Exploring Experience Gaps

Identify and expose expirence gaps affecting students in wards 3, 4, 7 and 8 in Washington D.C.

1. How does the student experience differ based on school of attendance and geographic region?

2. How does a student's identity, including their race, economic status, and community, effect how they experience school?

3.Does access to enrichment activities, including field trips, extra circulars, and hands on learning, vary by school?

Utilize qualitative methods, including conducting a content analysis and interviews to uncover differences in the student experience. Specifically, we will conduct a content analysis of 22 schools in the district, host a focus group, and conduct interviews.

Our research will focus on wards 3, 4, 7 and 8.

To get a comprehensive look at experience gaps in the four wards of interest, we decided to include public and charter schools. We also decided to include elementary, middle, and high schools in our analysis so we can uncover how experience gaps change or stay the same depending on grade level.

The term experience gap lacks a comprehensive definition that is distinct from other related but different terms such as achievement gap and opportunity gap. As a result the term experience gap is used interchangeably with achievement and opportunity gap producing lack of clarity and misleading language which hinders overall understanding and thus action in closing the experience gap.

The experience gap can be understood as differences internally in student feelings towards their individual school experience and externally towards school investment and access to resources. Internally this includes, culture, personal identity, sense of belonging, family, and community and externally this includes the instruction, capital investment, resources, disciplinary structures. 

For this work, we are specifically looking at the experiences students have and do not have access to while at school. The attempt is to understand how schools are adequately leveling the playing field for its students, particularly low income students, in terms of acquiring experiences, such as participating in sports, the arts, world languages, and field trips.

For the content analysis the Education team with guidance from EmpowerEd selected DCPS and DC Public Charter Schools in wards 3,4,7, and 8 to better understand the landscape of what experiences students have access to within their schools. Below are the schools in our sample size:

We evaluated the schools in our sample by the following characteristics:

• Overview of each school: grades served, student enrollment, availability of before and after care, per pupil expenditures, school's star rating, and general descriptions of the facility.
• Demographic information: school's Title I status, percentage of at risk population, English Language Learner population, students with special needs, and break down of overall student population by race.
• Offerings of curricular and extracurricular experiences: dance, music, choir, theater, art, sports, world languages, and AP courses.

Ward 3

• Ward 3 does not have any charter schools.
• The ward 3 schools in our content analysis do not receive Title I funds, have star ratings of 4 or above out of a 5 stars, and have an at risk population of 8% or less.
• All these schools offer dance, theater, music, art, and sports.
• On the high end, Oyster-Adams Bilingual School (DCPS) spends about $19,000 per pupil, while on the lower end, Deal Middle School (DCPS) spends about $16,000 per pupil.

Ward 4

• With the exception of Roots (PCS), all the ward 4 schools in our content analysis are Title I schools.
• The ward 4 schools in our content analysis range from a 1 to a 4 on the star rating system.
• Collectively, these schools have an average of 51% of at risk students; Capital City Middle School (PCS) has 29% on the low end and Roosevelt High School (DCPS) has 70% on the high end.
• While all schools offer sports, art, and music, none offer theater, and only Barnard Elementary School (DCPS) offers dance and choir.
• The average spending per pupil for the sampled schools in ward 4 is $23,413. Capital City Middle School (PCS) is the highest spender at $27,133 per pupil with Roots (PCS) as the ward's lowest spender at $19,340 per pupil.

Ward 7

• All sampled schools in ward 7 are Title I schools.
• Altogether, the schools in ward 7 have an average of 69% at risk student population. 77% of Sousa Middle School (DCPS) students are at risk, while Randle Highlands Elementary School (DCPS) and Friendship Collegiate High School (PCS) each have 61% of their student populations at risk.
• All sampled ward 7 schools offer music, dance, and sports.
• Only H.D. Woodson High School(DCPS) and Sousa Middle School(DCPS) offer theater.
• Randle Highlands Elementary School (DCPS) and DC Scholars PK3-8 (PCS) do not advertise art offerings, while the rest offer art.
• All but H.D. Woodson High School(DCPS) and DC Scholars PK3-8 (PCS) offer choir.
• On average, ward 7 schools spend $22,614 per pupil. On the high end, H.D. Woodson High School (DCPS) spends $27,984 per student while Randle Highlands Elementary School(DCPS) spends $18,645 per student.

Ward 8

• All sampled schools in ward 8 are Title I schools.
• On average, 82% of ward 8 students are considered at risk. 94% of Hendley Elementary School (DCPS) students are at risk while 66% of Ingenuity Prep (PCS) students are at risk.
• All sampled ward 8 schools offer sports.
• No ward 8 school in this sample offers theater.
• With the exception of Hendley Elementary School (DCPS), ward 8 schools do not offer choir, though they do offer music.
• With the exception of Anacostia High School (DCPS), ward 8 schools offer art.
• Only Johnson Middle School (DCPS) and KIPP DC- Legacy College Prep (PCS) offer their students dance.
• On average, spending per pupil in ward 8 is $24,986. Anacostia High School spends $38,127 per student while Rocketship PK3-5 (PCS) spends $20,520 per student.

Below is a graph that illustrates the distribution of curricular and extracurricular experiences students of our sample schools in wards 3,4,7, and 8 have access to.