(The Center Square) — Wisconsin’s revised grading system of its schools has resulted in most receiving a passing score, but criticism of the process remains.
The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction on Tuesday released report cards for every school in the state and said they showed that more than 90% passed.
The new numbers are the first since the department changed its benchmarks for local schools in recent years.
“Of the 378 public school districts receiving report cards, 355 (94%) met, exceeded, or significantly exceeded expectations,” the department said. “Among the 436 private schools participating in a Private School Choice Program, 161 (85% of scored Choice report cards) met, exceeded or significantly exceeded expectations.”
Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty Research Director Will Flanders, an advocate of voucher schools, said the report doesn’t tell the whole story.
“Private choice and charter schools remain bright spots,” Flanders wrote on X. “Choice schools in (Milwaukee) saw proficiency rates 10-11% higher than public schools when key control variables are considered. Charters saw higher performance in (Milwaukee) in both reading & math and higher in reading outstate.”
Flanders said the report makes it look like many public schools are performing better than they actually are.
“DPI continues to try to hide the ball on student outcomes, but they have failed to do so here. Despite absurd ratings like schools with less than 15% proficiency ‘exceeding expectations,’ very real achievement and achievement gap problems persist,” Flanders added.
The Department of Public Instruction has said the new grading system was determined by a 26-member advisory committee that works with the contracted Center for Assessment, leaving DPI out of the decision-making process.
The latest report card information can be found here. It includes a search tool for school districts and individual schools.
