For the City Times

MADISON – Central Wisconsin school districts are meeting or exceeding expectations; that’s according to 2018-19 report card results issued by the Department of Public Instruction.

The department said the percentage of public and private schools and public school districts meeting expectations on state report cards remains high. On state report cards issued for the 2018-19 school year, overall 87 percent of rated schools met or exceeded expectations as did 96 percent of the state’s 421 public school districts.

This is the fourth year the report cards used legislatively required calculations, and the fourth year private schools in the Milwaukee, Racine, and statewide parental choice programs received report cards. For 2018-19, 2,112 public schools and 322 private choice schools received report cards. Of choice schools, 106 exercised the option to receive an all student report card in addition to the required report card for choice students only.

Report card ratings range from five stars, denoting schools and districts that significantly exceed expectations, to one star for those that fail to meet expectations. Scores are calculated in four priority areas: student achievement; school growth; closing gaps between student groups; and measures of students being on-track for postsecondary readiness, which includes graduation and attendance rates, third-grade English language arts achievement, and eighth-grade mathematics achievement. Report cards provide a snapshot of performance across the four priority areas and can be used to target improvement efforts.

For 2018-19 report cards, 40 districts were rated at the highest accountability level, a five-star rating, meaning they significantly exceed expectations. Forming the largest group are 198 districts achieving four stars, which means they exceed expectations. The three-star, meets expectations, rating was given to 163 districts. Seventeen districts were rated two stars, meets few expectations. One district failed to meet expectations, the one-star category. No districts were rated using the alternate accountability measures this year.

While no central Wisconsin school districts had a ranking of five stars, several had four stars – exceeding expectations – including: Marshfield, 74.3; Nekoosa, 74.7; Stratford, 80.6; and Tomorrow River, 74.0.

All other districts met expectations and were ranked three stars, including: Almond-Bancroft, 71.2; Auburndale, 72.1; Pittsville, 71.1; Port Edwards, 70.6; Rosholt, 67.2; Spencer, 71.3; Stevens Point, 72.0; and Wisconsin Rapids, 71.2.