Report · October 2026
DC Bold Performance Schools Report 2026
21 elementary and middle schools where students from priority groups beat expectations by more than 10 points, and the ten practices of Bold Schools from ten years of interviews.
EmpowerK12 research
Reports, briefs and evaluations since 2018. Every report is readable here, with its key findings up top, the PDF beside it, and links to the research it builds on.
Report · October 2026
21 elementary and middle schools where students from priority groups beat expectations by more than 10 points, and the ten practices of Bold Schools from ten years of interviews.
Evaluation · October 2025
A quasi-experimental look at high-impact tutoring in DC during 2024-25: math and reading growth, plus what students, caregivers and tutor providers said.
The DC schools where priority students beat expectations, named every year since 2016.
Report · October 2026
21 elementary and middle schools where students from priority groups beat expectations by more than 10 points, and the ten practices of Bold Schools from ten years of interviews.
Report · October 2025
16 DC schools recognized as Bold Performance Schools, with proficiency rates about 19.5 points above schools serving similar students, and the educators leading them.
Brief · November 2024
12 DC schools with proficiency rates about 13.5 points above similar-serving schools, and the educators leading them.
How far DC students have come back since 2020, and who is still behind.
Evaluation · October 2025
A quasi-experimental look at high-impact tutoring in DC during 2024-25: math and reading growth, plus what students, caregivers and tutor providers said.
Brief · May 2024
Winter 2023-24 nationally normed scores show DC students gaining more than a typical year in math and reading, with gaps to pre-COVID norms remaining. K-2 literacy on pace to recover within a year.
Brief · October 2023
Where early-grade reading and number skills stand after the steep declines of 2021-22: progress on both, with math still below pre-pandemic levels.
Bright spots, instructional practices and the citywide math push.
Evaluation · October 2025
A quasi-experimental look at high-impact tutoring in DC during 2024-25: math and reading growth, plus what students, caregivers and tutor providers said.
Brief · May 2024
Winter 2023-24 nationally normed scores show DC students gaining more than a typical year in math and reading, with gaps to pre-COVID norms remaining. K-2 literacy on pace to recover within a year.
Report · March 2024
Problem-solving math strategies from instructional leaders and educators at DC public schools showing real math growth. Part of the DC Math Hub.
Ten years of Bold Schools
Ten years of interviews with the leadership teams of DC's Bold Performance Schools, distilled into the ten things they do. The biggest takeaway of the 2026 report.
Read the ten practicesEvergreen pieces that answer a question in plain words, with the research linked.
Why the amount of instructional time mattersWhy collaboration is key in education2026 DC CAPE results, a deep diveThe dashboards every report draws on, updated as DC releases results.
DC CAPE dashboardAll public dashboardsdcboldschools.orgOne note when a report or brief is published. Nothing else.