Every Wisconsin School District Ranked By Report Card

WISCONSIN -- School report cards released every year by the State Department of Public Instruction show how well districts are performing when compared with their neighbors.

Scores are calculated for each of the following priority areas on the state report card:

• Student Achievement proficiency in English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics on state assessments
• Student Growth measured by year-to-year improvements in achievement
• Closing Gaps in performance between specific student groups (comparing English language learners, low-income students, students with disabilities, and members of a racial or an ethnic group with their peers)
• On-Track and Postsecondary Readiness is a measurement using reliable predictors of high school graduation and potential post high school success.

All Wisconsin Districts Get Passing Grade

Overall, 361 public and private school report cards earned five-star ratings, 719 had four stars, 643 had three stars, 261 had two stars, and 117 schools earned one star. On district level report cards, 44 districts earned five-star ratings, 190 had four stars, 166 earned three stars, and 20 had two stars.

There were 152 report cards for 140 private choice schools that are not rated because there was insufficient data. This is the second year that choice schools were included in report cards and the second year the schools could opt to have both a choice student and an all student report cards.

How Report Cards Are Calculated

Accountability ratings are calculated on four priority areas: student achievement in English language arts and mathematics, school growth, closing gaps between student groups, and measures of postsecondary readiness, which includes graduation and attendance rates, third-grade English language arts achievement, and eighth-grade mathematics achievement.

Schools and districts could have point deductions for missing targets for student engagement: absenteeism must be less than 13 percent and dropout rates must be less than 6 percent.

The 2016-17 report cards use data from a variety of sources, including information reported through WISEdash and two years of Forward and one year of Badger testing as well as three years ACT Plus Writing and Dynamic Learning Maps testing for growth calculations.

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