- Podcasts
Podcasts - Videos
Videos - Policy Issues
Policy Issues - About
About
DPI Misinterpreting the Law
There is a claim that Wisconsin’s public school managers are getting the state’s new reading law wrong.
The group Forward Literacy on Thursday said the Department of Public Instruction is misinterpreting the literacy testing process in the law officially known as Act-20.
A Wisconsin school district used DPI’s current guidance to adopt a local policy that denies many K-3 students required reading help as part of the so-called Personal Reading Plan.
Forward Literacy said the unnamed school district only provides a personalized plan if a student scores below the mark on both an initial reading screening and a follow-up test.
But the group said state law, however, requires a personalized plan and extra reading support for any student scoring below the 25th percentile on either test.
“Parents and students deserve consistent enforcement of the law across the state,” Forward Literacy Executive Director Katie Kasubaski said in a statement. “DPI must provide clear, accurate guidance so every at-risk child receives the reading support required under Act 20.”
The fear, Forward Literacy said, is that without clear guidance some kids will not get the help they need.
And national test scores show a lot of kids in Wisconsin need reading help. The Nation's Report card shows that two-thirds of Wisconsin students cannot read at grade level.
The numbers are worse when you break them down by school district, income, and race. For example, 95% of black fourth graders in Milwaukee Public Schools cannot read, write, or do math at grade level.
Forward Literacy is asking DPI to make two immediate changes:
Interested in the content of this Article?
Reach out to the MacIver Institute to aquire more information
