EmpowerK12, in partnership with DC charter school networks, local school-based mental health experts from schools, and the Center for Health and Health Care in Schools at GW, set out to learn how DC students and educators feel about and experience life and school.
Available below are full spring semester 2021-22 survey results. Access PDF copies of all reports from this and last school year using the buttons below.
We thank SchoolTalk for their guidance on the student survey, EmpowerED for guidance on teacher wellbeing resources, and the District Department of Behavioral Health for their support via the Coordinating Council.
Full Spring Student Survey Results
The survey data below are disaggregated by student vulnerability status. Students designated as "more vulnerable" provided a negative response to food security, home stability, and neighborhood safety questions, and "most vulnerable" students provided multiple negative responses.
Full Spring Educator Survey Results
The survey data below are disaggregated by educator type: school leader, teacher, paraprofessional and support staff.
Resources to Improve Wellbeing
• DC School Behavioral Health Community of Practice (CoP). The CoP supports all DC public and public charter schools, and their website offers many resources to improve student wellbeing. One-page overview of the CoP
• Brief on Supports to Promote Teacher Wellbeing. This brief from leading school-based mental health researcher, Dr. Olga Price, offers educator wellbeing strategies to try and others to avoid.
Related research from EmpowerK12
Evaluation · October 2025CitySchools Collaborative supports for tutoring providers and student outcomesA 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 2024DC math and reading recovery updateWinter 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 2023Status of K-2 literacy and numeracy in DCWhere early-grade reading and number skills stand after the steep declines of 2021-22: progress on both, with math still below pre-pandemic levels.