schoolinfosystem.org
Transcript [Machine Generated PDF]: Deborah Kerr: [00:43:53] Um, whose turn is it to go first? Okay. That’s fine. Yeah, we’re pretty good at figuring this out. Um, [00:44:00] so that’s one thing we can do. Um, yes, I support the FORT. I fo I support the Praxis test. So you gotta think about something. Why […]
Danielle DuClos: After Evers dropped the 2017 rule changes while serving as state superintendent, neither his successor, Carolyn Stanford Taylor, nor the current state superintendent, Jill Underly, promulgated similar measures. Underly says the Department of Public Instruction is now working on two related rules, though. Facing pressure from critics after the Cap Times investigation, Underly […]
David Blaska: All committed under the un-watchful eye of Superintendent Underly, a MAGA-hating progressive bought by the Democrat(ic) party (to the tune of $1,141,632 — 80% of her total campaign funding), supported by the teachers union, and endorsed by The Capital Times itself. As the news outlet reported: The WI Department of Public Instruction investigated more than […]
Keegan Kyle: Underly stood by the department’s practice of allowing educators under investigation for misconduct to voluntarily surrender their licenses to avoid further investigation. She said voluntary license surrenders often spare victims from “retraumatization through lengthy investigations.” She also called these license surrenders a “binding, legal agreement to a permanent, lifetime ban on their ability […]
Chris Rickert: In their July working paper, researchers from the Wisconsin Center for Education Research pointed to four main reasons district administrators have forgone performance pay: “Almost all the districts that experimented with using teacher performance as more than a minimal requirement for pay progression or bonuses have abandoned this approach,” the paper reports. The 2011 […]
Limited background amidst Wisconsin (and Madison’s) long term, disastrous reading results: Did taxpayer funded Wisconsin DPI Superintendent Underly Juice Test Scores for Reelection? notes and links on Incumbent DPI Superintendent Jill Underly (back story). Underly supports eliminating our one elementary teacher content knowledge requirement, the Foundations of Reading (FORT). Perhaps this forensic thread offers a […]
Karen Vaites: Last year, I wrote about a specific, promising development in Wisconsin: the state published the strongest ELA curriculum list in the country. Unfortunately, the work in Wisconsin prior to that development, and since, underwhelms. I’m overdue to write about the broader context in Wisconsin, mostly because progress on curriculum improvement has stalled, and I should […]
Capital Times Editorial:a In contrast, Underly is backed by the state’s most ardent advocates for public-school students and teachers. Many of her backers are Democratic legislators, and she’s supported by the party. But, more importantly, she’s supported by educators who work in the state’s urban and rural schools, technical colleges and universities. American Federation of […]
John Nichols summary The contest pits two people with very different views against one another. Underly — who taught in rural schools before becoming an elementary school principal, school district superintendent, university academic advisor and administrator, and assistant director at the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction — was elected to serve as superintendent in 2021. […]
Corrinne Hess: She wants to make it easier for failing schools to somehow seem like they’re succeeding,” Vos said during a press conference. “I hope that’s one of the areas that we’ll get some speedy discussion on, hopefully bipartisan support. Because I would hope that no one, the most liberal person or the most conservative […]
Emilee Fannon: Are standards lower? DPI officials have defended the new benchmarks, saying they align more directly with the state’s Forward Exam and teaching standards. Underly noted other states, such as Oklahoma and New York, have recently lowered their testing benchmarks. However, the Institute for Reforming Government, a conservative think tank, points to changes for […]
Will Flanders: An example of the problem with DPI changing standards from Reddit. This poster earnestly believes proficiency is up 12% this year. The average person doesn’t have time to delve into the nuance of state tests. DPI is willfully pulling the wool over our eyes to hide their failings. Curiously, after reducing rigor statewide, […]
Dave Cieslewicz And the racial achievement gap in Madison was far worse than the rest of the state. Statewide the gaps were 43% for English and 50% for math. About 60% of white students were proficient in English compared to 17% of Black students. About 64% of white students were proficient or better in math […]
Kayla Huynh Among the changes are lower scoring standards for each performance level and different labels categorizing students. In an interview with CBS 58, state Superintendent Jill Underly said students “appeared to be doing worse than they really were” under the previous system. Madison Metropolitan School District leaders this month offered the School Board a sneak […]
WisPolitics: Underly road a historic wave of cashflow to win in 2021, marking a significant win for Dems of the GOP. While the race was officially nonpartisan, the Dem Party contributed $949,844 to Underly’s campaign, which spent $1.53 million over the election. In all, candidates and outside groups spent $3 million on the race, a […]
Scott Girard: It’s been a challenging few years for K-12 education, both locally and nationally. Wisconsin State Superintendent Jill Underly is nonetheless “optimistic” about what’s ahead for the field. “I think people are coming together, realizing that if we want to improve the lives of all Wisconsinites and especially the kids who are going to […]
Alan Borsuk: t’s an emergency. It says so right there on the legal papers: “Order of the State Superintendent for Public Instruction Adopting Emergency Rules.” But it’s a curious kind of emergency. Elsewhere in the paperwork, it uses the term “difficulties.” Maybe that’s a better way to put it. Underlying the legal language lie questions […]
I am moved to respond to Sol Garfunkel’s “Opinion” article.1 I am a long-time high school mathematics teacher in a public school. I started teaching around the time of SMSG and have been in the trenches throughout several of the math wars. I know Dr. Garfunkel’s fine work in creating interesting modeling projects and his outspoken opinion that using technology to solve problems that apply the mathematics we are teaching will better concretize students’ understanding of the underlying mathematics. It sounds like a fine idea, but the reality is often very different.
Our problems in teaching mathematics begin in elementary school. Sadly, many teachers working with our children at the start of their mathematical journeys are not themselves comfortable with the mathematics they are trying to teach. They often only know one way to teach an idea and they may not fully understand how that method works and why it gives the right answers. Such a teacher confronted with an alternate creative method (perhaps suggested by a clever child or a seasoned colleague) may reject the alternative rather than trying to see how and why two methods produce the same result. Beyond stifling the creativity of students and discouraging them from trying to see how the mathematics works, such an approach is not fertile ground for applications and modeling projects in which creative exploration and possibly unorthodox methods are encouraged as a means of truly understanding what is happening. Teachers who lack confidence in their own understanding of the ideas may not want to include these sorts of activities in their classrooms.Related: Math Forum audio & video.
Richelle Wilson: Recent test scores show that only about half of Wisconsin students are proficient in reading. Those numbers are even more stark for Native American students. In 2022, only 5 percent of Native third graders in Brown County were reading at grade level. “To find out that 95 percent of our children were struggling — […]
Quinton Klabon: Is the Mississippi Miracle in reading real? Yeah! If anyone ever debunks it, it will not be people who cannot read a ranking chart. “To their credit, when I reached out to the authors about this mistake, they acknowledged it and reached out to get it fixed before publication.” Kelsey Piper: All right, […]
Developed by Barb Novak, PhD Director, Office of Literacy: School and District level data (.xlsx). Act 20 annual reporting. —— Chris Rickert: Nearly 44% of Madison School District 4K through third graders scored below the 25th percentile on an early literacy screener required under a 2023 state law, the state Department of Public Instruction reported Monday, […]
Chris Rickert: Folger explained the delay in getting to Elvehjem and Lindbergh by saying that the process last school year to pick a name for the former Southside Elementary — now Lori Mann Carey Elementary — took longer than expected. “We are now on track to start the process for two schools this year,” he […]
Noah Smith: Rice’s article is very long and has many more details about how and why public education quality has collapsed in America. The basic story is that the education reform movement spearheaded by George W. Bush, which focused on improving test scores, collapsed in the mid-2010s. After that, public schools across the country began […]
Joanne Jacobs summary: The most selective schools — San Jose State, San Diego State, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State — are not included. Cal State schools have higher graduation rates than community colleges. But students who wouldn’t apply if they had to fill out an […]
Megan McArdle: UC San Diego report shows students are not prepared for college, especially in math. Progressive educators watered down curriculums, gutted gifted and talented programs, and weakened admissions standards for honors classes and magnet schools. Colleges dropped standardized testing requirements, in part because that made it easier to diversify their student body. None of […]
Garry Trudeau arrives (finally) in 2025…. —— Did taxpayer funded Wisconsin DPI Superintendent Underly Juice Test Scores for Reelection? ——- Only 31% of 4th graders in Wisconsin read at grade level, which is worse than Mississippi. ——- Madison taxpayers have long supported far above average (now > $25,000 per student) K-12 tax & spending practices. This, despite long […]
Quinton Klabon: ——- Poverty explains 50% of Forward Exam scores and 36% of ACT. So, control for poverty, and you can accurately rate and rank schools! best: Wauzeka-Steuben (small), Fond Du Lac (medium), Sheboygan/Janesville (big) ——- large districts’ Forward: Sheboygan: mid 4Janesville: mid 4Elmbrook: high 3Waukesha: mid 3Middleton: mid 3Wausau: mid 3Eau Claire: mid 3Appleton: […]
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 […]
Erin Gretzinger: Asked by the Cap Times this month about the school district’s progress on fulfilling the requirements, district officials said 703 teachers had enrolled in the training as of the 2025-26 school year. Out of those enrolled, about 524 educators — or 75% — had completed the training. The district said 25 teachers hadn’t […]
Sir John Glubb: Education undergoes the same gradual transformation. No longer do schools aim at producing brave patriots ready to serve their country. Parents and students alike seek the educational qualifications which will command the highest salaries. The Arab moralist, Ghazali (1058-1111), complains in these very same words of the lowering of objectives in the […]
Karen Vaites: Getting rid of public gifted education programs will accelerate the enrollment crisis hitting American public schools When Zohran Mamdani came out in favor of eliminating New York City’s gifted and talented program in the earliest grades, it represented the latest chapter in an ongoing debate about gifted and selective schooling options in our nation’s largest […]
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 […]
Kayla Huynh: The state Legislature’s bipartisan audit committee on Nov. 5 ordered a review into the Department of Public Instruction’s process for removing, suspending or restricting educator licenses. The audit comes as State Superintendent Jill Underly has received criticism for her department’s handling of grooming and sexual misconduct allegations against licensed school staff. The Legislative Audit Bureau will examine the […]
Vance Ginn: Note from Adam: There is growing momentum to limit or repeal state and local property taxes, which poses an interesting dilemma for libertarians and fiscal conservatives. Advocates see property taxes as relatively efficient, transparent, and minimally distortionary, while critics argue they fuel government growth, undermine secure property rights, and make housing more expensive. The […]
Danielle DuClos: State legislators called both hearings this week in response to reporting by the Cap Times that uncovered hundreds of sexual misconduct and grooming investigations conducted by the department from 2018 through 2023. In a joint statement, the audit commitee’s co-chairs — Sen. Eric Wimberger, R-Oconto, and Rep. Robert Wittke, R-Caledonia — said Underly and the department “failed […]
Corrinne Hess: Wisconsin State Superintendent Jill Underly announced several changes on Tuesday to strengthen student safety amid criticism of her agency’s handling of accusations of sexual misconduct by educators. Underly also announced DPI would create a new online database to expand DPI’s existing pubic license look-up tool so the public can see teacher licenses that […]
Mark Treinen: I’ve been doing journalism a long time and don’t recall a public official ever demanding a “public correction” of an entire story, and then proposing a bunch of fixes to the exact problems highlighted in the @CapTimes story. Jon Styf: DPI Superintendent Jill Underly appeared in front of the Senate Committee on Education […]
Chad Aldeman: So which schools help students get started on the right path? Last year, we set out to find the school districts that were doing the best job of teaching kids how to read. Now, we are expanding that search to individual schools — and have found 2,158 where third-grade reading scores are much higher than […]
Quinton Klabon: We are near all-time highs in percentage of publicly funded students. And people can object to vouchers if they want. But we have the fewest -number- of publicly funded students since 1995. We can afford it! More. Did taxpayer funded Wisconsin DPI Superintendent Underly Juice Test Scores for Reelection? ——- Only 31% of […]
Maggie Macintosh: Human rights investigators have found that parents of struggling readers across Manitoba are being forced to take on “a full-time job” of advocacy so their children can become literate in local public schools. The Manitoba Human Rights Commission released the long-awaited findings of its probe into literacy 101 education on Thursday — the […]
Office of Literacy, Office of the State Superintendent, Barb Novak: Reporting for Wis. Stat. §§ 115.39(4)(g) Administrators and Educators DPI is required to report (for the 2023 – 24 and 2024 – 25 school years), the number of individuals who completed the mandatory professional development training under 2023 Wisconsin Act 20, section 27 (2), which […]
Karen Vaites: This week, the Massachusetts House passed legislation that would give its department of education – known as DESE – the right to mandate use of state-approved curriculum. A similar bill failed last year, yet Massachusetts outcomes have continued to slide: In October, the Boston Globe proclaimed a “Northern Nosedive” in reading scores, and finally, Massachusetts leaders are willing to touch a […]
Ray Mendez: We devote this blog to Mr. Ray Mendez, parent of a Madison public school student to Superintendent Joe Gothard and the school board: The head-stomping at Madison Westwas not a “fight.” It was a near-fatal attack. Madison Police arrested three teens; two are accused of first-degree reckless injury and battery, and a third faces battery and […]
Gina Raimondo She also added that “a lesson we can learn from China is that they invest in the talent… whereas we don’t have an effective workforce system in this country, we incentivize attendance… we send everyone to college [and] people don’t have skills for jobs. China is incredibly intentional… There is a lot we […]
1636 Forum: “Students know that an ‘A’ can be awarded . . . for anything from outstanding work to reasonably satisfactory work. It’s a farce,” said a faculty member. “We are terrified of the A-,” one student admitted. Another added, “I think the current grading system is working very well.” These are among the many […]
Erin Gretzinger: … with additional spending focused on the district’s priorities like expanding 4K options and boosting staffing, which went up by nearly 60 full-time equivalent positions. About 81% of the district’s budget goes toward staff compensation and benefits. The district’s total tax revenue will increase by a little over 20% this year, due in part to two referendums approved […]
Corrinne Hess: While most are focusing on the Gov race with the Marquette Law School Poll, this jumps out at me (Education reporter): For the first time, a majority, 57%, say they would be inclined to vote against a referendum to increase taxes for schools in their community. ——- Will Flanders: The @mulaw poll showed […]
David Blaska Everything progressives believe about K-12 education is wrong. It’s minority students who suffer most. So says The Atlantic magazine — hardly a MAGA outlet. “America is Sliding Toward Illiteracy,” its headline warns. “Declining standards and low expectations are destroying American education.” Bad enough State schools superintendent Jill Underly cooked the books to paper over Wisconsin’s declining test scores. The […]
Corey A. DeAngelis Failure gets rewarded when it comes to government unions. Look no further than Stacy Davis Gates, the president of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU). She was just unanimouslyelected to lead the Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT). Her promotion comes despite a track record of presiding over educational disasters in Chicago, where student outcomes […]
Kareem Weaver A former prisoner, but now a free man, advocate, author, and Emmy nominated actor is known as The Prison Coach for his ongoing work with incarcerated men. ——— Did taxpayer funded Wisconsin DPI Superintendent Underly Juice Test Scores for Reelection? ——- Only 31% of 4th graders in Wisconsin read at grade level, which is […]
Natalie Proulx: New national testing data, reported in September, shows that the reading skills of American high school seniors are the worst they have been in three decades. A third of the 12th graders who were tested did not have basic reading skills. What is your reaction to that news? Does it surprise you? Do […]
Kali Hanson: Property taxes are climbing faster in Dane County and Madison than the rest of Wisconsin, according to a new Wisconsin Policy Forum analysis of state tax data. The countywide tax levy grew 5.7% to about $1.9 billion last year, with Madison’s portion of the total increasing 5.1% to $894 million. Tax levies increased […]
Todd Truitt: Superintendent from Virginia’s largest school division says increasing the # of questions to be proficient on our standardized tests (from the lowest in the nation) will demotivate students. Nonsensical, self-serving statements like these undermine public schools. ——— Marc Porter Magee: “Amber Northern, a Virginia Board of Education member, said at the board’s September […]
Tom Tiffany: Wisconsin’s DPI poured time and resources into a 35-page DEI Plan but couldn’t find time to fully investigate 200+ teacher sexual misconduct cases. Our kids deserve better than woke leadership and coverups. Yet all we hear from Tony Evers and Jill Underly are crickets. 🦗 ——- more. ——— Did taxpayer funded Wisconsin DPI […]
Danielle DuClos This time with a focus on school districts wanting thousands of dollars to provide staff investigation records No statewide tracking of sexual misconduct and grooming by teachers exists in Wisconsin, including at the state Department of Public Instruction, which oversees educator licenses. A federal study estimates one in 10 students across the country […]
Erin Gretzinger: But those numbers only go so far. A 2019 studyconducted for the school district found that while the school district’s residential population grew by 100,000 people from the 1980s to the 2010s, the district’s enrollment remained largely stagnant. ——- Where Have All The Students Gone? 1995-2024 ——- Did taxpayer funded Wisconsin DPI Superintendent Underly […]
Adding to the curious tale for data submitted to DPI 7.15.2025: e-mail received 21 October, 2025: Jim, Public records laws do not require agencies to create records that do not currently already exist. The data you requested is not currently available in a record that is responsive to your request. Districts are required to submit […]
Quinton Klabon summary: LAB said DPI is very harsh to choice schools! DPI threatened to defund private schools whose finances were 1 week late and defunded after 1 month. DPI…perhaps did not threaten districts? And it took DPI 5.5 months to defund MPS? 1 month versus half a year is a big disparity! ——- ——— […]
Hannah Schmid Virginia raises bar for students while Illinois hides strugglesLow student proficiency is being hidden in Illinois. Virginia raised its expectations for students. While other states are attacking their portion of the national epidemic of poor reading and math proficiency, Illinois is burying the problem. Illinois approved a plan this summer to lower the […]
Chad Aldeman: But I want to double back on Sherrill’s casual slams on Mississippi and Louisiana. Do they have some of the “worst schools” in the nation, as Sherrill claimed? And by implication, is New Jersey doing better than these states? The answer to both of those questions is no. Sherrill’s confusion may stem from […]
Jessika Harkay One four young adults across the U.S. is functionally illiterate – yet more than half earned high school diplomas, according to recently released data. The number of 16-to-24 year olds reading at the lowest literacy levels increased from 16% in 2017 to 25% in 2023, according to data released in December from the National Center […]
Ivana Greco: Who is right? Are there silver bullets in education? What does the Southern Surge teach us? A careful look at what is happening in the South doesn’t show us that education reform is easy. There are (sadly) no silver bullets. However, with significant effort over many years, it is indeed possible. As education […]
Robert Pondiscio School boards rarely make national news unless someone is shouting. A community member reads a passage from a controversial library book; a teacher’s social media post ignites outrage; a member storms out over masks or diversity policies. Skirmishes over culture war issues dominate headlines, giving the impression that the most pressing questions in […]
Andrew Rotherham: Why? The job is not to advocate for the schools, it’s to regulate the schools. Just like the SEC isn’t hostile to capitalism, but its role is not to excuse away every failing in the financial world. The SEC is charged with holding people accountable for those failures, remedies where appropriate, and putting […]
Quinton Klabon: Will reading reforms work in Wisconsin? By July 1st, teachers were supposed to relearn reading instruction the way the best states do it. Unfortunately ——- More: DPI misinterpreted Act 20 to say there was no deadline to follow the law. The Legislature has not enforced it, nor have they updated the law to […]
Robert Pondiscio Last week, my colleague Rick Hess published an essay that hits an increasingly raw nerve in American education. Writing about Oklahoma’s new “teacher test” aimed at ferreting out “woke indoctrination,” he observed that while the state is right to be concerned about politicization of the teaching profession, it has chosen the wrong remedy. In brief, […]
Idrees Kahloon The past decade may rank as one of the worst in the history of American education. It marks a stark reversal from what was once a hopeful story. At the start of the century, American students registered steady improvement in math and reading. Around 2013, this progress began to stall out, and then to […]
www Discover some of the most in-demand careers in the trades. Learn about salary ranges, requirements, and responsibilities of a trade, and how many jobs are available across the country. ——— Meanwhile: Did taxpayer funded Wisconsin DPI Superintendent Underly Juice Test Scores for Reelection? ——- Madison taxpayers have long supported far above average (now > $25,000 per […]
No Adult Left Behind: How Politics Hijacks Education Policy and Hurts Kids, by Vladimir Kogan (Cambridge University Press, 328 pp., $29.99) In February 2021—the same month the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a school-reopening plan that effectively extended the Covid closures—teachers’ union bosses Randi Weingarten of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and […]
Neeraja Deshpande He begins with the problematic notion that “schools are ‘community institutions.’” This is a politically convenient concept that allows schools to get away with poor performance and drift from their core mission, making education about everything but academic performance. “Would residents be OK with drinking contaminated water, laced with dysentery and typhoid, in […]
Joanne Jacobs: Now test scores are falling in New England, rising in Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee and Alabama, he writes. While leaders of the “Southern Surge” focused relentlessly on improving reading instruction, New England schools were lowering expectations, Huffaker writes. To end the Massachusetts Malaise, leaders must “override the wishes of popular and powerful teachers unions, […]
Andrew Rotherham summary: We’re defining success in a way that reflects our community values..not someone else’s” Dr. Reid unveils the Future Readiness Index, an effort to push back on new state accountability standards w a counter narrative that will allow FCPS to rely on various academic & non-academic metrics (such as degree of belonging & […]
David Brooks: Because of those reform efforts, student achievement test scores in reading, math and most other academic subjects shot upward between the mid-1990s and about 2013. In 1990 48 percent of America’s eighth graders scored below basic competency in math. But by 2013 that was down to just 26 percent. The best part of […]
Erin Gretzinger: But the district hadn’t analyzed the correlation between safety-related data, such as incidents or school climate surveys, and the recommendations, Assistant Superintendent Cindy Green said. “It depends on how you define safety, I think, but I think every day our schools work really hard,” Green said. “We have proactive teams in place. We […]
Karen Vaites & Kelsey Piper: No. The skeptics are wrong. The Southern Surge is real. The most important story in K-12 education is that a handful of states — and not the ones most expect — have figured out the tricky business of teaching kids to read. Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Alabama have each bucked […]
Christopher Huffaker: “Reforms have so far lacked the top-down oversight common to the Southern success stories. Some of her fifth-graders struggle to read. “I’m having to backfill more and teach to lower standards,” she says. Spelling is “always a struggle,” and some children aren’t able to read materials on their own, so she often reads […]
Sarah Reber and Gabriela Goodman Key takeaways: —— Quinton Klabon: Higher school spending used to matter, but it does not now, says the left-leaning Brookings. They reckon 3 options: ——- Did taxpayer funded Wisconsin DPI Superintendent Underly Juice Test Scores for Reelection? ——- Madison taxpayers have long supported far above average (now > $25,000 per student) K-12 tax & […]
Erin Gretzinger: As you probably heard (Monday) night at the School Board meeting, one of our priorities is getting the salary compression fixed for our veteran teachers. Another priority is working with the district to change our schedules and workloads. Our handbook and language hasn’t been changed in decades. Yet our schools and what’s happening in […]
Ted Dabrowski: Pritzker and Johnson have done nothing but drive up taxes in Chicago. Per student cost at CPS has jumped to $32K per student from $17K in eight years: an 88% spike. Spending keeps rising even as enrollment shrinks. Vote @TedForIllinois for change. ——— Did taxpayer funded Wisconsin DPI Superintendent Underly Juice Test Scores […]
David Blaska: The tragedy of Madison’s public schools is that the minority-race students it valorizes are the ones who suffer most from its disempowering Woke racism. For its failures, the seven school board members are poised to reward itself with pay raises, health insurance, and out-of-town junkets. They meet tonight starting at 6 p.m. to consider: […]
Will Flanders: It appears DPI got the data wrong about private school choice performance in their press release on state tests. They note a decline in performance of 2.3 percentage point in ELA and a 2.7 percentage points in math. More from Will: Earlier I tweeted a question to @WisconsinDPI about their press release on […]
Cory Brewer Superintendent Jill Underly delivered her annual “State of Education” address last week. If you tuned in hoping for an honest assessment of how Wisconsin students are doing, you were left disappointed. The event began, not with a frank discussion of student achievement, but with a land acknowledgment. Like much of what followed, it […]
The Principal’s office: Do parents understand that the elections with the least votes are for public school board members? Parents literally sit back and let a small group elect these lunatics who then implement harmful policies. How I wish mandating parents vote for the school board as part of the requirement for using public schools. […]
Chris Rickert: In line with past years, suburban Madison districts have performed better than the state as a whole. Waunakee’s by-grade scores, for example, range as high as 82% of sixth graders meeting or exceeding standards in math and as high as 80% of sixth graders meeting or exceeding standards in English/language arts. Tim Schell, […]
Erin Gretzinger: On one of his first days with Mann Carey Elementary’s staff, Brown asked people to write down all the anxieties they were carrying into the new school year. When they were done, he had them all crumble up their responses and put them into a bag. For a staff meeting on the first […]
Kelsey Piper: But scores are not slipping everywhere. In Mississippi, they have been rising year over year. The state recovered from a brief decline during COVIDand has now surpassed its pre-COVID highs. Its fourth grade students outperform California’s on average, even though our state is richer, more educated, and spends about 50% more per pupil. […]
Sarah Mervosh: “The U.S. is an example of frogs in the boiling water when it comes to talent,” said Jamie Merisotis, chief executive of the Lumina Foundation, which is focused on higher education and work force credentials. Because the United States has a large and diverse economy, he said, “it’s harder to see when the […]
Will Flanders: The full report card is needed for a deeper dive, but compared to the most fair public school group (low-income students), private school choice students once again have significantly higher proficiency levels in the MPCP, RPCP and statewide programs. ——- Did taxpayer funded Wisconsin DPI Superintendent Underly Juice Test Scores for Reelection? ——- […]
Will Flanders: The New Forward Exam results are available in Wisedash this morning. No time yet for a deep dive, but it looks as if, overall, the state has held relatively steady with the inflated performance levels of last year. Did taxpayer funded Wisconsin DPI Superintendent Underly Juice Test Scores for Reelection? ——- Madison taxpayers […]
Wisconsin Eye and WILL. Did taxpayer funded Wisconsin DPI Superintendent Underly Juice Test Scores for Reelection? ——- 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 […]
It started before Covid, and it keeps getting worse. Matthew Yglesias: What we do know is that federal K-12 policy used to place a hefty premium on “accountability” for local school districts. Students were supposed to either demonstrate a solid level of results, or else show clear signs of improvement. If a district couldn’t achieve […]
Will Flanders summarizes Jill Underly’s Speech: Dr. Underly (Wisconsin DPI Superintendent) mentions that graduation rates are at record highs, but what good are high rates if graduates can’t read their diploma? Even with inflated proficiency standards, only 41.9% of Wisconsin high schoolers meet expectations in reading. Dr. Underly complains that funding is “inadequate,” but the […]
Open The Books: Debates about public school funding sometimes include an underlying assumption that more funding results in better student outcomes. Available data tells a more complex story. Our review of 12,531 school districts across the country shows a negative correlation between overhead and student performance. In other words, districts that spent more on teacher […]
Corrinne Hess: “Reading proficiency among kindergarten through third grade students is unacceptably low, and that reality carries long-term consequences for the future of our youth and our city,” said longtime educator Howard Fuller. “The solution is clear and evidence based. Research shows that when early grade educators receive high-quality, science-based reading instruction training and coaching, […]
Karen Vaites: Collectively, they aren’t (yet) topping the nation for overall reading proficiency, although Mississippi, Tennessee, and Louisiana have moved into the top tier; they are tied for 14th in 4th grade reading proficiency. Instead, they compel attention because they are producing the clearest gains over the last 5 years, as other states backslide. The […]
Erin Gretzinger Last school year, district administrators said, elementary schools experienced stable or decreasing scores in literacy and math, while attendance improved. Middle schools improved across the board. High schools had mixed results in literacy and math scores, with decreases in attendance and graduation rates. District administrators told School Board members they are evaluating last year’s […]
Cleo Krejci Jill Underly, the top DPI official, finalized those changes Sept. 3. They will be applied to 2024-25 state report card data, which will be released in November. “Just as you wouldn’t rely on a decade-old GPS to find your way today, we can’t use outdated performance benchmarks to guide school improvement,” Underly said […]
Soubhik Barari, Ph.D., Eric Newsom, M.S.Ed., Ji Eun Park, Ph.D. and Susan M Paddock, Ph.D. Higher education has long been viewed as a stepping-stone for individuals to achieve professional and personal goals. To demystify the options within the higher education landscape, prospective students and their families often turn to college rankings. This is especially true […]
Will Flanders Last yr, DPI met behind closed doors to lower the standards for the Forward Exam. Now, they will apparently do the same thing for the state report card. We need transparency in these meetings. Why are these standard settings that effect all WI families held behind closed doors? —— Did taxpayer funded Wisconsin […]
Samantha Smylie The Illinois State Board of Education agreed Wednesday to move ahead with a process to change the state’s testing system, though the exact details still are being worked out. That process will include creating new “cut scores,” or the lowest score needed for a student to be sorted into broad categories of achievement […]