This week, the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) released their district and school Report Cards, which rates all schools and school districts in the state and gives them a score. However, due to DPI changing the standards of the Forward Exam (the method by which DPI rates schools), it's impossible to compare these schools to last year's. This gives the appearance that students are improving when in fact the opposite is happening.

This most recent release of school report cards paints a concerning picture. A first glance at the report card shows a decrease in the number of schools that “fail to meet” or “meet few” expectations while also showing an increase in the number of schools that “exceed” or “significantly exceed” expectations. A deeper analysis of individual schools, specifically in Milwaukee, calls into question these rosy statistics. At Maple Tree Elementary in Milwaukee, only 13% of students “meet or exceed expectations” in English Language Arts (ELA) yet the school received an overall score of “exceeds expectations.” Kagel Elementary, also in Milwaukee, saw only 7% of students “meet or exceed expectations” in ELA yet the school received a rating of “meets expectations.” With English proficiency hovering around 50% across all districts in Wisconsin, these ratings seriously misrepresent the challenges we are facing in our schools.

Our students deserve better, and Republicans in the Assembly will continue to fight for our kids, preserve school choice, and boost transparency for parents in our education system.

Read my full Op-Ed in the Journal Times here:
School state report cards: Assembly Speaker Robin Vos questions reliability of 2024/25 test scores

Read more here:
DPI Rates 0 Districts 1 Star, Half of All Schools 4 or 5 Stars on New School Report Cards

Wisconsin’s School Report Cards Show Persistent Gaps and Inflated Ratings