IMPACT is not a finished product. See “DCPS considers less emphasis on test scores for teacher evaluations” (http://washingtonexaminer.com/local/education/2012/04/dcps-considers-less-emphasis-test-scores-teacher-evaluations/491331)

“In addition to a lack of incentives for effective teachers to work in lower-income districts”

Currently, IMPACT rewards highly effective teachers at high poverty schools with a $10,000 bonus (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-schools-insider/post/brown-proposes-waiving-annual-evaluations-to-draw-top-teachers-to-struggling-schools/2011/10/20/gIQA7wHL2L_blog.html). However, past research on state incentive programs suggests that monetary incentives don’t actually do enough to recruit and retain good teachers in high-poverty schools (http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/apr08/vol65/num07/Teacher-Recruitment-Incentives.aspx).

“Due to the extensive material that needs to be covered in a limited amount of time to prepare students for standardized tests, teachers must implement lecture- and memorization-styled lesson plans coupled with an increase in homework—a style, statistics suggest, that is typically less effective with poorer students.”

What is the alternative to covering ‘extensive’ material that has been determined to be what students need to know at any particular grade level? Covering less? Darryl Robinson (NHS’15)’s article in the Washington Post describing his experiences in DC Public Schools suggests that the problem is the opposite – the curriculum is far too watered down. Pure memorization and regurgitation is a problem, but that is an issue of teaching approach – you can’t learn thinking without learning facts.

“With IMPACT, teachers can be fired if students’ test scores are not up to par.”

That is not accurate. Test scores are one of the factors used in teacher evaluations, which are one of the factors used in employment decisions. They are not the sole determining factor.

Some might say that the existence of, and reliance on, groups like D.C. Reads, D.C. Schools, and the After School Kids program is a damning indictment of both the school system and the parents of DCPS students, who are unwilling or unable to properly educate children and have to rely on untrained student volunteers as triage stopgaps.