School Information System

Institute For Reforming Government

“DPI’s state report cards say rich districts are worth the property taxes, even when they aren’t, and poor districts meet expectations, even when they don’t. Meanwhile, DPI underrates many of Wisconsin’s best districts,” said Quinton Klabon, Senior Research Director at the Institute for Reforming Government. “Parents should not have to play a guessing game about where their children can learn best.”

DIG DEEPER:

• DPI’s calculation of graduation, attendance, and absenteeism inflates ratings for all schools, making a 1-star overall rating nearly impossible. For example, 17.1% of Beloit students do not graduate in 4 years, but DPI awarded Beloit a 5-star graduation rating.
• DPI benefited low-poverty schools twice. By lowering Forward Exam standards in a way that disproportionately raised Advanced scores in the mathematics section, DPI doubled the amount of children scoring in the highest category (21.1% in 2025 compared to 9.5% in 2023). DPI’s changes to report cards also resulted in  the average Achievement score, measuring test proficiency, rising from 60 to 65. For example, Verona received a large boost from these changes despite average mathematics performance.
• DPI’s Growth score, measuring actual achievement against expected student achievement, helps create erratic results across the state. For example, DPI rated the low-performing Destiny High 3 stars due to supposed 5-star Growth.

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Will Flanders:

Despite claims to the contrary, changes to the report card have shifted more schools into the “Exceeds” and “Significantly Exceeds” expectations categories.

WILL:

Despite stagnant or declining proficiency rates statewide, fewer schools are being rated as underperforming—suggesting that DPI’s new cut scores are masking real declines in student achievement. 

Table 1 shows the percentage of schools in Wisconsin that were rated in each category of the report card for this year and last. Despite DPI claims that the changes wouldn’t lead to much of a shift in categories, the percentage of schools in the state rated in the lowest three categories has actually gone down once again.  The largest increases were in the “Significantly Exceeds Expectations” category.   

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Kayla Huynh:

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.

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Cory Brewer:

Wisconsin schools with proficiency rates in reading as low as 12% were rated as “Exceeds Expectations.” Yes, you read that correctly. See this thread for more details.

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Dan O’Donnell:

Wisconsin is now the single worst state in the nation at educating black children but somehow not a single school district in the state failed to meet expectations on the new Department of Public Instruction report cards. Here’s how DPI cooked the books to hide its failure:

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Tom Tiffany:

94% of Wisconsin school districts meet or exceed expectations in @WisconsinDPI’s 2024–25 report cards.

Yet only 31% of our kids can read at grade level.

Something isn’t adding up. DPI and the Evers-Rodriguez admin hide failure instead of giving parents honest information.

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Did taxpayer funded Wisconsin DPI Superintendent Underly Juice Test Scores for Reelection?

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Only 31% of 4th graders in Wisconsin read at grade level, which is worse than Mississippi.

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Madison taxpayers have long supported far above average (now > $25,000 per student) K-12 tax & spending practices. This, despite long term, disastrous reading results. 

Madison Schools: More $, No Accountability

The taxpayer funded Madison School District long used Reading Recovery…

The data clearly indicate that being able to read is not a requirement for graduation at (Madison) East, especially if you are black or Hispanic”

My Question to Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers on Teacher Mulligans and our Disastrous Reading Results

2017: West High Reading Interventionist Teacher’s Remarks to the School Board on Madison’s Disastrous Reading Results 

Madison’s taxpayer supported K-12 school district, despite spending far more than most, has long tolerated disastrous reading results.

“An emphasis on adult employment”

Wisconsin Public Policy Forum Madison School District Report[PDF]

WEAC: $1.57 million for Four Wisconsin Senators

Friday Afternoon Veto: Governor Evers Rejects AB446/SB454; an effort to address our long term, disastrous reading results

Booked, but can’t read (Madison): functional literacy, National citizenship and the new face of Dred Scott in the age of mass incarceration.

When A Stands for Average: Students at the UW-Madison School of Education Receive Sky-High Grades. How Smart is That?