Nearly all public school districts are meeting expectations on the latest state report cards, under new standards set by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction this summer.
The state’s accountability report cards evaluate schools and districts across different benchmarks, helping families and school leaders judge performance. The report cards are scored using metrics like standardized testing data, growth in student learning, student demographics, graduation rates, chronic absenteeism and attendance.
Last school year’s report cards, released Nov. 11, are the first using the DPI’s new cut scores, which place each school and district on a scale from one to five stars, or failing expectations to significantly exceeding them.
The report cards show 94% of 378 public school districts met, exceeded or significantly exceeded expectations last school year, according to the DPI. Not all school districts received report cards because some represented a single school (in which case they received only a school report card).
No school district received a one-star rating, or failed to meet expectations, on last year’s report cards under the new system. The state rated 29 school districts with five stars.
Across 1,920 public schools, about 85% received three stars or more, meaning they met, exceeded or significantly exceeded expectations.
About 85% of “choice” schools that received report cards met, exceeded or significantly exceeded expectations. The DPI said 57% of choice schools, which offer students state-funded vouchers to attend private schools, did not receive report cards due to insufficient data, often because of small student populations or low participation rates on standardized tests.
What changed, and why?
How schools are rated on a 100-point scale changed. A panel of educators voted to recommend the changes to the cut scores for each star rating, essentially raising the categories by one point.
State Superintendent Jill Underly finalized the changes Sept. 3. She said the previous benchmarks were outdated and the new system would better guide improvement.
“Students are learning in new, dynamic ways, and accountability systems must keep pace,” she said in an Aug. 15 statement. “Innovation in education means we transform how we measure success.”
Leaders from conservative organizations, including the Institute for Reforming Government and the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, have spoken against the overhaul. They said the new benchmarks inflate schools’ and districts’ scores, especially those with higher proportions of low-income students, making it seem like they’re doing better than they are.
“Parents should not have to play a guessing game about where their children can learn best,” said Institute for Reforming Government researcher Quinton Klabon, in a statement.
The changes came after Underly also updated the scoring system for the statewide standardized test known as the Forward Exam.
Some school officials have criticized the continuous updates to the state report cards and Forward Exam, saying they make it difficult to track performance over time. The DPI warned against comparing overall scores on the latest report cards to previous years but said some of the data used to measure performance is still comparable.
Milwaukee Public Schools receives two-star rating
On the latest district report card, Milwaukee Public Schools received an overall score of 59.5 on a 100-point scale last school year.
The district said the score was higher than the 2023-24 school year due to the report card changes, but updates to the score ranges for each performance category meant MPS fell from three stars to two stars, or “meets few expectations.”
Across all of the 378 scored public school districts, 23 received two stars, or met few expectations, according to the DPI.
In a statement, Superintendent Brenda Cassellius said the results for MPS “underscore the urgent need to grow academic achievement.”
“We need to grow more and faster to truly meet and exceed the expectations that our families and community have for us — and the expectations we have for each other as educators,” she said.
School report cards for MPS show:
How did Milwaukee-area school districts perform?
To see how your school district performed visit bit.ly/2025DPIreportcards.
Kayla Huynh covers K-12 education, teachers and solutions at the Journal Sentinel. Reach her at khuynh@gannett.com and follow her on X at @_kaylahuynh. All of her work and coverage decisions are overseen solely by Journal Sentinel editors. Kayla’s position receives support from Herb Kohl Philanthropies and contributions to the Journal Sentinel Community-Funded Journalism Project. Help continue this reporting with a tax-deductible donation at jsonline.com/support.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: How did Wisconsin school districts, MPS perform on state report cards?
Reporting by Kayla Huynh, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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