($565K)).
- Parent and Caregiver Support: Implement Power My Learning math family engagement playlists for all elementary school students. (($1.5M in FY26, $700K in FY27).
These strategic investments will help accelerate progress and ensure that DC’s students—especially those furthest from opportunity—excel in math.
Dual enrollment
Dual enrollment programs offer invaluable college exposure. However, many students—particularly those in under-resourced schools—face barriers to participation. We were delighted to see that in the 2023-24 school year, 458 students took 612 college courses worth $616,093.79 in tuition at 13 IHEs through OSSE’s DC Dual Enrollment Consortium program[4]. However, It was very alarming to see that only 8.2% and 4.8% of the participants reside in Ward 7 and Ward 8 respectively.[5]
OSSE must ensure that all high schools offer robust college and career services. Schools should integrate career exposure opportunities, such as internships, apprenticeships, and industry partnerships, to better prepare students for postsecondary success. We, also, need data to track our programs which lead to economic mobility.
OSSE has also made strides in improving postsecondary enrollment within 6 months of graduation, which has risen by 3 percentage points to 56.[6] This increase brings postsecondary enrollment back to pre-pandemic levels. This is something to applaud. However, OSSE needs to make a better effort of tracking and reporting postsecondary completion–not just enrollment. This will provide a clearer picture of access vs success.
Given such, we are urging OSSE to expand dual enrollment and early college opportunities; and council to fund the Education Through Employment Data System to enable the publication of essential data dashboards at $2.1M in FY26, and $1.5M in FY27.
Attendance
OSSE’s commitment to improving student attendance in the District of Columbia is evident in its increased transparency around attendance data. The decision to publish attendance data three times a school year allows stakeholders to make improvements while the school year is still in progress. Additionally, the inclusion of chronic absenteeism data in the biennial Youth Risk Behavioral Survey report further increases public access and awareness, demonstrating OSSE’s dedication to addressing this critical issue.
The most recent OSSE attendance report shows a 3.9 percentage point decline in chronic absenteeism and a 6.6 percentage point decline in truancy, signaling progress.[7] The report also highlights a direct link between attendance and academic growth: a 10-percentage point increase in in-seat attendance was associated with an average increase of 2.8 percentiles in ELA growth and 3.2 percentiles in math growth.[8] Research shows that postsecondary enrollment for high school graduates with profound chronic absenteeism (missing 30% or more of the school year) is only 28%, compared to 74% for students with satisfactory attendance (missing less than 5% of the school year)[9]. Simply put, when students attend school consistently, they learn more.
Chronic absenteeism and truancy are still up pre-pandemic with nearly 40% of students still chronically absent[10]. We must continue addressing the root causes of absenteeism with urgency.
We must continue to measure and improve student attendance through targeted interventions that bring rates below pre-pandemic levels, including by providing an update on the Department of Human Service’s (DHS) truancy
reduction pilot. Attendance is not just about showing up—it is a direct driver of student success.
Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to continued collaboration to improve outcomes for all DC students.
[1] https://educationrecoveryscorecard.org/states/district-of-columbia/
[2] Mayor Bowser Announces Nearly $50 Million Grant to Continue Accelerating Literacy Outcomes for DC Students
[3] ibid
[4] https://osse.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/osse/page_content/attachments/PostSec_DualEnrollment_Handout_Feb2025.pdf
[5] ibid
[6] https://www.dcpolicycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/State-of-D.C.-Schools-2023-24.pdf
[7] https://osse.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/osse/page_content/attachments/2023-24%20Attendance%20Report%20%28Final%29.pdf
[8] ibid
[9] https://www.dcpolicycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/State-of-D.C.-Schools-2023-24.pdf
[10] https://www.dcpolicycenter.org/publications/state-of-d-c-schools-2023-24/