How to help D.C.’s kids learn the math they need to succeed

My organization’s recent analysis of academic recovery in D.C. shows that investments in early literacy and reading instruction are yielding positive outcomes across all wards. On average, D.C. students are about one year away from achieving at or above pre-pandemic early literacy levels. However, math recovery significantly lags, with students requiring four more years to recuperate losses. Shockingly, the 2023 math state assessment revealed that only 22 percent of D.C. students overall, and just 11 percent of Black students in D.C., met or exceeded grade-level expectations in math.

The importance of early math education cannot be overstated. Readiness for eighth-grade algebra is strongly linked with students’ math fluency as early as first grade. Students who successfully complete Algebra I in middle school are more likely to pursue advanced math courses in high school and subsequently enroll in STEM fields in college.

There are ways schools can help. A review of schools where students’ math skills were improving most quickly identified five instructional strategies that help students develop confidence, conceptual understanding and procedural fluency.

The D.C. Council’s fiscal 2025 budget must include a citywide strategy to support schools that adopt evidence-based programs and scale these strategies. Such action could position D.C. to set a historic precedent, enabling Black and Brown students and students from low-income backgrounds to meet or surpass the national average in academic performance by decade’s end.

Josh Boots, Washington

The writer is founder of EmpowerK12, an education data and improvement nonprofit.

The care kids deserve

As The Post revealed in the May 28 Metro article “D.C. fails to track youths in justice and welfare systems, report finds” about a new report from the Office of the D.C. Auditor, the city’s leadership — from Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D), to the D.C. Council, to D.C. Auditor Kathleen Patterson herself — continue to miss the boat when it comes to helping struggling youth address traumatic experiences that are wreaking havoc on their lives.

Buried in Ms. Patterson’s report was the fact that, in September 2023, about 10 percent of delinquency involved youths receiving mental health services; none were receiving substance abuse services. These numbers are unconscionable, given how many of these youths have received mental health diagnoses. And it was shocking to read the bland statement that the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services “cited no specific partnerships with [D.C. Child and Family Services Agency], the Department of Behavioral Health, Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, Office of Victim Services and Justice Grants, or the Office of the Attorney General.” The failure to provide these vital services is a dereliction of duty. Instead, what Patterson recommended — and what city leaders subsequently promised to do — is better counting and coordination. Can that really be our response to this grave emergency?

As noted education activist Jonathan Kozol once said of America’s reliance on testing in schools rather than investing in children: “They have a saying in Vermont: ‘You don’t fatten your lambs by weighing them.’” When will our city leaders stop focusing on better strategies for “weighing” our struggling youth and commit to actually helping them?

Sherry Ettleson, Washington

A winning look

Much has been written in recent weeks about Blackie Wetzel and the portrait of John Two Guns White Calf that adorned Washington Redskins helmets from 1972 until 2020. Clearly, the controversy isn’t going away anytime soon. But Josh Harris, the team’s new owner, should see this controversy as an opportunity to restore Washington as one of the NFL’s most successful franchises.

As a 35-year resident of D.C., I always enjoyed going to games at RFK Stadium and saw how football united the city. On Monday mornings in the fall, conversations around water coolers, on loading docks and even across congressional aisles were always dominated by Sunday’s game. Football united the divided city; Black or White, rich or poor, Republican or Democrat. Football was a common language spoken by all. When Daniel Snyder destroyed the profitable NFL franchise, he also destroyed the glue that held the city together. If Mr. Harris is able to glue the pieces back together and unite this divided city, he and the franchise will be in a strong position to tackle the contentious conversations around the team’s name, logo and history.

One option might be for the team to follow the example of the National Hockey League’s successful Montreal Canadiens and change the team name to the “Washington Americans” in honor of all Native American tribes. If Mr. Harris does that and also restores Mr. Wetzel’s mascot design, when Washington fans put on their burgundy jerseys every Sunday afternoon, they can show their pride in both their team and the Blackfeet Nation. These gestures would illustrate the difference between adopting disparaging names and logos and ignoring Native Americans completely. As a member of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, I see this as our chance to honor Native Americans before Native American history slips from memory entirely.

By meeting this moment, Mr. Harris can right many wrongs of the past. In so doing, he would enshrine his name along with Wetzel’s into sports history — and into the hearts and minds of Washington fans who, as Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) accurately pointed out in his recent letter, need to be excited again.

Michael Kaiser, Washington

The Nats strike out

Regarding the June 2 Sports article “Nats can’t get out of their own way in loss”:

The first sentence in the lead story in the June 2 Sports section addresses a call that the umpire got right. But the next several paragraphs covered the Washington Nationals’ objections to the call, which I guess is to be expected from the hometown newspaper. The explanation for the correct call is actually contained in those paragraphs:

1. Dave Martinez claimed the ball hit the knob of Jacob Young’s bat. This was clearly false, as replay confirmed.

2. Home plate umpire Malachi Moore explained to Mr. Martinez that he didn’t hear the ball hit the bat. The sound of a ball hitting a bat is very different from a ball hitting flesh. And the deflection of the ball is also very different. That suggests his reasoning for calling Mr. Young out swinging was well-founded. The article mentions that Mr. Young’s hand clearly showed signs of injury after the game, which would seem to further confirm Mr. Moore’s call. But the Nationals claimed that was unrelated.

This is what losing teams do: look for excuses. The Nats played a sloppy game, including three wild pitches. One of those allowed the winning run to score. They should fix their own mistakes rather than suggest that the error lies with umpires.

Collin Agee, Falls Church

The writer is a member of the Northern Virginia Baseball Umpires Association.

Take me out of the ballgame

Earlier this year, The Post reported on the latest developments in the long-running saga of Nationals and Orioles broadcasts. The report insightfully captured the contentious history and impact of the deal MASN and Comcast struck to televise Nationals and Orioles games this year, observing that the parties’ failure to agree would have “threatened to interrupt the way most baseball fans in the region consume their teams’ games.” However, what is only becoming clear now is how expensive these new agreements would prove to be for fans.

My family has included fans of Washington’s professional baseball teams for over 100 years. My father and grandfather attended the Senators’ World Series championship in 1924, as did my son and I when the Nationals won the 2019 Series. But watching our favorite team has been challenging since the Nationals were world champs. I have watched the Nationals on Verizon’s MASN station since 2005. But when I attempted to watch what would turn out to be the Nationals’ victory over the Atlanta Braves on Memorial Day, Verizon informed me that my annual MASN costs had risen by more than $400.

I rail against the chutzpah of these agreements. Yes, television broadcast rights are a key way teams make the money with which to field strong lineups. But these sorts of dramatic price hikes also risk cutting off long-term fans with little warning. As recompense, perhaps the networks might consider televising Nationals games at 2023 rates for the remainder of the 2024 season. In return, we could encourage fans to donate any baseball viewing savings to a worthy charity. I would nominate Jesuit or Lutheran migrant missions in Texas.

Any takers? Verizon? Comcast? Nationals? Hearing only crickets chirping, I’ll be following the Nationals on radio this summer instead.

Maurice McInerney, Bethesda