Public school students in the District of Columbia posted gains in all grade level and subject combinations on the 2013 Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) release Dec. 18.

In fact, District students posted the highest gains from 2011 of any urban area in all subjects, and were the only ones to make statistically significant improvements in all subjects and grade levels. DC fourth grade average scores jumped seven and five points in math and reading respectively, with eighth graders posting five and eight point gains.

Other urban districts that showed similar signs of progress included both Los Angeles and Fresno schools.

DC is unique in the sense that its student achievement data was included in both TUDA as well as the state-by-state comparisons released last month. Achievement data in TUDA excluded charter school student performance, but charters were incorporated in state-by-state comparisons and showed similar signs of growth.

Recent federal reports show that student performance gains in DC traditional public schools mirrored that of charter students, with minority charter school students doing better than their traditional school counterparts, according to the Washington Post.  

Although test scores have improved within the District, they still remain below both the large city and national averages.

NAEP scores reflect an ongoing upward trend in DC test scores following the release of DC-CAS scores earlier this year.