Wisconsin’s public schools had a strong showing in a newly released report card, with almost every school district meeting or exceeding expectations, but numerous education experts casted doubt on the reliability of the report.
The report card, released by the state’s Department of Public Instruction, found that 94 percent of Wisconsin’s 378 public schools met, exceeded, or significantly exceeded expectations. Additionally, 50 percent of schools either exceeded or significantly exceeded expectations.
While some celebrated the results of the report card, others pointed out that the new scoring metrics give certain schools deceptively high marks despite abysmal reading and math scores.
The Institute for Reforming Government, a watchdog organization that holds Wisconsin government departments and agencies accountable, noted that no school district received a one-star rating despite numerous schools having poor literacy and math proficiency rates. (RELATED: Billions Spent, Fewer Students Learning: Wisconsin’s Public Schools Face Crisis in Output)
“The new report card formula forces parents to play a guessing game about where their children can learn best because the rankings correlate with poverty, inaccurately characterizing student achievement. The report cards set low standards for all schools, benefit low-poverty schools over high-poverty schools, and inaccurately assess school quality across the entire state,” an IRG press release stated.
The report cards used a new scoring system that gives ‘economically disadvantaged schools’ a chance to score higher through a ‘growth’ metric, which contributed to schools with poor literacy and math proficiency rates getting a high score. (RELATED: Trump’s School Choice Victory Hangs on Evers Opt-In Decision)
“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.
