What the DC CAPE Is and Who Takes It
Washington, D.C. gives its statewide test under the name DC CAPE, the District of Columbia Comprehensive Assessments of Progress in Education. Every public school student in a tested grade or course sits for it, whether your child attends a DCPS school or one of the District’s many public charter schools. The Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) runs the program and reports results at the state, sector, LEA, and individual school level. That structure is what makes the District unusual: the “state” assessment is administered for a single city with many operators, so school-to-school comparisons feel closer to home than they do in a large state.
DC CAPE covers three subjects. English language arts runs across grades 3 through 8 plus two high school courses, ELA I and ELA II, which students take when enrolled in a grade 9 or grade 10 aligned course. Mathematics runs across grades 3 through 8 plus Algebra I and Geometry. Science is tested only in grades 5 and 8 and in high school Biology. There is one pathway wrinkle worth asking about: if your child takes Geometry before grade 9, the District’s advanced-math sequence can route them into an additional high school math assessment, so confirm with the school which math test matches your child’s actual course.
The ELA and math tests are aligned to the Common Core State Standards, which the District adopted, and science is aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards. Pearson provides the technology: teachers administer through a system called ADAM, and students test in a program called TestNav.
What the DC CAPE Looks Like: Format and Item Types
DC CAPE is computer-based and uses interactive item types, not just multiple choice. In ELA, students work through passage sets with evidence-based selected response items, technology-enhanced items like drag-and-drop and hot-spot, and written prose constructed responses. Math tasks split into concepts and procedures, mathematical reasoning, and modeling and application, with multiple choice, multiple select, fill-in-the-blank, and technology-enhanced formats.
Timing is section-based. Math in grades 3 through 8 comes in three 60-minute sections, high school math courses run two 90-minute sections, and science runs four 45-minute sections. Extended time, when documented in an IEP or 504 plan, can let a student work to the end of the school day on a single section, and a section can be given on a separate day if needed. Scores reach families through the DC CAPE Family Portal, but you will need an access code from your child’s school to open the individual student report, so ask the front office if you have not received one.
How the DC CAPE Is Scored
DC CAPE ELA and Math currently report on a scale that runs from 650 to 850, and every student lands in one of five performance levels. Level 1 is Did Not Yet Meet Expectations, Level 2 is Partially Met Expectations, Level 3 is Approached Expectations, Level 4 is Met Expectations, and Level 5 is Exceeded Expectations. OSSE treats Levels 4 and 5 as proficient and on track for the next grade and for college and career readiness. Level 3 means your child holds much of the knowledge and skills needed going forward but has not yet reached the proficient line.
The cut scores follow a steady pattern across grades. In ELA and math, Level 1 generally spans 650 to 699, Level 2 runs 700 to 724, Level 3 runs 725 to 749, and Level 4 begins at 750. The Level 5 starting point shifts by grade and course. When you read your child’s report, the scale score plus the level tells you far more than the number alone, because a 748 and a 752 sit in different performance categories even though they are only a few points apart.
What a Score Does and Does Not Decide
Here is the part parents most want straight: there is no rule that a DC CAPE score by itself holds a student back. OSSE frames results as one measure that sits alongside report card grades, classroom performance, and teacher feedback, not as an automatic promotion or retention switch. Promotion and retention decisions are made at the school-system level, so for a specific case you should check your child’s LEA policy, whether that is DCPS or a charter network, rather than assuming the test decides.
What the score does do is feed public reporting and the DC School Report Card, including growth information. So the test carries real weight for your school and for the District’s picture of how students are doing, even in a year when it changes nothing on your own child’s record. That gap between “matters for the school” and “does not automatically decide my child’s grade” is exactly what trips parents up, and it is worth holding both ideas at once.
Participation and the Medical Exemption
Washington, D.C. is not a simple opt-out jurisdiction, and this is where careful wording matters. OSSE’s policy is that all eligible public school students in tested grades and courses are expected to participate in person, and the only recognized exemption is an OSSE-approved medical exemption. That is different from a general parental right to opt a child out of testing, which the District’s policy does not provide. If you are weighing keeping your child out of testing, talk with your school and your LEA directly, because handling and any consequences are set locally, and you want the current answer for your specific school rather than a rule of thumb.
Participation also carries a school-level stake. Federal policy expects schools to test at least 95 percent of eligible students, and the District’s overall participation has run right around that mark. That threshold is one reason schools push to reach every child during the window.
The Coming Move to DC CAPE 2.0
The current DC CAPE is best understood as the District’s continuation of PARCC: D.C. belonged to that consortium, kept the previously developed content and blueprints, and renamed the system DC CAPE. OSSE has said that approach is not sustainable long term, in part because the District does not have enough students to field-test new content without adding testing time.
An announced upcoming change will move the program to DC CAPE 2.0, which will use Smarter Balanced content for ELA and math and a redesigned science test, with the current academic standards staying in place. The practical heads-up for you: OSSE has said individual scores on the current test and the new one will not be directly comparable, so if you track your child’s growth year to year, expect a reset point when the change arrives. The current test is not permanent, and it is worth watching your school’s communications for the switch in the near future.