Students in the Shawano School District who took Wisconsin’s standardized tests in 2015 came close to the state average in all categories except high school mathematics, according to results released this week.
More than 1,000 Shawano students took the Badger and Dynamic Learning Maps exams, with 49 percent showing proficiency in English and 44.3 percent getting a passing score for math. Statewide, 51.2 percent of student passed the English test and 43.7 passed in math.
The Badger Exam is the primary exam for students in grades 3 through 8. The DLM is an exam for students with extreme cognitive disabilities in grades 3 through 11.
“The Badger results look very strong,” said Kelly Swartz, the district’s curriculum, assessment and instruction director.
High school juniors took the ACT, and in Shawano, 43 percent of 173 students who took the test showed proficiency in English, compared with a statewide average of 45.7 percent.
In math, however, only 23.3 percent of Shawano students showed proficiency, while 35.9 percent of high school juniors in the state received a passing score.
Swartz said that lower than average math scores have been the case for Shawano middle and high school students for several years.
“We are doing a number of things to address this,” Swartz said. “This last year, we purchased and are implementing a new math curriculum. We did not have a purchased curriculum, per se, for the last couple of years and were kind of making our own, so we went with something that is research-based and proven as successful.”
Swartz added that the district has added an intervention specialist to help students struggling with math in the hopes of boosting test scores.
Results from other area school districts were not available by press time, and the DPI has not yet posted district results as it has done in previous years.
Students took the Badger and ACT in spring 2015, a departure from the previous Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examination, which was taken in the fall. Students also took their exams online instead of the previous pencil-and-paper system.
“Taking the test in the spring is actually a better measure for us because it gives a more accurate measure of how that school year went,” Swartz said. “If students go away for the summer, and then we test in November, it doesn’t necessarily — especially in our younger grades — give us the best picture of how the year went.”
The Badger exam is a one-time test, as legislation in the 2015-17 state budget prohibited further use of that exam for testing mastery of school standards. This spring, students in grades 3-8 will take the Forward Exam, a custom assessment developed and reviewed by Wisconsin educators.
“Overall results for the WSAS are a good starting point for Wisconsin’s more rigorous testing program,” said Tony Evers, state superintendent of public instruction, in a press release. “Though the Badger Exam is a one-year event, our new Forward Exam will be administered this spring and will provide an opportunity to improve over time.”
As for the ACT results, Evers said, “Taking the ACT exposes young people to the expectations for college and careers and may prompt those who weren’t considering further education beyond high school to finish strong and take the leap into higher education and training.”
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