See How Wisconsin Schools Scored In New Report Card

WISCONSIN — The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction published its public and choice school report cards for the 2020-21 school year Tuesday.

Federal and state law required the department to release accountability reports every year, but the last report was suspended for the 2019-20 school year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The data released Tuesday was the first accountability report card districts have received since before the pandemic.

Each district and school was ranked on a scale that ranged from one to five stars. Five stars showed a district that significantly exceeded expectations. One star reflected a failure to meet expectations.

The report cards focused on four priority areas: achievement, growth, target group outcomes and how students did on track to graduation, the department said.

• Achievement measured how students performed in state assessment tests.
• Growth gauged year-to-year student progress on statewide tests.
• Target group outcomes rated how students with the lowest test scores, known as the "target group," did.
• On-track to graduation assessed how successfully students progressed in completing their K-12 education.

In districts with more economically disadvantaged students, the growth measure was weighted more heavily.

"This allows schools and districts to be rewarded for advancing students' progress regardless of their starting level," the department said in a news release.

The department scored 2,101 public schools and 376 choice schools across the state in this year's report card. Of those schools, 1,781 met or exceeded expectations. More than 400 choice and public schools did not have enough data to be scored.

The pandemic likely skewed the data because of the yearlong lapse in report cards.

Because of this, the department said it was important to consider that up to three years of data was used to come up with the scores and to understand that the results may appear skewed or misleading when compared to previous years' report cards.

Data was not collected for the 2019-20 school year; for the final 2020-21 score, a heavier weight was given to data from more recent years.

How Wisconsin Schools Fared In The Latest Report Card

Appleton Area School District: Four Stars

The Appleton Area School District had an overall score of 71.4, exceeded expectations.

• Achievement: 59.7 out of 100.
• Growth: 73.6 out of 100.
• Target group outcomes: 65.7 out of 100.
• On-track to graduation: 83.9 out of 100.

Racine Unified School District: Two Stars

The Racine Unified School District had an overall score of 53.2, met few expectations.

• Achievement: 34.4 out of 100.
• Growth: 51.8 out of 100.
• Target group outcomes: 45.9 out of 100.
• On-track to graduation: 66.6 out of 100.

Fox Point J2 School District: Five Stars

The Fox Point J2 School District had an overall score of 84.1, significantly exceeded expectations.

• Achievement: 90.8 out of 100.
• Growth: 72.7 out of 100.
• Target group outcomes: 67.5 out of 100.
• On-track to graduation: 93.3 out of 100.

Hudson School District: Four Stars

The Hudson School District had an overall score of 80.3, exceeded expectations.

• Achievement: 78 out of 100.
• Growth: 82.2 out of 100.
• Target group outcomes: 73.5 out of 100.
• On-track to graduation: 89.4 out of 100.

Madison Metropolitan School District: Four Stars

The Madison Metropolitan School District had an overall score of 70.2, exceeded expectations.

• Achievement: 59.1 out of 100.
• Growth: 75.5 out of 100.
• Target group outcomes: 61.1 out of 100.
• On-track to graduation: 78.1 out of 100.

Milwaukee Public Schools: Three Stars

Milwaukee Public Schools had an overall score of 58.1, met expectations.

• Achievement: 31 out of 100.
• Growth: 63.2 out of 100.
• Target group outcomes: 53.2 out of 100.
• On-track to graduation: 59.3 out of 100.

Muskego-Norway School District: Five Stars

The Muskego-Norway School District had an overall score of 84.9, significantly exceeded expectations.

• Achievement: 86.4 out of 100.
• Growth: 82.2 out of 100.
• Target group outcomes: 73.5 out of 100.
• On-track to graduation: 94.9 out of 100.

Hamilton School District: Four Stars

The Hamilton School District had an overall score of 82.1, exceeded expectations.

• Achievement: 87.8 out of 100.
• Growth: 71.7 out of 100.
• Target group outcomes: 65.8 out of 100.
• On-track to graduation: 94.7 out of 100.

More From Patch:

• How New Berlin Schools Scored In New Wisconsin Report Cards
• Greendale School District Exceeds In New Wisconsin Report Card

Patch Editor John Quinnies contributed to this article.