It has been described as a snapshot of performance and a way to measure what makes a school a vibrant place to learn. And for those who score highly, it’s outside validation of the educational programs that are in place.
For the third year in a row, the the Department of Public Instruction issued its annual report card, which assigns scores to schools and school districts by using multiple measures of accountability.
According to the DPI, schools and districts are evaluated in four priority areas: student achievement in reading and mathematics on statewide assessments; student growth in those assessed areas; closing gaps for reading and mathematics achievement and graduation; and postsecondary readiness.
This is the second year the DPI issued report cards for districts and the third year for schools.
“What it is, is it’s a snapshot of us, how we perform, and what we can do to improve,” said Todd Carlson, Gillett superintendent, at Thursday’s School Board meeting.
He said it’s misleading to compare one district to another because of how the data is collected. Instead, the report provides a way to compare Gillett to Gillett over a period of time, he said.
The school district earned a score of 73.4 out of 100 and a rating of Exceeds Expectations. Its elementary school and two charter schools also earned scores above 73, while the middle and high school scored 71.9 and 70.8 respectively, rating in the Meets Expectations category.
“This is info on us and how we can do better,” Carlson said.
One school district looking to do better is Suring, the only district in the county and one of seven districts in the state that earned the second-from-bottom ranking of Meets Few Expectations.
In an e-mail to the Times Herald, first-year Superintendent Kelly Casper said Suring has implemented a number of reforms to improve student outcomes.
“The district has purchased services from CESA 8 to help in the area of literacy, hired a curriculum director and will offer other staff development to guide in the delivery of instruction and student assessment,” she said.
The high school scored 70.3, Meets Expectations, and the elementary school, 60.4, Meets Few Expectations.
The district, with a score of 62, was one point away from the Meets Expectations rating for a second year in a row and had no deductions in absenteeism rates, dropout rates and test participation. The district had five points deducted in the 2011-12 school year.
Casper said the report card does not show a true picture of a student being assessed because it takes data from only one source of assessment at only one point during the school year. In addition, the assessment doesn’t take into consideration the district’s population of students with severe disabilities.
The up-side of the low score is the potential for growth, she said.
“The sky’s the limit when looking at improvement,” she said.
The Oconto Falls School District reached the Exceeds Expectations rating for the district with a score of 78 and for three of its fours schools. Washington Middle School earned a score of 72.4, Meets Expectations.
“We’re pleased with the results. It’s great to have outside validation of the good things we think we’ve been doing,” Superintendent Dave Polashek said.
The district has made changes in course offerings, programming, staffing, scheduling and “all kinds of things to try to increase our student achievement,” he said.
He gave credit to the teachers for the work they do with students, especially those who are underachieving and create more of a challenge to the staff than the college-bound.
“These scores take into account the progress that you’ve made with students who are lucky to get out of high school,” he said.
The emphasis this school year is reading and language arts, driven by a new language arts curriculum the district adopted, Polashek said.
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