Tag Archives: Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction

by | September 19, 2013 · 10:30 pm

School Report Cards Issued: How Did South Milwaukee Do?

The answer? Pretty well.

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction came out with its school report cards on Tuesday, and every South Milwaukee school fell in the “meets or exceeds expectations” category.

Here is where each one ranked …

And the overall district received a “meets expectations” grade of 68.4.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has some context in this story.

And these report cards demand context. While I respect the effort in grading schools — and support having objective standards in doing so — there are so many factors driving educational excellence that a true apples to apples comparison is nearly impossible.

I prefer the eye test when it comes to rating schools, and South Milwaukee’s schools pass that with high marks. I am the proud parent of two Rawson Elementary students, and I continue to be impressed with that school and the district as a whole. I see every day the strides my children are making as young learners, the excitement they bring home every day about what they’ve learned. It’s infectious.

And that’s something you can’t measure on DPI report cards.

6 Comments

Filed under Schools, South Milwaukee

Tagged as , ,

by | October 23, 2012 · 12:35 pm

Grading South Milwaukee Schools: State Issues New School Report Cards

The Wisconsin Department of Instruction is out with a new take on school report cards.

Check out the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story here, and here is the DPI site showing how South Milwaukee schools performed.

So, how did we do? Well, there are a number of different measures presented in the report card, but here are the overall scores for each school:

So, mixed results. But there is some explaining to do.

The South Milwaukee School District provides its own context for the report cards here. It includes an action plan for improving student achievement in reading and math and ways it is driving toward better “post-secondary readiness.”

My take: I have mixed feelings on report cards like this. I always welcome common metrics to judge performance, and I see their effectiveness every day in my day job.

But it’s also clear that metrics like this don’t tell the whole story when it comes to rating schools. So many factors outside of a district or school’s control drive performance and achievement – especially income levels and other demographics – that it’s difficult to get a fair comparison across districts and even schools within a district.

Forget apples to apples, or even apples to oranges. Data sets like this can be apples to tomatoes – in other words, an OK comparison, at best.

Instead of a “one-size-fits-all” report card, I prefer the eye test … what I see when I see my 4- and 7-year-old come home from Rawson Elementary every day. And that’s two young people who love learning and love their school, two kids who are gaining knowledge every minute thanks to strong school and district leadership, teachers, staff, facilities and curriculum.

Based on that daily “report card” – not the ones released Monday — I’m excited for what the future holds for our kids in South Milwaukee schools.

With all due respect to the DPI, my expectations have been exceeded, and they’re exceeded every day.

Of course, I’d like to know what you think. Post your comments below!

2 Comments

Filed under Schools

Tagged as ,