So what was new in all the data released last week summarizing results of the standardized tests, known as the WKCEs, that were taken last fall by more than 400,000 students from Kenosha to Superior?
Not much.
Some things a little better, most things the same, the state of meeting our educational needs pretty much unchanged.
But for every answer like that, I have a dozen questions (and lots of sub-questions).
Here they are:
1. Do we have the patience to pursue solid, significant improvement in how our students are doing?
The highflying schools I know of all took years to reach the heights.
Are we willing to do the steady, thoughtful work of building quality and resist the rapidly revolving carousel of education fads?
2. Do we have the impatience to pursue solid, significant improvement in how our students are doing?
At the same time we’ve got to be steady, we’ve got to be propelled by the urgency of improving.
Especially outside of Milwaukee, an awful lot of people are complacent about how Wisconsin’s kids are doing, and that complacency is often not well justified.
Related:
- How does Wisconsin compare to the world? wisconsin2.org
- Student test scores show Madison lags state in cutting achievement gap
- Wisconsin, Mississippi Have “Easy State K-12 Exams” – NY Times
- The Death of WKCE? Task Force to Develop “Comprehensive Assessment System for Wisconsin”
- Schools should not rely on only WKCE data to gauge progress of individual students or to determine effectiveness of programs or curriculum”
- Superintendent Dan Nerad’s achievement gap plan.
- 60% to 42%: Madison School District’s Reading Recovery Effectiveness Lags “National Average”: Administration seeks to continue its use
- The WKCE has long been criticized for its lack of rigor.
- Notes and links on Wisconsin’s new reading standards – and teacher requirements, here.