OSSE Announces New DC CAPE 2.0 Statewide Assessments

Today, the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) announced DC CAPE 2.0, an updated statewide assessment for English language arts (ELA) and math launching in the 2026-27 school year as part of the District of Columbia's continued commitment to academic excellence. The updated assessments will use high-quality content provided by the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium.

DC educators provided input that helped shape a shorter, more personalized assessment experience that will give teachers timely feedback and ensure every student can show what they know. DC CAPE 2.0 also features expanded testing accommodations and additional resources for educators to clearly link assessment results to academic performance throughout the year.

"DC CAPE 2.0 puts students at the center of the effort to assess what they know," said State Superintendent Dr. Antoinette S. Mitchell. "By using adaptive solutions and real-time resources, we're cutting down on testing time and giving teachers the insights to lift every student. We are excited to move forward with this transition while continuing to maintain DC's rigorous academic standards."

With DC CAPE 2.0, the District continues to build upon advances in assessments in the past decade and evolve our assessment system to better measure student knowledge and support academic acceleration. The District launched the DC Comprehensive Assessments of Progress in Education (DC CAPE) in 2024. The statewide assessment in spring 2027 will remain DC CAPE, but with design and content enhancements through the consortium model that will increase resources for teachers that accelerate student learning.

Key benefits of this new partnership:

• Tailored testing experience through computer-adaptive design: Providing more precise information about student progress, Smarter Balanced's computer-adaptive design adjusts the difficulty of questions based on a student's performance, while still holding students to grade-level expectations.
• Reduced time spent on assessments: The computer-adaptive design also means student performance can be measured more efficiently, which means it will take fewer items and less testing time to produce an overall score.
• Leveraging robust Consortium resources to achieve more: By joining Smarter Balanced, the District of Columbia will benefit from collaboration with other states in assessment development, while retaining flexibility to reflect DC-specific priorities.
• Enhanced accessibility and accommodations: Smarter Balanced provides accessible assessments that accommodate a variety of needs to ensure all students have an equal opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and skills.
• Instructional resources that help teachers accelerate learning: DC teachers will now have access to instructional resources and interim assessments that are aligned to DC content standards. To provide consistency and familiarity, interim assessments - along with instructional supports and implementation guidance (Tools for Teachers) - will be delivered on the same platform as the summative assessments. These resources provide timely data on student progress throughout the year. Smarter Balanced's Tools for Teachers offers suggested lessons and resources aligned to student results.

Smarter Balanced is a member-led group of states that creates standards-aligned tests and teaching tools. Their system includes adaptive summative and interim assessments plus lesson recommendations that help teachers support students on the path to college- and career readiness.

OSSE will compare results from the 2025-26 school year DC CAPE and the 2026-27 school year DC CAPE 2.0 to make sure trends remain clear as we switch to this new design. This next step ensures that the District of Columbia continues to provide rigorous, fair, and student-centered assessments that measure what matters most for learning.

OSSE shared more background about DC CAPE 2.0 this week with local education agency leaders. Families, educators, and schools can expect regular updates and guidance through the transition year.

For more information on DC CAPE, visit OSSE's website.