2022 Bold Performance Schools Report

RELEASED OCTOBER 2022

Burroughs Elementary, a 2022 DC Bold Performance School

Bold Performance Schools are the DC schools that are boldly supporting priority students — students designated as at-risk, students with disabilities, and students of color — to reach academic success. The 14 schools designated as Bold Performance Schools are DC Public Schools (DCPS) and DC charter schools, across elementary, middle, and high school grades; and serve student populations where students designated as at-risk make up at least 30% of the student population. This year’s Bold Performance Schools have 2022 PARCC proficiency rates that were an average of 9.1 percentage points better than other Bold-eligible schools, and their 2022 PARCC 4+ proficiency rates were 2.6 percentage points better than the pre-pandemic average for schools serving similar demographics.

2022 Bold Performance Schools:

• Burroughs ES

• Center City Congress Heights ES/MS

• Burrville ES

• Langdon ES

• Washington Global MS

• Roots ES

• KIPP DC Legacy College Prep HS

• Garrison ES

• Payne ES

• Digital Pioneers HS

• Paul MS

• Cesar Chavez MS/HS

• Friendship Southeast ES

• Bridges ES

The Bold Performance Schools utilized six key strategies to achieve their success:

• Intentional relationship-building among students, educators, and families to create an effective team that meets high expectations;

• Emphasize the importance of fun and joyful environments for adults and students;

• Extended learning time opportunities for students;

• Targeted small-group and individual student interventions that allow students to access rigorous, grade-level content, even when they have unfinished learning gaps;

• Teacher observation, collaboration, coaching feedback cycles and professional development that provide educators with support to improve; and

• Weekly data and student-work analysis, progress-monitoring, and goal-setting conversations with educators and students.

DC students need bold goals to move beyond recovery to an era where all DC students thrive in an increasingly global labor market. 

EmpowerK12 recommends:

• Set citywide bold goals for a full academic recovery within three years where achievement rates meet or exceed pre-pandemic 2019 rates and to close academic gaps for priority students with their national peers by 2030.

• Adopt and implement strategic plans, aligned with bold goals and commit to funding the solutions working at Bold Performance Schools.

• Invest in research and improvement to quickly learn what’s working and for whom and course-correct when it’s not.

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2022 Bold Performance Panel Event

Deputy Mayor for Education, Paul Kihn; State Superintendent for Education, Dr. Christina Grant; Interim DC Public Schools Deputy Chancellor, Dr. Drewana Bey; and Public Charter School Board Executive Director, Dr. Michelle Walker-Davis joined us for a panel on how DC plans to continue a bold education resurgence for priority student groups, hosted by DC Education Research Collaborative Executive Director, Josephine Bias-Robinson.

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Articles Featuring Bold Performance Schools

Washington Post: 14 schools recognized for outperforming peers in the District by Lauren Lumpkin