BASD state test scores at highest level in five years

But comparison shows room for improvement; committee to hear report on Monday

By Jennifer Eisenbart

Editor

As the school year winds down and the Burlington Area School District looks to summer school and vacation time, the district is also looking at the future.

The BASD School Board Curriculum Committee will hear the annual report on school improvement plans Monday, as well as the district’s report on the Wisconsin Knowledge Concept Exam (WKCE) scores and the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) testing.

BASD Assistant Superintendent Connie Zinnen said the reports on the exams and the school improvement plans generally go together. The WKCE scores are released in May, but because of other meetings, Zinnen said Monday was really the first open date.

“This is the first opportunity we’ve had to have a lengthy discussion, and it ties in with our school improvement plans,” said Zinnen, who added that the budget process and 4-year-old kindergarten took priority this year. “Both reports go hand in hand.”

The testing data showed some mixed results. Zinnen said that the MAP testing, in general, showed the district was above the national average.

However, in the fall, the district was below the national average in some areas, but is now above the national average in almost all areas tested.

“The first part of the presentation will be the school improvement plans,” said Zinnen, adding that the MAP testing shows how students are growing and learning throughout the year, as it is administered three times. “That will tell us how our students are growing and learning.”

The WKCE testing, meanwhile, is given in the fall.

“It’s a state measure, and it does tell us how we compare to the state average, and how we compare with other districts in the area,” Zinnen explained.

As a whole, 42.2 percent of BASD students tested as proficient across all grade levels examined. Union Grove’s graded schools tested at 41 percent proficiency, Union Grove Union High School at 43.9 percent proficiency, Waterford graded schools at 50.1 percent proficiency and Waterford Union High School at 59.3 percent proficiency.

BASD’s overall score has risen from a low of 36.9 percent in the 2011-12 school year. It is at its highest level in the last five years, and above the state average of 36.6 percent proficient.

Comparing BASD to Union Grove and Waterford, the numbers show the district was at the tail end of language arts proficiency at 75.2 percent, with Union Grove Union High School the next lowest at 77.4 percent and Waterford Union High School the highest at 84.4 percent.

The Burlington numbers take into account all grade levels, while the Waterford and Union Grove scores are broken out by separate by graded and high school districts.

However, in the other areas – mathematics, science, social studies and reading – BASD was comparable. Waterford continued to lead the way in the testing scores.

Zinnen cautioned that the data only compares a snapshot of data for students in the fall, and that comparing data year-to-year means different students taking the test.

“You’re not comparing the same group of students,” she said. “Each group of students is different.”

All scores are available on the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction site via the WISEdash Public Portal, and break down the scores not only by grade level, but by economic status and subject area as well.

The website is http://wisedash.dpi.wi.gov/Dashboard/portalHome.jsp.