Anything I can do to make teachers’ lives easier and set students up for long-term success—that’s my guiding principle, every day."
In a world with expanding career options, Rohan Dharan (BA '13) believes every student should be able to pursue any path they dream of. That journey, however, requires support from their schools and access to the right resources.
For nearly a decade, Dharan led initiatives to ensure all DC Public Schools (DCPS) students had access to advanced and enriched academics, laying a strong foundation for college success. He oversaw advanced placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) programs, dual-enrollment partnerships with universities, and managed district-wide assessments such as the PSAT and SAT at more than 20 high schools. Dharan also provided instructional resources, organized teacher training, and analyzed progress data to help students prepare for college-level courses.
All of these opportunities can be overwhelming, Dharan observes. "In some cases, students face almost too many options. There's pressure to take loaded high school schedules—even when it leads to stress over success." At DCPS, he developed guides to help students more easily navigate their choices and feel confident they're on the right path.
His student-centered approach is grounded in classroom experience. Before becoming a district leader, he taught in Las Vegas with Teach For America and later at a government-aided school in New Delhi, India, as a Fulbright fellow.
The expectations for measuring progress were starkly different. "In India, I arrived expecting to use pre-and post-diagnostic tests to measure growth, but it took me weeks to even get basic information about my students," Dharan says. "We didn't have a set curriculum, so I designed lessons to ensure every student spoke in class."
Dharan credits the analytical skills he developed at the Ford School for helping him adapt. "With so little time with my students, setting reasonable, measurable goals was key to making their experiences meaningful," he says.
Those experiences shaped his work at DCPS, which serves about 60,000 students across schools ranging from neighborhood campuses serving predominantly low-income communities to magnet and arts-focused schools. Reflecting on his time there, Dharan notes, "It often felt like four districts within one. Teachers wanted to innovate, and we had some amazing programs, but sustaining them year after year was always a challenge."
During his time in district leadership, DCPS's AP exam pass rate has soared from 38% to nearly 55%, even as participation increased by 1,000 exams in a single year. Dharan championed equity; although every school had to offer at least seven AP courses covering each core subject, he worked with them to adapt policies based on their strengths. Whether designing policies or supporting teachers, he remained focused on connecting students with the resources they need to thrive.
"A public policy degree teaches you to address the nuances in different perspectives and ultimately develop better, more inclusive policies," he says. "Anything I can do to make teachers' lives easier and set students up for long-term success—that's my guiding principle, every day."
These lessons continue to guide Dharan's career. As of December, he stepped into a new position as senior director of AP Instructional Services at College Board.
By Rebecca Cohen (MPP ’09) and Margaret Peterman (BA '27)
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