Wisconsin Tests Kids on Reading. Here’s What Madison’s Scores Actually Show.

Every young child in Wisconsin public schools — from 4-year-old kindergarten through third grade — now gets tested three times a year to check if they’re on track to read well. It’s a new state law. Madison’s first full year of results are in, and the short version is: most grades finished the year with fewer kids meeting the target than when the year started. That sounds alarming, but it’s partly because the target itself gets harder as the year goes on — so this report walks through what the numbers really mean, where the gaps between student groups are widest, and what’s still uncertain.