By Jim Bender & Patrick McIlheran
Accused of gutting academic standards, manipulating report cards, slacking on fiscal oversight and bungling oversight of sexual misconduct among teachers, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction is facing a crisis of confidence — and new questions about whether it is capable of handling myriad key functions.
The latest blow to Wisconsin’s chief regulator of schools and teachers came with this month’s release of its widely panned new “report cards” on school districts’ performance.
The new report cards rate 94 percent of Wisconsin school districts as either “meeting,” “exceeding” or “significantly exceeding” expectations in a state where, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos pointed out this week, only half of students are proficient in “English language arts” — that is, reading. There is a school in Milwaukee that “exceeds expectations,” according to the new report cards, despite the fact only 13 percent of its students meet or exceed expectations in reading, for example.
Misleading scores “are covering up a failing system that is neglecting our kids,” he wrote Tuesday in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The episode is only the latest in a series of missteps by the agency, on matters ranging from educator misconduct to botched finances, that raise questions about whether DPI is capable of acknowledging its own failing grades.
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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?