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New: Survey on LEA AI Practices and Policies
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is already having an impact on District schools and students that will only deepen in the coming years. OSSE is requesting feedback via a brief survey to learn about current LEA practices and policies and to inform any future support that OSSE can provide to navigate these challenges and opportunities. The survey is suited for LEA leaders in a variety of roles – Head of School, Instructional Leaders, Technology Leaders – and can be submitted by multiple people at the same LEA, so please forward to those within your organization who would like to weigh in. Participation is voluntary. OSSE will use responses for descriptive and planning purposes only—not for accountability or compliance monitoring. OSSE will share responses with the Mid-Atlantic Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) at Mathematica for the purposes of analyzing survey results.
Thank you for your insights as we work together to appropriately leverage this new technology while mitigating against its potential harms. The survey is available here. It should take around 10 minutes to complete and will be open until Friday, Feb. 13.
DC Survey About Your School (DC SAYS) Administration Window (Reminder)
OSSE is excited to announce that the DC SAYS spring 2026 survey window will be March 2 – April 3. The survey content and administration process will be the same as last spring. Please note that as part of a multi-pronged effort to turn the data around faster this year, OSSE will not extend the window as we did last year.
To successfully administer the student survey, every school with students in grades 3 and above should appoint a “survey liaison” who will develop plans for administration at their campus, coordinate technology access for classrooms, share proctor resources with educators, and monitor survey response rates. OSSE will host two virtual trainings for liaisons to choose from and also make the recording available on the DC SAYS website.
OSSE is encouraged by the high participation in the first year of administration and the fantastic efforts put forth by schools and LEAs. If you have any questions or concerns, please email osse.dcsays@dc.gov and an OSSE team member will be sure to respond. We are excited for 2026 and thank you and your teams in advance.
Course Data Collection Updates (Reminder)
For LEAs that have Unified Data Errors (UDEs) in the Student and Section Course Collection data that need to be resolved by resubmitting Course Catalog Collection data, the Integrated Data Submission (IDS) process for the Course Catalog Collection data will be reopened for resubmission from Jan. 26 through Feb. 6 at 5 p.m. Please note that the new submission will completely overwrite previous submissions, so the entire spreadsheet of Course Catalog Collection data will need to be resubmitted, not just changes.
Once the Course Catalog Collection data has been resubmitted, there will be a delay in resolving the UDEs, as it takes some time for all the applications to sync. Please plan to resubmit the Course Catalog Collection data as early as possible in the submission window, to allow time to review the impact on the Student and Section Course Data and ensure that UDEs are resolved.
LEAs can also schedule a one-on-one meeting for assistance using this link. For additional information or questions, please email Whitney Meagher at Whitney.Meagher@dc.gov.
DC Health: Respiratory Disease Outbreak – Toolkit for Schools and Child Care Facilities (Reminder)
DC Health has recently developed and published a new toolkit of resources for schools, child care facilities, and health staff concerning potential respiratory disease outbreaks. Proper planning for any respiratory disease outbreak requires coordination, clear communication, and adherence to public health recommendations. This toolkit provides comprehensive guidelines, protocols, and resources for managing respiratory disease outbreaks in school and child care settings within the District of Columbia.
Please visit the toolkit link to learn more and share with your colleagues, students, and families.
For more information or questions, please email osse.schoolhealth@dc.gov or visit DC Health.
Test Development Opportunity for Educators (Reminder)
OSSE’s Office of Assessments is currently recruiting educators to apply for the opportunity to participate in test development events for multiple DC statewide assessments, including DC Comprehensive Assessments of Progress in Education (DC CAPE), Multi-State Alternate Assessment (MSAA) and WIDA ACCESS.
Applicants selected will be part of a pool of educators available to attend various test development events, including content review, bias and sensitivity review, range finding, data review, and standard setting. Each test development event requires a commitment of approximately three to five days and will be held during the 2025-26 school year or in summer 2026. The assessment vendor will provide participants with a daily stipend or LEAs with substitute reimbursement. Participants can request Professional Learning Units (PLUs) in place of a stipend that can be used toward credential renewal. Participants will also have the opportunity to use experience gained through test development activities to build assessment literacy within their schools and LEAs and influence the content that will appear on the statewide summative assessments for DC students. Applicants who are selected will receive notification from OSSE and event registration information from our partner vendor.
Educators with a range of assessment and curriculum experience, content expertise, and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) training are welcome to apply, and all applicants should meet the following qualifications:
- Currently employed as a teacher or academic leader for grades 3 through 12 at a District of Columbia public or public charter school;
- Experience teaching diverse populations and/or students with special needs;
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Expertise in English language arts (ELA), mathematics, or science with a deep understanding of the Common Core State Standards or Next Generation Science Standards;
- Three years of experience as a teacher and/or academic leader; and
- Able to commit three to five school days a year to attend test development events.
If you are interested in participating, please complete the application here by 5 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 20 to be eligible for test development events.
For additional questions, please contact Yolanda Barber at Yolanda.Barber@dc.gov.
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New: Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Instructional Community of Practice (CoP)
The SEL Instructional CoP supports teachers and instructional leaders with a collaborative environment to exchange best practices, strengthen adult SEL strategies, address challenges through discussions of Problems of Practice, and enhance the integration of SEL in the classroom.
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Engage in bi-monthly CoP in-person meetings scheduled from 4 - 5:30 p.m. at OSSE (1050 First Street NE). Learn more and register at the links below.
- Learn about ongoing professional learning opportunities and resources to support campus SEL needs.
- Explore ways to leverage SEL artifacts and resources (Toolkits, Caregiver Guide, etc.).
- Analyze DCSAYS data to build educator capacity to take informed action
- Explore strategies for incorporating DC SEL competencies within the classroom context.
- Identify challenges and practical obstacles that educators encounter while integrating SEL standards and practices, and explore effective solutions.
For questions, please contact Marcus Hughes with the OSSE Division of Teaching and Learning at Marcus.Hughes@dc.gov.
New: Become a Shared Roots Site
OSSE and the DC Department of Parks and Recreation are partnering to connect District residents with food and gardening in their communities with the help of school gardens.
DC public and public charter schools with gardens can participate by becoming a Shared Roots site and provide access for community members to garden, grow, or maintain the school garden over the summer months. Please apply here by Thursday, Feb. 19.
Please contact Sam Ullery at Sam.Ullery@dc.gov for additional information or questions.
Leveraging Technology to Meet the Needs for All Learners, Feb. 23 (Reminder)
Join OSSE for a hands-on session focused on leveraging technology to meet students’ diverse academic and communication needs. Participants will explore practical ways to integrate technology tools into daily instruction and learn how these tools support students in school and beyond.
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Making Lessons Accessible with Technology: Monday, Feb. 23, 9 – 11 a.m. Register here
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Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) for Beginners: Monday, Feb. 23, 12 – 2 p.m. Register here
Location: OSSE, First Floor (1050 First St. NE, Washington, DC 20002)
Space is limited to 50 educators. Attendees will receive 2 PLUs for each session. For more information, contact Byul Yim at Byul.Yim@dc.gov.
 New: Grant Opportunity: Partnerships for School Attendance (PSA) Grant
OSSE is soliciting grant proposals from eligible community‑based organizations (CBOs) for the Partnerships for School Attendance (PSA) grant program.
OSSE will award approximately $2 million total in competitive grants to CBOs to support initiatives aimed at improving student attendance and engagement in schools across the District of Columbia. The competition is now open and applications must be submitted by CBOs by Friday, March 20 in the Enterprise Grants Management System (EGMS).
To be eligible, CBOs must partner with DC public or public charter schools serving grades K–12. All applications must include a formal partnership agreement with the school, signed by the LEA’s designee.
Please see the RFA for more information on the grant opportunity.
For questions or additional information about the PSA grant, please contact Rudy Arellano at Rudy.Arellano@dc.gov or (202) 322-1713.
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February 2026
March 2026
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