Large Numbers Of Students Entering, Exiting DCPS

Thousands of students in D.C.'s traditional and charter public schools have moved out of the system during the past academic year, according to data from the first student mobility report conducted in the District.

More than 6,200 students transferred out of D.C. schools — no one is sure where they've gone. Approximately 4,600 students transferred into the District. No one is sure where they've come from; possibly private schools, home schools or new residents who have moved into D.C.

Jeffrey Noel, the head of data for the Office of the State Superintendent for Education or OSSE, says the numbers are surprising.

"They were larger than we expected," Noel says. "But the biggest surprise was the sheer numbers of students moving into and out of District public education, not between schools or between sectors, but actually into and out of public education."

Noel says student mobility has financial implications, as schools recieve money based on the number of students served. There are, however, academic implications as well.

"There is some national research that students that move around have greater struggles in terms of graudation or other achievement levels," Noel says.

OSSE will now look at where exactly these students are coming from and going to and how this mobility affects academics.