Most area schools made the grade in 2024, even with the target moving, on the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction report cards, released Nov. 19.
All of the school districts in Shawano and Oconto counties were at least three stars, which indicates that they’re meeting the standards DPI has laid out. Pulaski Community School District stood out with four stars, which signifies that district is exceeding expectations. Meanwhile, Menominee Indian School District fell short of expectations with two stars.
Most individual schools made the grade, but 10 did not make the grade in the area. Lena High School, Lena Middle School, Keshena Primary School, Menominee Indian Middle School, Oconto High School, Shawano Community Middle School, Suring Elementary School and Wittenberg-Birnamwood High School only received two stars, while Gillett High School and Menominee Nation High School only received one star for a report card, which indicates they failed to meet DPI’s expectations.
Report cards were based on four areas: achievement, growth, target group outcomes and being on-track to graduation, with achievement data for the past three years assessed to determine a school’s overall score.
The report cards are supposed to provide transparency and accountability in Wisconsin’s public schools, according to Shawano School District Superintendent Kurt Krizan, but with changes DPI made to the cut scores, it makes it difficult to see what growth schools have made this year compared to previous year.
“The adjusted cut scores significantly impact how performance is measured, meaning year-to-year comparisons or evaluations of progress may not reflect true changes in educational outcomes,” Krizan said. “Comparing districts — or even individual schools within the same district — is problematic when the benchmarks have shifted, as these changes can distort how student achievement and growth are perceived.”
Krizan noted that the report card does not provide the full picture on what schools achieve when it comes to education.
“While the report card provides a snapshot of certain metrics, it’s essential to recognize its limitations,” Krizan said. “A comprehensive understanding of a school’s or district’s performance requires examining multiple factors, including local context, resources and initiatives, rather than relying solely on the report card’s data.”
Bowler School District Superintendent Glenda Butterfield-Boldig felt the report cards don’t accurately affect schools’ performance, especially when DPI changes scoring thresholds and more. Doing so makes the report cards hard to decipher, she said.
“The updated report cards reflect new methodologies and cut scores from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, and as such, they should not be used to directly compare our district’s performance with past years or with other districts,” Butterfield-Boldig said. “That said, we are still committed to providing a high-quality education to every student in the Bowler School District. Academic achievement scores are one data point that cannot truly capture the whole story of each of our students.”
The data will be useful in charting the future path of Bowler’s schools, Butterfield-Boldig said, but it will not be the only metric used to map out education.
“We believe that true success is reflected not only in numbers, but in the strength of the partnerships we have with our students, families, teachers and community,” Butterfield-Boldig said. “We’re grateful for the continued support and collaboration of families in helping our students achieve their best. Moving forward, we will continue to work with all our stakeholders to ensure our students have the resources and opportunities they need to succeed, using the new data to guide our decisions.”
Gillett School District Superintendent Nathan Hanson believes the school and district report cards are the opposite of transparent, believing the DPI setup has “muddied the waters.”
“What do we believe are the best measures of a school? Success in college? Success in the workforce? Becoming a happy and productive citizen?” Hanson said. “School and district report cards do not measure these things, and what they do measure, is presented in a score that is a combination of factors that change based on the district the score is meant to measure. A score of a 70 in one school is not the same as a score of 70 in another school, even schools within the same district.”
With the state system broken, in Hanson’s view, the solution to showing people that their children are learning is for school districts provide a window for them to see the progress.
“It is important that school districts be transparent with their citizens,” Hanson said. “We do this by presenting what we are teaching, by bringing people into our schools, by showcasing the great programs we have. Unfortunately, none of these things are measured in the report card system. The system is broken, and we hope in the near future the legislature and the DPI will reach out to schools to get our input on a better way.”
lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com
Most schools make grade with 2024 report cards
