New state report cards released; scoring change complicates yearly comparisons

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The Wisconsin Department of Public Education (DPI) on Tuesday released the annual report cards for the state's schools and school districts. 

The report cards reflected changes to how the DPI grades students' results on the annual Forward Exam text. Previously, student scores were tied to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) tested, which is widely considered to be a strict standard. 

The DPI lowered the cutoffs for what marks a proficient score in reading and math. It also softened the language describing different scoring categories to no longer use terms like "basic" and "below basic."

Critics have accused the DPI of lowering its testing standards too far while the agency maintains the cutoffs marking proficiency in reading and math are now more representative of the state's students. 

What's not in question is the change now makes it more difficult to compare school and district report cards to those of past years.

"We don't have a sense of how schools and districts changed using a common measurement," Sara Shaw, deputy research director at the nonpartisan Wisconsin Policy Forum, said Tuesday. "There isn't a crosswalk to help us understand what do scores and results this year mean compared to previous years."

DPI Communications Director Chris Bucher told reporters on a call Monday 94% of the state's public school districts rated as "meets expectations" or better. To meet expectations, a district must have at least a 3-star grade on a scale between one and five stars.

Bucher said the report cards were "scale adjusted" to allow for results from the past three school years to factor into a district's grade.

However, the 2023-24 report cards note performance level percentages that break down what share of a district's students were proficient in reading and math "cannot be compared to prior years" because of the scoring changes this year.

You can view the report cards for schools and districts across the state HERE.

Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) was scored as a 3-star district that "meets expectations." With a score of 58.2, it barely made the 3-star cutoff of 58.0. Most districts in southeastern Wisconsin finished with three stars. 

While MPS is considered to be "meeting expectations" by the state, NAEP's dashboard comparing 26 big cities' data found Milwaukee to be among the worst performing urban districts in the U.S. 

Milwaukee's achievement gap between Black and white students is the worst in the U.S. among big city districts. Conservative critics accuse the DPI of glossing over those problems by inflating test results.

"Parents expect honesty and consistency about how their children's schools are doing. Instead, DPI keeps changing the formula," Quinton Klabon, research director for the conservative Institute for Reforming Government, said. "When they change it again in 2025, DPI has to choose: tell parents the truth or keep principals happy by saying most of them ‘exceed expectations.’"

Bucher confirmed on the call Tuesday that DPI will again change the scoring formula next year. 

"The DPI will convene a group of educators to help align the report card cut scores to communicate the success of schools and districts," he added in an email Tuesday afternoon.

The Racine Unified School District ended up with two stars, scoring 56.4 on its report card. Meanwhile, The Wauwatosa School District finished with a 4-star score of 71.3 while Waukesha just missed the cutoff of 70 with a 3-star score of 68.6. 

Bucher noted the scores took into account a lot more than just students' test score results.

"There's so much different data. Chronic absenteeism, graduation rates, assessments," Bucher said. "And so, I think when you're looking just at the assessment picture, report cards are much more than that."

Bucher said the DPI would continue to push for greater school funding in the next two-year state budget. Specifically, State Superintendent Jill Underly has called for a $3 billion increase in special education funding, as well as state aid providing free school breakfasts and lunches for all students.

"The fact remains that Wisconsin public schools have been asked to do more with less for far too many years," Bucher said.

Districts were also graded differently based on unique factors, such as how many of their students are economically disadvantaged. For the Milwaukee and West Allis/West Milwaukee school districts, 45% of their score was based on how much growth students showed. 

For Wauwatosa, on the other hand, only 18% of its score was based on growth while more than 30% of its grade was based on student achievement on the test.

"These overall ratings, because there's so many factors going into them, can communicate one thing," Shaw said. "When, in fact, there might be a bunch of different stories happening below the surface."

Because of that, Shaw said for most parents, the most important report card is their own child's. She said parents should feel comfortable asking teachers about their kids' results. They should also be empowered to ask administrators what their school has been doing well and where it still needs to improve.

"Here's what I see in his or her grades," Shaw said. "What do you see as whether or not he or she is gonna be ready for the next grade level?"