After 10 years focused primarily on DC Public School (DCPS) programming, most recently as a DCPS Cornerstone partner, One World Education will significantly expand its work with DC charter schools through a recent multi-year investment from the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) Office of Public Charter School Financing and Support (OPCSFS). The Scholarships for Opportunity and Results (SOAR) grant is designed to support projects and organizations that demonstrate evidence-based research and promising outcomes in DC charter schools.

As part of the SOAR grant, One World Education will lead focused professional development and team-teaching supports around its implementation of the expanded One World Program in two DC charter schools. Beginning with the 2016-2017 school year, One World Education will support City Arts & Prep (formerly the William E. Doar Jr. Public Charter School [WEDJ]) and Mary McLeod Bethune Day Academy in effectively implementing and measuring teachers’ use of Common Core-aligned instruction by providing targeted professional development (PD), assessments, and regular reporting on student data over a two-year period.

Designed to facilitate ongoing faculty support in addition to the existing student-centered writing curriculum, the One World Program strategically expands the organization’s four-week program to provide job-embedded PD for teachers and deeply engaging learning experiences for students. Teachers and leadership at both schools are as excited as our team for this two-year partnership, and the extended period of time allows One World Education to evaluate the program with both first- and second-year teachers. Last year, leaders at the World Bank and American University led a comprehensive evaluation of One World Education's programming in DC charter schools that reported statistically significant gains in the four charter schools in which the organization worked.

During the 2015-2016 school year, One World Education's charter school partners showed significant program gains. In each of the four schools, students took a pre- and post-program writing assessment to measure and evaluate gains in skills aligned to several Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for English Language Arts (ELA) over the four-week period of the One World Program. Specifically, this includes the following results:

  • 25% of 8th grade students at Potomac Prep Charter School increased their ability to make a claim and counterclaim (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.1.A).

  • At City Arts & Prep (formerly WEDJ), 8th grade post-program test scores increased by 20% in the CCSS ELA standard where students supplied evidence for claims and counterclaims (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.1.B).

  • At EL Haynes Charter School, 12th grade post-program test scores increased by 15% in the standard where students created cohesion between claims and reasons (CCSS.ELA.LITERACY.W.11-12.C).

One World Education’s OSSE SOAR grant will ensure the impact of the One World Program continues to enrich teaching and learning in Washington, DC public charter schools. For information on charter school partnerships, please contact Stacy Kirk, Partnership Director, at stacy@oneworldeducation.org.