District of Columbia schools have improved more than schools in any other city (except maybe Chicago), writes Kate Walsh of the National Council on Teacher Quality. That progress isn’t negated by scandals over inflated graduation rates or an improper transfer of the chancellor’s daughter, she argues. Getting a teaching job is so competitive in DC that the district hires relatively few new teachers. Three quarters of their new teachers come with classroom experience, a far cry

Three-quarters of Chicago Public School students come from low-income families. As third graders, they test below the second-grade level in reading and math, on average. But they nearly catch up to the national average by eighth grade, gaining six grade levels in five years, according to a nationwide study by Stanford researchers. That makes the much-maligned district one of the most effective in the country, reports the New York Times, which has some great interactive graphi