By Patricia Bogumil
The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction recently released 2012-13 school report cards for each public school and district in the state.
The reports create a more standardized method for parents and residents to check out the effectiveness of their local schools.
How we’re doing
Based on combined scores for several priority areas (see box, Page 3), one school in the Waterford/Union Grove area – Drought Elementary – achieved the state’s highest “significantly exceeds expectations” rating on its report card.
Three elementary schools in the area – Washington-Caldwell, Kansasville and Yorkville – scored a “meeting expectations” grade.
The remainder of the local public schools reviewed here all scored “exceeding expectations” on their state report cards.
Individual school scores, and prepared remarks from administrators, follow.
• Union Grove Union High School, 76.4, Exceeds Expectations
The high school’s overall score has climbed from 68.6 (Meets Expectations) last year to 76.4 (Exceeds Expectations) – an increase topped only by Delavan-Darien. It takes UGUHS from seventh place in the Southern Lakes Conference to third place in one year, noted Principal Tom Hermann.
UGUHS scores went up in five of the seven data that are being measured, Hermann said. Also, under the “Closing Gaps” heading, the graduation rate score climbed from 24.4 to 41.3.
“Specifically, we had a better graduation rate among Students with Disabilities,” he explained.
In addition, under the heading of “Student Achievement,” UGUHS math scores also climbed.
“Specifically, the percentage of Advanced and Proficient students went up from 22.2 to 34.3 among the Economically Disadvantaged group and 43.2 to 51.9 among the White Not Hispanic group,” he explained.
Looking forward, UGUHS continues to push students to higher expectations in math,” Hermann said.
“This year we were able to start every non-Special Education freshman in Algebra or Geometry,” he noted. “That is a testament to the work of our math department over the last few years.
“They have made improvements to our curriculum and teaching practices and to the preparation our students receive in their respective feeder schools.
UGUHS reading achievement does need improvement, Hermann added. A school-wide reading and writing initiative has been launched, especially with Physical Science, Biology 9, U.S. History and At-Risk classes, Hermann said, adding: “Each teacher has been asked to add more reading and writing to their curriculum.”
• Union Grove Elementary, 73.8, Exceeds Expectations.
Of the four categories developed by the state to determine a school’s score, UGES improved in all four of the categories, noted Superintendent Brenda Stevenson.
“The increased scores can be attributed to the dedication, work ethic and collaboration of the students, staff, and community at Union Grove Elementary School,” she said.
Kansasville Grade School, 72.2, Meets Expectations
School officials are pleased that Kansasville’s report card score has increased slightly from last year, to 72.2, said District Administrator Matt Stratton.
“With that said, we are always working to improve, and the DPI report card is one of the many tools that we can use to gauge improvement,” he said.
The school’s grade missed the state’s “Exceeds Expectations” score by less than one point.
Kansasville administration, teachers and the school board continually strive very hard to increase student achievement in all academic areas, he added.
Currently, school staff is going through rigorous training sessions to further improve in the areas of reading and math, and the Board of Education also allocated a great deal of funding to further improve in the areas of reading and math this year, he added.
Much of that funding was used to hire an additional full-time reading and math teacher over the summer.
“We are all eager to see continued improvement over the coming years,” Stratton said.
• Raymond Elementary, 73.3, Exceeds Expectation
While Raymond’s school report card has improved, “and we are very happy and proud of that, we also continue to look for ways to improve instructional practice,” said Superintendent Joe Dawidziak.
He expressed pride in the efforts made by staff and thanked them for continually finding ways to provide progressive, relevant curriculum in a way that improves student achievement and honors tradition and the past.
“This balance has long been supported by the community and the effort of school and community working together ensures student success into the future,” Dawidziak said.
• Yorkville Elementary, 70.5, Meets Expectations
At Yorkville School, the first impression from the school report card was disappointment.
“From the school board, administration, and all staff, we were disappointed by slipping from the ‘exceeds expectations’ category to the ‘meets expectations’” category,” explained District Administrator Dave Alexander.
At first sight, seeing how Yorkville ranked in Racine County was a shock, and that standing is unacceptable, he added. In a deeper look into the scoring system, though, there are bright spots, he noted.
“We outpaced most of the schools in the county in the ‘student achievement’ category, and the ‘student growth’ category. We are pleased with that.”
The shortcoming is in the category of “closing gaps,” where emphasis is given to how well a school is doing in closing the achievement gap between economically disadvantaged students and their non-economically disadvantaged peers, he said.
Since the accountability scoring system reflects the last three years of data, “we have clearly not done a good enough job helping our economically disadvantaged students overcome the challenges that prevent them from performing as well as their peers on the state assessment test,” Alexander said.
But a complaint that can be made about the scoring system centers around the fact that a simple, comprehensive score is published for each school, and usually, the supporting data is not published with the score, he said, noting that Yorkville outperformed most Racine County schools in student achievement and student growth.
In the category Yorkville scores poorly on – closing gaps – some schools like Drought and Kansasville don’t even get a score for that category, he noted, explaining that some schools don’t have enough economically disadvantaged students to statistically qualify, so the DPI uses a different factor, or doesn’t include that category in that school’s score.
“We are confident that the interventions and curriculum work we have done in the past 18 months will soon be reflected in future test data.
“We do not feel a need to change the course. We have to be sure we implement our interventions and curriculum with fidelity, and we will be fine,” Alexander concluded.
Check out more
More information about the schools’ report cards, including individual report cards for each district and school, can be found on the Department of Public Instruction’s website at acct.dpi.wi.gov/acct_accountability.
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