We have had a wonderful fall in the Wauwatosa School District. Our Trojan Players are gearing up to deliver Wisconsin’s premiere performances of Frozen: The Broadway Musical, our Community Leader Academy has conducted five successful meetings, and Forward data released by the Department of Public Instruction indicates positive academic growth in many of our school buildings.
As you may know, the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) School Report Card is one data point that we analyze as part of our continuous improvement efforts. DPI is required by state statute (Wis. Stat. 115.385) to generate a school report card and a district report card for every publicly-funded school and district in the state of Wisconsin. The report cards are intended to help schools and districts use data to celebrate successes and improve efforts to prepare students for their futures. DPI’s public report cards can be found on the DPI’s website. The Wauwatosa School District report card can be found here.
The current district report card is based on data from the 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23 school years.
The report card measures and provides a score in four key areas:
Achievement - measures proficiency in English Language Arts (ELA) and Math on annual state assessments.
Growth - measures year-over-year progress in ELA and Math achievement.
Target Group Outcomes - outcomes for students with the lowest test scores.
On-Track to Graduation - reliable predictors of how successfully students are progressing toward completing their K-12 education.
The scores from these four key areas are aggregated into an overall accountability score between 0 and 100. This score is displayed on the front page of the report card. Please note that this score does not reflect a “percent correct” and is not aligned with traditional 0-100 grading scales. Based on the score, a district receives one of five rating categories, from Fails to Meet Expectations to Significantly Exceeds Expectations. Each of these categories corresponds to a number of stars, from one (Fails to Meet Expectations) to five (Significantly Exceeds Expectations).
This year, the Wauwatosa School District earned an accountability score of 72.3, which puts our school in the Exceeds Expectations category. This category corresponds to four stars.
I have worked with our Division of Academic Performance to thoroughly review our District report card and each of our schools’ report cards, and I would like to note the following takeaways:
The Wauwatosa School District grew by one point in Growth and 0.1 points in Achievement; the District’s overall accountability score decreased by 0.1 from 2021-22 to 2022-23.
Six of our schools fall into the Significantly Exceeds category, and four schools are in the Exceeds category.
Ten of our schools grew in the area of Achievement, with Roosevelt Elementary making the most significant increase in this area.
Nine elementary schools grew in the Growth area, with Roosevelt Elementary making the most significant increase.
For the second year in a row, Lincoln Elementary is the highest-scoring K4-5 elementary school in the state of Wisconsin.
Eight of our schools increased their overall accountability score, and McKinley Elementary moved from the Exceeds category to the Significantly Exceeds category.
Of course, areas for improvement exist. Five of our schools saw a decrease in Achievement score, three schools saw a decrease in Growth, and one school moved from the Exceeds category to the Meets category.
I want to share all of this information because it helps to illuminate some of our successes and pinpoint areas of focus for our schools and our district. However, as DPI stresses, these report cards are just a single point of data that we use to assess our continuous improvement efforts. I would like to express my gratitude to our staff for all of their efforts in ensuring that every student has an exceptional learning experience in Wauwatosa.
Your building principal will be sharing additional information and action steps related to their plan to address school report card data. I encourage all community members to review their school’s Growth Plan presentation to become better acquainted with the improvement efforts occurring at the school level. We are excited about the growth we are observing in the District. Our vision for closing opportunity gaps and exceeding proficiency for all is taking hold in the Wauwatosa School District. Thank you for your continued support and encouragement.