Cardozo Education Campus

Cardozo Education Campus is a District of Columbia Public Schools school serving 710 students in grades 6–12 at 1200 Clifton St. NW in Washington, DC, making it one of the few area campuses that spans both middle and high school. Within DCPS, which is moderately ranked 19th out of 46 districts with 3 stars, Cardozo itself ranks 28th out of 36 DC high schools for 2025–2026, placing it in the 22nd percentile with a 1-star rating. The school has spent most of the past decade near the bottom of DC high school rankings, though it has moved up slightly after being ranked last in 2022–2023.

Academically, test results at Cardozo are critically low. All-grades math proficiency was just 3.4% for 2025–2026, compared to 33.3% for the district and 28.2% for the state, while ELA proficiency was 19.2% versus 44.1% district and 39.6% state. Science proficiency also sits at just 1.23%. The graduation rate of 70.7% trails the district rate of 77.6% and state rate of 78.7%. The most relevant comparison is Columbia Heights Education Campus, a DCPS school serving the same grades just 0.63 miles away, which achieves dramatically better outcomes—36% ELA proficiency, 13.3% math, and an 83.7% graduation rate—while spending less per student and using larger class sizes.

Cardozo spends approximately $33,292 per student and has a low student–teacher ratio of 9.0, yet outcomes remain among the weakest in the city. Subgroup results are inconsistent: Hispanic students ranked last among DC schools serving that population, while African American students ranked in the 12th percentile in recent years. Nearby charter schools also outperform Cardozo in math and graduation: Washington Leadership Academy PCS posts 12% math proficiency and a 91.9% graduation rate, and E.L. Haynes PCS - High School posts 15.7% math proficiency and a 94.9% graduation rate. Because Cardozo covers grades 6–12, it has the structural potential to intervene early; the low 7th and 8th grade math scores suggest that opportunity remains unrealized.