DC’s 2026 Statewide Assessment Results Show Continued Gains in ELA and Math
Thursday, August 20, 2026
DC Students Make Gains in ELA and Math for Fourth Consecutive Year
(Washington, DC) – Today, Mayor Muriel Bowser and the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) released results from the District’s annual statewide assessments in English language arts/literacy (ELA) and math taken by students in grades 3–8 and high school in spring 2026. Districtwide, ELA proficiency is up 2 percentage points over last year, at 39.6%, and math proficiency is up 2.1 percentage points over last year, at 28.5%. This is the fourth consecutive year that the District has seen increases in proficiency rates.
“Earlier this year, we got good news about our education system: DC students have led the nation in post-pandemic academic recovery in both reading and math. Now, with this data, we have an even better sense of how we can continue to build on that progress,” said Mayor Bowser. “I’m grateful for the educators across all eight wards who go above and beyond to support our students. On Monday, we begin another school year of opportunity and possibilities for our students – let’s start the year strong and make every day count.”
OSSE ensures the secure and reliable administration of statewide assessments each spring, and participation remained strong this year with 95.5% of students participating in ELA and 94.9% participating in math. The DC CAPE assessment sets a high bar for proficiency, and it has five performance levels; levels 4 and 5 indicate a student is proficient in the subject area and level 3 indicates a student is approaching grade-level expectations. Students performing at level 3 still demonstrate much of the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in later grade levels and postsecondary pathways.
Since 2022, the first year of testing after students returned to in-person learning, ELA proficiency has increased by 8.8 percentage points and math proficiency has increased by 9.1 percentage points.
This year, gains were driven largely by math improvements at the elementary level and by ELA improvements in the middle grades. At the high school level, citywide proficiency in math remained mostly flat and decreased slightly in ELA, compared to last year. Overall, across grade levels, ELA proficiency rates are higher today than before the pandemic, and the highest on record since 2015 (the year the District moved from the DC CAS to the PARCC assessment).