Most Wisconsin Schools Meet or Exceed Expectations on State Report Cards

The vast majority of Wisconsin schools are meeting or exceeding expectations under new report cards released by the state Department of Public Instruction.

It was the first time the state’s annual, mandatory school report cards have been released since standards shifted, after years of changes that critics said made it impossible to compare school results year-over-year.

According to the Department of Public Instruction, 94 percent of the 378 public school districts surveyed were ranked three, four or five stars, reflecting meeting, exceeding or significantly exceeding expectations.

No school district received one star, reflecting failure to meet expectations.

Individual schools were also ranked. Of those, 85 percent of public schools were found to meet or exceed expectations. The percentage was lower among private schools that participate in school choice, but more than half of those schools were not ranked.

A majority of Milwaukee schools fell at or below two stars, with the district as a whole ranked as “meeting few expectations.”

The report cards are based on a new rating system, designed this summer, that measures four priority areas: achievement, growth, target group outcomes and on-track to graduate. Achievement is overall proficiency according to test scores; growth shows student improvement; target group outcomes reflects how the lowest-performing students improve; and “on track” reflects whether students are heading towards graduation.

Those categories are weighted differently depending on school district income levels. The panel that implemented the standards says this demonstrates where low-income students have higher opportunities because it measures growth over pure proficiency. The argument is that poorer students face steeper challenges to scoring as high on standardized tests as their wealthier peers.

“Schools serving higher percentages of economically disadvantaged students are weighted more heavily toward growth, while schools that are maybe serving fewer of those students are weighted more toward achievement,” said Chris Bucher, DPI’s communications director.

Conservative critics say this makes it impossible for parents to make apples-to-apples comparisons between districts across the state.

“Despite what the state report cards say, we know that a lot of parents are not happy with the quality of education their children are receiving,” said Quinton Klabon, senior research director of the conservative Institute for Reforming Government.

He argued the new standards essentially reflect where poor students attend school, rather than where they can access better opportunities. He said the state was being dishonest with parents who are making huge decisions for their families.

“Wisconsin needs to start getting honest about the way that they evaluate schools so that parents can make the best choices,” he said.

The new ranking system comes after standards changed repeatedly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, during which no scores were released. The report cards are federally mandated. Going forward, Bucher said, this year’s protocols will set the benchmark, so parents can make clearer comparisons year-over-year.

“This is a first year of a new trend line or new baseline. So we encourage everyone to use caution when making comparisons to past report cards,” he said.

School and district report cards are available on DPI’s website.

Almost all Wisconsin schools meet or exceed expectations, under new report cards was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.