How to Use This Resource

This toolkit is divided into four section: About DC Education, About the Teachers, Questions to Ask, and Sources. Each section gives you insight into DC traditional public schools and DC charter schools you should consider when choosing a school for your child.

• The "About DC Education" and "About the Teachers" sections are meant to inform you.
• The "Questions to Ask" section is a tool to use when choosing a school for your student.

About DC Education: This section gives an overview about DC public education. It highlights how many school districts there are in the District and how many students attend traditional public and charter schools. This section also breaks down the demographic makeup of the students in the District by sector.

This section is divided into three parts:

1. Race / Ethnicity: This section highlights the racial/ethnic make-up of the DCPS teacher workforce. DC public charter schools are not required to release information regarding the teachers they hire. Black and Latinx students are underrepresented in the classroom and this page also highlights that these students have the lowest test scores, attendance rates, and the highest rates of disciplinary action.
2. Gender: This section highlights the gender make-up of the DCPS teacher workforce. DC public charter schools are not required to release information regarding the teachers they hire. Male students are underrepresented in the classroom and this page also highlights that boys have the lowest test scores, high school graduation rates, and the highest rates of disciplinary action. The District does not have available information regarding transgender and gender nonconforming teachers.
3. Research: This section presents national research on the importance of recruiting and retaining diverse teaching forces within classrooms and its impact on all students, particularly students of color.

Teachers play a vital role in establishing the culture of a school. These questions are designed to help you understand a school's ability to recruit and retain a diverse educators. This will help you better understand the health of a schools environment.

This section is divided into three parts:

1. General Questions: These questions address a schools ability to retain its teachers.
2. Questions Regarding Race/Ethnicity: These questions address a schools ability to recruit/retain a diverse teaching staff.
3. Questions Regarding Gender: These questions address a schools ability to recruit/retain a representative teaching staff.

This section is divided into two parts:

1. Current Research: This section provides a list of national research studies on the importance of having representative teaching staffs. This is not a comprehensive list of all research.
2. Reports: This section provides numerous reports from the DC Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) and from the DC Public Charter School Board (PCSB).