Strengthening Instruction Through Data and Teacher Development
At DC Prep PCS, leaders are emphasizing greater fidelity to instructional programs and assessments. For example, the school closely monitors implementation of mCLASS literacy interventions to ensure students who are supposed to receive assessments and support actually receive them—and investigates when gaps occur.
DC Prep is also investing in targeted tutoring by leveraging the expertise of its strongest teachers. Based on student outcome data and need, highly effective teachers are invited to serve as tutors, providing support during non-instructional periods or after school.
Another innovation at DC Prep is the Junior Teacher Program, a teacher apprenticeship model designed to strengthen the educator pipeline. Promising novice teachers are paired with veteran educators and work directly in their classrooms, leading small-group interventions while learning how experienced teachers establish classroom culture and drive strong academic outcomes.
Leaders at DC Prep say one of the most significant drivers of improvement has been the daily discipline of reviewing student data and responding quickly to it. Instructional leaders focus their time intentionally on classrooms where student growth is lagging, ensuring coaching and support are directed where they are most needed.
Attendance has also been a major focus. With stronger systems and consistent messaging about the importance of showing up to school, DC Prep has seen improved attendance results at five of its six campuses this year.
School leaders reinforce a simple but powerful message: students cannot learn if they are not in school.
Tutoring as a Core Acceleration Strategy
At DC Scholars Public Charter School, tutoring plays a central role in the school’s academic acceleration strategy.
Students receive tutoring during the school day, after school, and on Saturdays through multiple models and partnerships. External partners such as Reading Assist provide 1:1 or 1:2 literacy tutoring, while Teach For America Ignite delivers virtual one-on-one reading tutoring.
The school also employs Teaching Associates, who tutor students in small groups while simultaneously developing as part of the school’s teacher pipeline.
These strategies are producing encouraging results. An analysis conducted by EmpowerK12 found that 74% of tutored students met their within-year ELA growth goals compared with 70% of non-tutored students.
Results were even stronger when tutoring was delivered by school staff:
- Staff-led tutoring: 80% met growth targets
- Reading Assist: 75% met growth targets
- TFA Ignite: 64% met growth targets
Embedding Intervention Into the School Day
At Harmony Public Charter School, academic acceleration is driven by daily intervention periods for both math and English language arts. Students are grouped into small instructional settings based on benchmark assessment results, allowing teachers to target specific skills students need most.
Interventions occur primarily during the school day, ensuring students receive support without missing core instruction. Teachers and interventionists collaborate during planning and data meetings to adjust instruction based on student performance.
School leaders emphasize that intervention work must remain aligned with grade-level content, ensuring students are challenged with rigorous material while receiving targeted support.
At Sojourner Truth Montessori Public Charter School, interventions are integrated within the school’s Montessori instructional model. Students regularly participate in small-group lessons tailored to their needs, and the school has placed full-time high-impact tutors in every middle school classroom and high school math classroom.
These interventions take place during the school day, helping students stay connected to core instruction while receiving additional support.
Consistency Drives Results
At Washington Global Public Charter School, leaders emphasize that consistency is the key driver of student growth.
The school uses i-Ready and Lexia to guide instruction and identify students needing additional support. Students performing multiple grade levels below their peers participate in a Literacy Intervention class built directly into the school schedule.
Washington Global also provides high-impact tutoring twice a week during the school day and after-school tutoring led by instructional coaches, teachers, and external tutors.
More than 50% of students have already met their typical growth targets, demonstrating the impact of combining digital tools with structured tutoring support.
Note: Information used in this blog was provided by each school.