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DPI to Relax School Report Cards?
As Wisconsin’s public school managers get ready to rewrite the state’s report cards, there’s a new request not to lower them too much.
The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty on Wednesday wrote the state Department of Public Instruction’s Report Card Standard Setting Group with a plea to "strengthen the state’s accountability framework" rather than lower the bar.
"Wisconsin has languished in mediocrity, falling behind states like Florida and Mississippi in reading proficiency—even though those states contend with far more difficult student demographic challenges. This standard setting process offers an opportunity for DPI to reset their course," WILL wrote in its letter. "We are hopeful that this standard setting process adopts a more rigorous approach than previous efforts."
Specifically, WILL is worried that DPI will do to the state report cards what it did to Wisconsin's learning standards.
Research Director Will Flanders said DPI ranks too many schools as exceeding the state's expectations, and ranks too few schools as failing to meet expectations.
That includes, he said, one school with only 4.1% English Language Arts proficiency, and 18 schools statewide with less than 25% ELA proficiency.
Flanders said those kinds of rankings do “not provide education leaders, teachers, parents or policymakers with an accountability system that allows for meaningful distinctions between school performance based on actual student outcomes and progress.”
That’s similar to the complaint that came after DPI changed the learning standards.
"Changes to the Forward Exam last year have cost DPI public trust when it comes to accountability, but the report card standards setting represents an opportunity to restore that trust. We sincerely hope you will seize the opportunity," Flanders wrote in the letter.
The Report Card Standard Setting Group is set to host in-person meetings August 12-14 in Madison.
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