The State of DC Math: A National Bright Spot, More Acceleration Needed
The District has made remarkable strides in mathematics achievement, since the mid-2000’s and recently as the most improved state in math achievement from 2022 to 2024, as recognized by the national Education Recovery Scorecard from Dartmouth, Harvard, and Stanford. This distinction underscores the effectiveness of targeted math supports, school-level instructional strategies, and sustained investment in evidence-based interventions that have driven student growth.
DC’s Math Growth on the National Stage
DC’s consistent improvement in mathematics is no accident. Over the last two decades, the city has been the fastest-improving jurisdiction on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Every administration of NAEP from 2003 to 2019 saw the math performance gap between Black students in the District and the National Average shrink, and NAEP 2024 results show that DC’s fourth and eighth graders outpaced national averages in math growth, a testament to our DCPS and DC public charter school educators.
This upward trajectory is also reflected in the improvement of 2024 PARCC/CAPE results across all performance levels. More students met or exceeded expectations in math, and the percent of students at the lowest performance level declined. It is our state test score data for grades 3-8 that contribute to calculations on the national Education Recovery Scorecard. The Scorecard finds that the average DC student recovered an additional half grade level in math over the last two years. Though, student scores reflect that half of our students are more than one grade level behind skills-wise than their assigned grade level.
Math Brightspot Schools: What’s Driving Their Success?
EK12 and the DC Math Hub’s 2024 Brighter Future Report highlights the best practices of math brightspot schools—campuses that defied national trends to achieve outstanding math growth. These schools share several key strategies:
Build Math Confidence: Schools prioritize fostering a positive math identity, helping students believe in their ability to succeed.
Maximize Instructional Time: Effective scheduling, data-driven interventions, and high-impact tutoring ensure students receive the support they need.
High-Quality Instructional Materials: Consistently implementing rigorous and coherent curricula, such as Eureka Math and Illustrative Math, led to improved outcomes.
Integrate Conceptual Understanding with Procedural Knowledge and Fact Fluency: Rather than relying solely on rote memorization, bright spots emphasize problem-solving, real-world applications, and deep conceptual mastery.
Invest in Teacher Development: Schools with sustained growth offer robust professional development that provide teachers with deep conceptual understanding of the content and pedagogical strategies.
View this six-minute short film with interviews of teachers and students at three of the 2024 Bright Spots for Math Growth to learn more about their promising practices:
A Need to Scale High-Impact Math Tutoring
With many students behind grade level, increasing access to high-impact tutoring, a version of tutoring that provides students with a critical dosage of custom math support in very small groups, is a smart investment. In 2023-24 at CityTutor funded tutoring initiatives in DC schools, students who received 900 minutes of math tutoring demonstrated growth equivalent to 12.8 instructional days compared to their peers. The results were even more pronounced for students who received double the minimum HIT threshold with at least 1,800 minutes of math tutoring. Those students' math growth was equivalent to receiving 22 additional instructional days.
Economic Return on Investment in Math Education
The impact of math achievement gains extends well beyond test scores. Research indicates that higher math proficiency is directly correlated with increased lifetime earnings. A study by the Urban Institute released a year ago compared the impact of improvement in math, reading, physical health, and peer/parent relationship quality of students on career earnings by age 30. Researchers calculated that a half standard deviation improvement in math achievement through middle school equates to an extra $32,000 in career earnings by age 30 and extra $300K in career earnings by age 65 in 2025 dollars.
EK12 believes that when DC implements the best practices utilized by math brightspots for growth across the city at every school, then the District will become the first state to close the performance gap between Black and Brown students and the national average by 2030. With thousands of DC students improving their math proficiency, the long-term economic benefits for our city and its residents will be substantial. By meeting this bold goal for math achievement, our currently enrolled students of color will earn a collective extra $28 billion in lifetime earnings.
Strong math skills open pathways to high-paying careers in STEM fields, financial literacy, and critical thinking—skills essential for navigating an increasingly complex economy. There is also strong evidence that executive functioning skills built by engaging in mathematical reasoning also translate to improved reading outcomes. In fact, in EK12’s network of schools, 77% of students who are proficient in math are also proficient in reading. However, only 46% of students who are proficient in reading are also proficient in math. Also, students whose growth in math was in the top quartile were statistically significantly more likely to have reading growth in the top quartile than vice-versa. Clearly, DC’s investment in math education is both an academic imperative and an economic strategy that will drive prosperity for future generations.
The Path Forward
EK12 helped co-launch the cross-sector DC Math Hub because there is serious work to be done to ensure that every student, regardless of background, can thrive in the life path of their choice with the math skills they need. The Math Hub aims to foster educational advancement through three main initiatives: facilitate cross-sector collaboration and communication via educator convenings where brightspots share best practices; support for family math engagement by providing programs, resources, and toolkits for schools; and promote innovative LEA math practices through design sprints and mini-grants to pilot evidence-based technology and programs that support student acceleration in numeracy and mathematical thinking.
District agencies are contributing to the effort. The Office of the State Superintendent of Education formed a Math Task Force of local teachers, school leaders, and math instructional experts. The group will “develop a comprehensive set of recommendations so that all DC students achieve proficiency in math skills and concepts, setting them up for success in subsequent grade levels and life.” Meanwhile, the State Board of Education, passed a resolution that supports investment in math initiatives citywide. Among their recommendations is the development of a “math fund,” similar to the successful Kentucky Math Achievement Fund, that support schools in designing action plans to address the needs of students below grade level.
We are also a proud member of the Math4All DC campaign to improve our students’ math proficiency, organized by Education Reform Now. The campaign’s four pillars to accelerate outcomes include access to high-impact tutoring, increase the pipeline of highly qualified math teachers, ensure parents and caregivers have resources to support engagement in numeracy outside of school, and provide each school with a math instructional coach.
By continuing to invest in instructional excellence, data-driven interventions, and teacher development, DC will solidify its position as a national leader in math education and ensure that all students have the skills they need to succeed in school and beyond.