Brighton, Wheatland top area school report cards

reportcards001-webAll schools meet DPI expectations

By Jason Arndt
Staff Writer

According to the state Department of Public Instruction, 329 schools in Wisconsin received five star ratings, or significantly exceeds expectations, in a recent release of the 2015-16 school report cards.

Brighton School was one of those 329 schools, scoring a 91.8 of 100, tops among 11 schools in Western Kenosha County.

Penny Boileau, Brighton School District Administrator, said the results are a testament to the community’s dedication to raising student achievement.

“We are very proud of our students, staff members, parents and board members of Brighton for the high scores,” she said. “It takes everyone to bring this level of success to fruition.”

Wheatland Center School, which scored an 83.2, also significantly exceeded expectations.

Wheatland District Administrator Marty McGinley said in a statement released by the school, the scores are just a reflection of what the school has done throughout the year.

“While this is only one measure of success, it echoes what other assessments and non academic indicators have been pointing to, the students and staff at Wheatland are getting results,” stated McGinley, who mentioned the school’s STEM program along with co-curricular activities as two of several contributors to the recent success.

While Brighton and Wheatland notched five stars, six other schools received four stars, or exceeded expectations.

Randall Consolidated School (82.3) came in behind Wheatland to take third, ahead of Trevor-Wilmot Consolidated (80.6).

Like McGinley, Randall District Administrator John Gendron said his school’s score is just one aspect of the overall picture.

“I am extremely proud of our report,” Gendron said. “I understand that is one measure, but Randall’s student achievement numbers as measured by the MAP and State Assessment are trending positively for the past three years.”

Bristol Consolidated (77.7), Paris Consolidated (76.8), Riverview (75.1) and Salem Grade schools (73.4) rounded out the schools receiving four stars.

Lakewood School, meanwhile, met expectations with a score of 68.0 to receive three stars.

Additional criteria for high schools
While Westosha Central and Wilmot Union high schools received scores near, or above, 90 in postsecondary readiness, both struggled to close achievement gaps.

For Westosha Central, which scored a 46.6, the school tabulated a 10.2 of 25 in English language arts and 10.5 of 25 for mathematics.

But, in a higher weighted graduation rate, which is not factored into elementary and middle schools, Westosha Central received a 25.9 of 50.

At Wilmot, however, the school drew a combined score of 52.4 in closing achievement gaps, with English achievement at the lowest with 8.5 and mathematics at 12.

However, the school earned a higher score than Westosha Central in graduation rates, receiving a 31.9 of 50.

Student growth is not taken into account at high schools.

Small sample
Noting major changes to the report cards this year, including a five-star rating for the first time, the DPI stressed the newest release is not comparable to previous years.

“Though they provide a snapshot of school and district performance, the 2015-16 report cards are not comparable to report cards issued in prior years and do not represent a full picture of the important work taking place throughout the state,” the DPI press release stated.

The important work, according to district administrators interviewed by the Westosha Report, include intensifying hands-on instruction to close achievement gaps.

According to Gendron, Randall, along with other partners in the Wilmot Special Education Consortium have worked to improve achievement gaps.

“The Wilmot Consortium schools have begun working together on this initiative by focusing on inclusion and co-teaching practices,” said Gendron, whose school received a 72.7 in closing gaps. “We believe that our IEP students will benefit from being in the regular education classes with supports from special education teachers.”

The Wilmot Consortium includes Riverview, Lakewood and Wilmot Union.

“The gap between students with disabilities and those without are significant state-wide and this gap has been consistent for multiple years,” he added.

With 651 enrolled at Randall, 12.3 percent of students have disabilities and 24.6 percent are economically disadvantaged.

At Brighton, which scored an 86.3 in closing the achievement gap, the school has added more professional development hours to tailor instruction to meet the needs of all learners, Boileau stated.

“The strategies employed have proven successful as students in Brighton who have typically been below grade level benchmarks are now meeting grade level expectations,” she said.

Of the 186 students enrolled at Brighton, nearly six percent have learning disabilities and 21 percent are economically disadvantaged.

Scoring criteria
Scores are based on four areas of priority: student achievement in English language arts and mathematics, student growth, closing gaps between student groups and measures of readiness for graduation and postsecondary success.

However, unlike previous years, this year’s report cards take poverty’s affect on student achievement into account, therefore, the higher percentage of disadvantaged students, the more weight is placed on student growth scores.

Report cards were not issued last year, when the state underwent changes in testing formats, giving the DPI just one year, instead of at least three years of data.

“Using data from three different assessments in calculations, along with other changes, makes comparisons of school and district performance to prior report card rating inaccurate and inadvisable,” the press release states.

State at a glance
The DPI reports 329 schools received five stars while another 624 earned four stars.

Additionally, 635 schools had three stars and 243 received two stars, or meets few expectations.

Also, 99 schools failed to meet expectations, or had one star.


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