(This story was updated to add new information.)
Similar to test scores at public schools statewide, math and literacy proficiency rates for Wisconsin’s private voucher students in third through eighth grades have remained relatively flat over the last two years, according to recent standardized testing data.
About a third of tested students at choice schools met or exceeded benchmarks in English language arts on last spring’s Forward Exam, a statewide test gauging whether Wisconsin schoolchildren are meeting benchmarks in core subjects. Fewer than 30% of voucher students who took the test reached proficiency in math, the results show.
The data released Sept. 25 shows proficiency rates among choice students who took the test fell by about 2 percentage points in English language arts and by less than a percentage point in math compared with the 2023-24 school year.
Comparisons can’t be drawn prior to 2023-24 because the state Department of Public Instruction overhauled the exam’s scoring standards two years ago. Department leaders had warned against comparisons because the new scores were calculated so differently.
The Wisconsin Policy Forum raised other objections to such comparisons in a 2024 report.
Choice students increasingly forgoing standardized tests
Like public school students, children attending private schools through the Milwaukee, Racine and Wisconsin Parental Choice Programs are required to take standardized tests unless they attend a school with fewer than 20 students. The programs offer publicly funded vouchers to students from lower-income families to attend private schools.
But parents are increasingly opting out their voucher students from standardized testing, according to Chris Bucher, a spokesman for the state Department of Public Instruction.
Nearly 77% of choice students participated in standardized tests last school year, a 3 percentage point decline from 2023-24, Bucher told reporters Sept. 25. About 96% of eligible public school students participated, he said.
How did Milwaukee choice students perform?
About 18,850 students were enrolled in a Milwaukee choice school last year, according to the DPI. Among those who participated in the Forward Exam, 30% met or exceeded grade-level standards in English language arts, about the same as the 2023-24 school year.
Similar to students in Milwaukee Public Schools, the city’s choice students fared worse on the math portion of the Forward Exam. Nearly 27% of tested choice students reached proficiency in math on the most recent test, nearly the same as the 2023-24 school year.
It’s hard to compare scores at choice schools to statewide public school results because they serve different populations. But Colleston Morgan, who leads the nonprofit advocacy group City Forward Collective, said Milwaukee public and private choice schools are comparable because their demographic breakdowns are mostly similar.
City Forward Collective is a Milwaukee nonprofit organization that advocates for charter and voucher schools.
The 2024 report by the Wisconsin Policy Forum offers a different perspective.
State assessment scores are higher for private and charter schools, as compared to MPS, the forum noted, but noted that there are differences in the student populations. The most significant difference between student populations at MPS and other sectors is the concentration of students with identified disabilities, the forum reported.
About 20% of MPS students are listed as having disabilities, compared to about 11% of students in Milwaukee charter schools, the forum noted. While data on students in private school voucher programs is limited, the forum said the available data “indicates that there are many fewer such students than in MPS.” Private schools can’t deny admission to students with disabilities, but they’re not required to provide the level of accommodations required of public schools.
Milwaukee voucher students performed slightly better than the city’s public school students last spring, the most recent standardized test results show.
Nearly 24% of third- through eighth-graders attending MPS met or exceeded grade-level benchmarks in English language arts, about 6 percentage points lower than Milwaukee choice students who took the exam.
About 19% of MPS students hit grade-level benchmarks in math on the most recent test, about 8 percentage points lower than the city’s choice students.
Morgan said the results show the need to address students’ challenges regardless of the type of school.
“We spend a lot of time on the sector differences, but it’s clear that we’ve got work to do across the board,” he said. “The numbers taken as an aggregate are not where they need to need to be. They’re not acceptable.”
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 Kohl Philanthropies and contributions to the 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: Test scores for Wisconsin choice students flat, participation declines
Reporting by Kayla Huynh, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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